Kissed by Reality by Carrie Aarons Read Free Book Online Page A

wanted to pursue, anything I was good at. And suddenly I was. I was great at being Leighton Aldridge, superstar of Mr. Right fame.
    Only too late did I realize that this all meant fucking nothing. That without Finn, without love, my entire life was pointless.
    That’s why I was back. Why I would make myself look desperate and crazy to the American TV audience. Why I would take all of the insults Finn slung at me, why I would trudge through the shit with him.
    I needed Finn. Wanted him. Loved him. I’d found the person I was put on this planet for, and I wasn’t giving up until I was bruised, beaten and bloody.
    Plus, my mother wouldn’t allow it.
    I’d showed Finn my cards earlier than I would have liked, but I needed to move into the next phase of Operation Win Finn’s Heart. We needed to work through our issues, all of the hurt and unspoken baggage between us. Finn knowing the reason why I came back? It was a good thing, even if I wished I could have kept it closer to the vest for a little while.
    Today was another one-on-one date, and you could cut the tension and jealousy in the house with a knife. After Finn sent two women, whose names I’d already forgotten, packing three days ago at the Charm Ceremony, the girls were skittish.
    This week would feature the single date between Alexandra, a slim redhead who worked in pharmaceutical sales, and Finn. There was another group date with four women, as well as a group date with 10 of the ladies. Only three women didn’t get a date this week, and Erin, my roommate and one of the only girls I respected here, and I were two of them.
    “I’m definitely not getting a charm this week.” She swirled her wine glass as her feet skimmed the water of the pool.
    Erin had the kind of body I’d always wished for; slim and athletic with a round little butt and boobs. She looked like a shorter version of Candace Swanepoel, but with brunette hair and the same iridescent green eyes as one of the most famous Angels.
    I rolled my big brown ones, pushing my sunglasses up on my nose as my float made its way to the other end of the infinity pool. While competing against 20, well now 18, other women was exhausting, at least the perks were good. Nothing to do all day but primp, drink wine and tan on a hill overlooking Los Angeles in all of its glory. The months that I got to do this were nice indeed.
    “You’re going to stay. The second week dates are always for girls the lead isn’t sure about. It’s a good thing if you don’t get a date, it means he’s so sure about you that he’s going to keep you. Have you never watched this show?”
    I flicked a pink manicured finger into the water and splashed her. Readjusting, my strapless lilac one piece twisted and gave me a wedgie, my hands reaching under me and burning on the hot plastic of the float. The sun was ingraining itself into my skin, and I couldn’t have been happier in that brief moment. Well, except for if Finn was in here with me.
    “I’m a teacher from rural Illinois, of course I’ve watched this show. My friends were joking around when we went to Chicago and filled out applications at the casting booth. I never thought I’d actually end up here. Or that I’d actually feel a connection with Finn…”
    I felt a pang of jealousy and hurt when the words left her mouth. A beat of silence passed as I circled my arms in the cool, sapphire water of the pool. This was the hard part, befriending these women when you were all after a common goal, a common end game.
    Even if Erin wasn’t of the bitch variety, and I already knew her not to be, she was too sweet, she still wanted Finn. I’d watched them together, heard her and the other women’s stories from their group dates and time with him. He liked her. He liked a good amount of them.
    And while I wished I was a good enough person to walk away and let him have a chance with one of the ladies I thought might be worthy of him, I wasn’t. Yes, Erin and some of the women were