Lacie is worried about Mary, and check-ins with the Guys and Gals

Lacie quickly made her way down one of the two sweeping stairways that bracketed the decks, making a beeline for the hot tub and Mary. She was clearly worried about what she’d just witnessed - Lacie and Mary had gotten close on their previous season and had been quoted publicly that Mary had been a big help to her after she’d lost her fiance.

“Hey guys,” Lacie said with a sweet smile as she strolled up to the hot tub. “Hitting it off, huh?”

Mary smiled warmly up at her friend and wiggled her eyebrows playfully. “Definitely, dear. Peter is sweeping me off my feet.”

Lacie turned to Peter, who just barely managed not to get caught looking at the blonde's significant cleavage. “I like an aggressive woman who knows what she wants,” he said with that charming smirk of his. He trained his baby blue eyes on Lacie and the viewers at home could all recognize that look he had - the one from his last season when he was setting his sights on a new potential partner.

“Well, that’s definitely Mary,” Lacie said with a smile. “But I was wondering if I could maybe grab her quickly? I wanted to run something by her.”

“Sure,” Peter said, standing up and stretching widely, showing off his fit, dark muscles.

“Maybe you could keep Roland company for me?” Lacie suggested.

Peter nodded and hopped out of the hot tub and headed for the stairs.

“Don’t say it,” Mary said as soon as Peter was out of earshot.

“Mary,” Lacie hissed quietly, climbing up to sit on the edge of the tub with her feet in the water. The camera crew somehow managed to get a perfect shot of her bum perched on the edge and Mary’s tiny bikini top as they were talking. “I thought we both agreed we were going to take things slow and really pick carefully.”

“I know, I know, love,” Mary sighed. “But… look at him! He’s all man, and between you and me he’s a lot of man, too.”

Lacie snorted a little and had to cover her mouth to stop from laughing in shock. “Mary!”

Mary shot Lacie an innocent look as if she couldn’t help herself.

Meanwhile, down on the lowest deck, Jaz and Harold were laying out and sunning themselves on some deck chairs.

“So you do a lot of charity work?” Harold asked.

“Mhmm,” Jaz nodded. “I love that it lets me travel and help people. It’s really become my passion. Do you do much volunteering?”

“Kind of,” Harold said. “I’m so busy that I can’t dedicate time to anything regularly, but I try to make sure I participate in all of the charity events my- ah, ‘Employer’- runs or partners with.” Everyone knew that Harold's employer was the largest Sports Entertainment business in the world, and that he wasn’t likely going to be able to speak of them by name due to their litigious past. It was kind of amazing that he’d been given leave to join the reunion show at all.

“Well, that’s nice,” Jaz said, smiling quietly.

And then there was a long, awkward silence between them.

“Can I be honest?” Jaz asked.

“Yes, please,” Harold said, rolling onto his side and lowering his shades.

Jaz did the same, her breasts squeezing together nicely in her bikini top. “I… don’t want to be a game player. I think you’re a really attractive guy, and I love your vibe, but I don’t think there’s a romantic spark here.”

“No, I get that,” Harold smiled, nodding along with her. “Friends?”

“Absolutely,” Jaz grinned. “And I promise to wingwoman you if you wingman for me? Make sure I’m not falling for a dud.”

“Promise,” Harold said, and held out his pinky to hook with hers in a pinky promise.

“Oh, Harold,” the voice-over host sighed. “Always the professional wrestling-bridesmaid, never the professional wrestling-bride. Anyways, we all know that men and women who are seeking love and affection will never tell the truth to the opposite sex, so let’s listen in as they gossip amongst themselves!”

The camera cut to a wide shot of the yacht decks, showing that the guys are currently all sitting in the hot tub while the ladies have gathered around the fir pit seating.

“So, how is everyone feeling about the lads?” Jaz asked.

“Michael is sweet,” Jay-Anne said immediately. “I don’t fully trust him yet, but I think if he plays his cards right I could.”

“Oh, girl, he is definitely a sweet boy,” Emma assured her. “Seriously, if you two feel something, you should double down immediately. He deserves someone great.”

“No hard feelings about me stealing him from you?” Jay-Anne asked.

“Well, just a tash, but not because I want him,” Emma said.

“Things not going well with Percy?” Lacie asked with a concerned frown for the younger woman.

Emma shifted a little in her seat, making a face that said she wasn’t fully dedicated to her current thoughts but was on her way there. “He’s… well, he’s a lot like a lot of the boys I grew up around. I appreciate that he’s being forward, but he’s doing it in ways that aren’t giving me any sparks whatsoever.”

“Nice ass, though,” Mary pointed out, making all of the ladies giggle for a moment.

“True, but asses and privilege aren’t what make me fall for someone,” Emma said. “He’s going to need to loosen up a lot for a real chance.”

“How about you, Lace?” Mary asked. “Everyone knows how Peter and I are getting on, but you’ve been awful quiet.”

“Roland is…” Lacie trailed off, glancing over at the boys in the hot tub and then lowering her voice. “I just get Ick from him. And I feel bad, because I think he’s trying, I just… Ick.”

“Oh,” Mary and Jaz both said at once, making faces.

“I kind of got that, too,” Emma admitted. “I think it’s a particular kind of girl who he needs.”

“What kind is that?” Jay-Anne asked.

“... A sugar baby?” Emma suggested, and all of the girls started giggling again.

Over in the boy's group, the camera cut to them all leaning in absorbed in a serious conversation.

“So we’re all agreed then?” Roland asked, oblivious that he’d just been getting shit-talked by the girls.

“Agreed,” they all nodded.

“Good,” Roland nodded. “That’s the gym rotation down. Anything else we need to discuss?”

The lads all sat back up, blank of a thought between them to the point that the producers overlaid a cricket chirping track over the scene.

“Oh! Peter, how was that kiss? Mary seems like hot stuff,” Percy asked.

Peter grinned, rubbing his hands together. “You lads know how it is. A man has gotta strike while the iron is hot. Mary will be eatin’ out of my palm before tomorrow night, so if we get to send anyone to the Hideaway Cabin, you lads better pick us.”

That got all the guys laughing. Well, everyone except Harold, who looked uncomfortable at the way his friend was being talked about, but none of the others seemed to notice.

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