Well, the morning wasn’t off to a great start so far, but luckily Jett was quick to bounce back. He had always been good at brushing off a bad mood, especially when there were plenty of distractions around, and there was no shortage of those at this paradise house. With all sorts of people to talk to and activities to try, he was determined not to let his frustrating conversation with Anna drag him down. He was, however, going to tread more carefully around her in the future.

After their last talk, Jett had realized she wasn’t the type of person he’d thought she was, and the person she had turned out to be wasn’t really the type he wanted to associate with. It was a bit disappointing, but he wasn’t that surprised to find out his first impression of her had been wrong. In his industry, people put on masks all the time. It was pretty common to meet a nice girl or guy and find out a week later that they were cruel or selfish or greedy. He supposed those types of people must have existed in other fields too. This was just the first time he’d seen it for himself.

He didn’t dwell on it though.

When he got to the living room, Jett took a quick look around to see who he was joining. Right away, he recognized Nina, the girl he’d gotten a little physical with at the party last night. The memory made him cringe inwardly. While he wasn’t particularly prudish, he also didn’t like to make a habit of making out with women he’d just met. For one thing, it wasn’t great for his public image. If the production team decided to air that little scene, he knew his other fans were going to go nuts over it. He’d already dealt with enough crazy to last a lifetime. He didn’t need to return to his life in New York with the expectation of dodging around other girls who were hoping to score a kiss from him too.

For another thing, he had his own standards he wanted to uphold. While he wasn’t opposed to having a little fun with a pretty face on occasion—preferably [i]not[/i] in front of a camera—he longed to find someone with whom he could share a real connection. Of course, he wasn’t really expecting to meet anyone like that on this show, but he at least wanted to get to know a girl before he locked lips with her. Apparently, [i]that[/i] plan had gone out the window with the rest of his good sense when the alcohol had kicked in.

Jett slid in on the couch as Nina made room for him. He barely had time to settle down before she bombarded him with a question and her opinion of the beds in the house. Having barely recovered from his annoyance with Anna, it took him a moment to process everything she said. Her bubbly attitude was a stark change from the scathing engineer, but he appreciated it. He opened his mouth to give her an answer to her question, but then closed it again when he caught sight of someone else walking up to the group.

As Anna took a seat nearby, he quirked a brow, wondering what she was trying to pull now. Was she just following him to be obstinate, or was she trying to make some sort of vague gesture of apology? It was hard to say for sure, but she was definitely avoiding eye contact with him.

Deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to figure out, Jett turned back to Nina, who was more upbeat and enjoyable to talk to. “It’s something else,” he agreed, popping another bite of eggs into his mouth and chasing it with his drink. “Definitely worth selling your soul to a TV show for a whole summer.”