Watching the pairs square up in the pool, Jett’s thoughts about the matchup were the opposite of Anna’s. To him, it seemed logical that whatever went up, must come down, so Traci and Adam could find a way to use Nina’s weight against her. He leaned back in the lounge chair he’d chosen with his feet kicked up. Even though he wasn’t excited about his own arrangement with Anna, he looked forward to the sight of all the other groups playing the game. Choosing to focus on that, he kept his gray eyes honed in on the match, avoiding the woman beside him. He wasn’t above moving on from their spat that morning, but until he saw even a hint of a sign that she understood why he was put off by her attitude, he wouldn’t be the first to let it drop. He had too much self-respect for that.

At an announcement by the host, the pairs in the water went at each other with the ferocity of wild animals. It was obvious that neither team wanted to lose their shot at staying on the show, and that made for great entertainment, in Jett’s opinion. He watched amusedly as Nina managed to throw Traci from Adam’s shoulders. Maybe her weight would win her the match after all. However, in the second round, Traci turned the tide by getting inside Nina’s defense and tossing her down from her perch on Luke. Jett whistled and clapped with the rest of the spectators, thoroughly enjoying the competition, but the moment didn’t last long before he noticed that Luke had a concerned expression on his face, and Nina wasn’t making any move to get back on his shoulders.

He leaned forward in his seat, wondering what had happened. It hadn’t looked like she’d gotten hurt when she’d toppled into the pool, but she was grimacing like something had gone wrong. From where he was sitting, he couldn’t make out what was being said, but he could see the others’ gestures. Nina muttered something to Luke, whose eyes widened before he helped her hobble out of the water. It was only when she was thigh deep that it became clear that she was cradling between her legs. The sight didn’t give Jett any clarity until she briefly moved her hand away. He gawped at the sight of… well, not [i]female[/i] anatomy that had become noticeable beneath the fabric of her swimsuit.

The realization struck him right before he heard Bella whisper the word ‘transwoman’ to her partner nearby. Again, he could practically feel the cameras bearing down on him as the crew members sought to drink up every second of his reaction to the news that the girl he’d kissed the night before wasn’t a natural woman. He stifled a groan and raked his fingers through his hair. He hadn’t even been on the show for twenty-four hours, and it already felt like he had landed himself in the worst situations. When he’d accepted the invitation to join for the summer, he’d been hoping for a fun, relaxing getaway with a few stunts for the public here and there. Instead, he was neck-deep in drama he hadn’t wanted to be involved in from the start.

[i]That’s reality TV, I guess,[/i] he thought dryly, making a mental note to pass up the next offer he got to participate in a show like this. The pay and perks weren’t worth the hassle.

Acutely aware that the cameras wouldn’t leave him alone until he gave them a satisfactory reaction, he glanced at Anna. “Who would’ve thought?” he mused idly. Hopefully by playing his surprise off as cool nonchalance, the crew would lose interest and move on to someone else.