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It’s the way he says Cristina that does it, makes tears build up in my eyes. I shake my head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

My lower lip trembles, and even though I try to hide my face, Rhett must sense something’s wrong, because he steps in front of me and gently takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and tips my face up.

He says, in the softest, most heartbreaking voice, “What’s wrong? You can tell me.”

I shake my head. If I speak, I’ll cry.

“We don’t even know if we’ve won. For all we know, we may have lost. We might come in dead last, even though I think we’re the best-looking couple here.”

I snort.

“There she is,” he says softly. “I know this is nothing a Bitty Being can’t fix.”

“I have been missing making my Bitty Beings.”

“Tell you what—tonight we can order food up to our rooms, play with Flame, and you can show me how to make Bitty Beings.”

My heart just about cracks in two right there. Rhett doesn’t know much about me—nothing, really—and here he is, creating the perfect date and he doesn’t even know it. A night in, making clay sculptures in my pajamas, makes my chest expand with happiness.

But before I can say yes, Mina claps her hands, and I’m jerked back to reality.

“Thank you for waiting, couples. The judges and I have discussed, and we’re ready to announce the winners.”

We all straighten. Even though I don’t want to win, my stomach’s still knotted in anticipation.

Maybe Rhett senses it, maybe he’s just trying to comfort me, but when he presses his hand into my back, my shoulders lift. He’s right beside me, silently telling me to lean on him, that I don’t have to be alone.

Tears threaten to pile up in my eyes, but I inhale and focus on Mina.

“In last place is Callie and Jeff. Though we appreciate the vase you made, the judges and I felt that you were out of sync during the creation of it, leading to the end result. You will be awarded ten points.”

Callie smiles tightly as Jeff squeezes her shoulder.

Out of sync? All they do is look at each other with hearts in their eyes. How can Callie and Jeff be out of sync?

“Twenty points to Holly and Jace.”

Holly scoffs in disbelief.

“Though your creation turned out good,” Mina explains, “the judges and I felt the two of you could have been more in line when you sat behind the potter’s wheel. The end result was a cup that didn’t quite check all the boxes for us.”

Oh no. This is just like last time. The couples that should be in sync, the ones who’ve obviously fulfilled their physical desire, are in the bottom rung—again.

Why isn’t the magic helping them like it’s helping us?

Maya and Logan are third, and then I cross my fingers. Please let us be next. Please, God. If you do me this favor, I’ll never ask for anything ever again.

Which God must know is a lie, because in second place is: “Clarice and Beau,” Mina announces like a tiny cheerleader on steroids. “Congratulations. And now for our first place winners—the judges and I were all shaken to our cores when we watched how you worked together to create your clay object. You seemed to know what the other was thinking and communicated without words. It was truly touching, and I might’ve teared up a little. So, for the second time in a row, Rhett and Cristina have won the challenge and have been awarded fifty points.”

Everyone claps, but as I look around the room, Holly and Jace have daggers in their eyes. Is Mina sure those two aren’t in sync? Because their expressions are mirror images of the other—both look like they want to murder me and Rhett.

Or maybe just me.

I’m taken back to the moment when Rhett fixed our pottery wheel and Jace and I exchanged a look. I shiver, and Rhett’s hand, still on my back, rubs small circles around my spine.

“Smile for the live stream,” he says with a wink.