SimLit Legacy Stories by Sharon

After the elimination was over, I stepped outside to just think and get my bearings. I should have known the quiet of the night wouldn’t be quiet for very long. Just as I was about to head inside, Ben and Declan came out to find me. Declan and I started talking about everything from gemstones to flowers to books. We even flirted a little, which was becoming a regular thing between Declan and me.

Ben wasn’t a man of many words and seemed to have patience as wide as the Milky Way. He stood discreetly by to wait for his chance to speak to me.

As Ben and I talked, it wasn’t long before some of the others joined us. Lenora wasn’t kidding when she said I’d be holding court more often than anything.

It was a beautiful morning the next day, much too nice to stay cooped up inside. I closed my eyes, lifted my face toward the sky, and smelled the breeze. I loved Sunlit Tides and felt envious of the people who lived here regularly. I jumped when I heard Declan’s voice beside me.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you,” he apologized.

“No worries,” I said, grinning sheepishly.

Oh, Mama! He was damned easy on the eyes in only his shorts. I had to keep my hands at my sides to keep myself from running them over his bare chest. The temperature started to rise but I knew it had nothing to do with the weather.

Naturally, some of the others started to straggle outside and I was treated to more bare chests. Why have breakfast when I could feast on muscle alone?

As the day wore on, there was more flirting, talking, and a bit of bantering. Eric talked to me again about wanting me to model for some photos. “I think the beach would be a fine backdrop to photograph such a beautiful subject.”

“Agreed. And it will be a great picture with me posing with Ileah once I’m declared the winner,” Pierce grinned.

“In your dreams, boy,” Eric said.

“Boys, boys, boys!” I said, unable to hide a chuckle. “No fighting! There’s plenty of me to go around.” They’d taken on a bantering tone but I thought there was quite a lot of seriousness in there too. I wanted to keep it lighthearted, as I really didn’t want to have a brawl on my hands. Sure, it would be great entertainment for the viewers, but I never wanted to be the object of someone’s fistfight.

Thankfully, nothing more came of it. A while later, Laban came out to find me.

We chatted about preserving the environment for quite some time. I was never an aggressive conservationist or anything, but I do believe in not squandering our natural resources. Laban had some very interesting ideas, and I found myself listening raptly. The same really couldn’t be said for some of the others who trickled down the stairs to see what was shaking.

Pierce was a fun guy who made me laugh. I could relax around him and just enjoy a normal, humorous conversation with him.

I was beginning to wonder if Torrence would show himself, and he finally did. He was very pleasant and a little reserved. He asked me if I’d slept well the night before.

Much of the day was spent outside with the guys and me talking about anything that came to mind and flirting in some cases. It was mind boggling, but at least my brain got a workout on a beautiful day.

Declan sought me out again, but for some reason, Torrence got quite upset about that. It kind of surprised me, but crazy things tend to happen on crazy reality shows, after all.

I was more than ready to call it a night and even more ready to get out of here for a while the next morning. I figured a day at the beach would be a welcome outing. After all, it would be a crime to not have some beach time while in a place like Sunlit Tides. With a huge, contented sigh, I flopped onto my towel to soak up some rays.

It looked like the guys were having a blast too. I hid a grin as I watched them playing in the sand like a bunch of kids. Watching the fun from my towel, I knew I’d made the right choice in coming here.

There’s a lot to be said for being beach bums. Everyone relaxed a bit more, and it was nice to forget about the competition for a while. Everyone benefited, but I’m sure I was the one with the most perks since I got to savor the sight of all these shirtless hunks parading before me on the beach.

Unfortunately, the weather called a halt to our day. When it started to hail, we made a beeline for the car and grumpily headed back home. Well, so much for fun in the sun.

Once we were all safe at home, Eli sought me out and asked me about my chess skills. I told him I wasn’t very good at it but that I’d learned a little from my bestie, Lenora. “I bow at her feet when it comes to chess,” I said, laughing.

Truth be told, I could have used a little nap. All that sun before the hail started had made me feel drowsy. I was going to head upstairs to take said nap when Eric stopped me and wished me a good rest.

The nap, however, wasn’t meant to be. Jared stopped me to wish me a good rest. But…

For the life of me, I don’t know what got into Torrence. He’d been friendly enough before when we talked, but never would I have imagined that he’d come up out of the blue and try to kiss me! It was too early on for that kind of thing, nor was it the most conducive situation for something like that. I mean, you just don’t grab a girl and plant one on her with absolutely no warning.

I turned him down as nicely as I could, but he got really upset. “If it were Ben or some of the other guys, you wouldn’t have turned them down.”

“You don’t know this, and there is no basis for what you just said. I just wasn’t feeling it right now. Maybe at another time–”

“Yeah,’ Torrence said before skulking off.

It was that time again, so I headed to the date room to go over things. Once again, it was a pretty easy decision.

Since the unfortunate incident of Torrence trying to kiss me, things were very awkward between us. Sadly, the damage had been done by one single action. I hope that one day, he’ll find the love of his life, which definitely isn’t me.