Chapter Sixteen Mia #2
to thank you for sacrificing a part of your winter break for us.”
“Hell yes!” yelled Tiana. “Thanks, TCG crew!”
Excited murmurs came from every contestant except Matías, who’d been completely frozen since Mia said it was time to pick
the new cuffles.
“Um . . .” Mia said. “Are you okay, Matías?”
“Oh, hi—I mean, yes, I’m okay,” Matías replied. “It’s funny because while I was shoveling, I tried so hard because I wanted
to be the first person to pick. But now, I don’t know if I want to actually go through with what I planned to do.”
He looked at Shirin, who shook her head.
“Don’t worry about me,” she said. “Go for it. Choose who you really want to go on a date with. Just go first, though, because
I’m still debating what to do, too.”
They shared a laugh, and as Matías glanced at Jack, Mia’s pulse quickened. She did her best to keep a poker face. It’d be
such a bold move, to ask the one and only Jack Miller out on television right now, in a moment that was going to be watched by thousands of people. It was so daunting to think about. Mia wouldn’t blame Matías
if he didn’t go through with it.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. Someone coughed, although Mia couldn’t tell who.
Curiously, Matías met eyes with Noah, who nodded and gave him a thumbs-up.
“Okay,” Matías finally said. “I’m ready.”
“All right,” replied Mia. “Matías, please go link arms with the person you want to cuff with for today.”
With Damien following behind him with his camera, Matías slowly headed down the line of the other contestants.
Mia’s own palms grew sweaty as Matías put one foot in front of the other, walking past Shirin, Celine, Noah, and Tiana to
come to a full stop in front of . . . Jack.
Yes! Mia thought. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest, like she was the one about to confess. Which was never going to happen. Because she would rather die than confess to Noah that she
liked him.
“H-hey,” Matías said to Jack in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.
Jack’s eyes widened. “Hi?” He said the word like it was a question.
Matías took a deep breath. “If you’re not interested, feel free to reject me, honestly. No pressure. But I’m just going to
say it. Because as famous as you are, I have no idea if I’ll ever have a chance to be face-to-face like this with you again.
Jack, I like you, and I’ve had a crush on you ever since I went to my very first college football game. I know you’re out
of my league and you probably aren’t even into guys . . . but I tried my best on today’s challenge just so I could have first
dibs on you for this round.”
Everyone went silent, waiting in hushed anticipation for Jack’s response. Mia was sure she could hear a pin drop.
Jack scratched his head. He looked at Damien’s camera and then at Matías.
Mia’s stomach sank. A sudden flashback of how Jack had rejected Bethany played in her head.
Oh no, she thought. Poor Matías . . .
But then, slowly, Jack smiled as he linked arms with Matías. “Should we snowboard or ski?”
Matías’s jaw dropped. So did Mia’s and pretty much everyone else’s. From behind his camera, Damien let out a shriek that was
several octaves higher than his usual voice, before quickly saying in his normal tones, “Sorry, Alex.”
Everyone laughed.
Alex let out a fake sigh of exasperation. “It’s fine,” they said. “As with all things, we can fix it in post.”
Mia grinned. “Fixing things in post” was something she’d heard often in film school, especially whenever something unexpected
happened and needed to be edited out. Which, she was rapidly learning, it almost always did.
Jack grinned at Matías’s still stunned face.
“What?” he asked with a shrug. “I never said I was straight. People just assume I am because I play football and have a deep
voice.”
Mia carefully composed her face back to a neutral, “professional host” expression before saying, “Jack, listen. We appreciate
you being so open about everything, but I want to make sure. Are you okay with this going public? If you’re not comfortable
with the whole world knowing, we can edit this out.”
Jack shrugged. “I’m not exactly out, but I’m not closeted, either.
Like I said, everyone just assumes you’re straight if you play college football.
And I never mentioned I’m bi to keep things simple.
I guess I was always waiting for the right time and place to say something, if it ever came up at all.
But I think I finally found someone who’s worth taking that leap for.
Especially since he just took a huge one for me. ”
He turned back to Matías, who looked like he was about to faint.
Jack lightly bumped his fist on Matías’s shoulder. “We need to work out together sometime, man. Because your speed was insane.
Anyway, what’ll it be?”
Matías stood up straighter. “Wait, what?”
Jack gave him a patient smile. “Ski or snowboard?”
Matías let out a nervous laugh. “Oh, I’m more of a snowboarder, definitely. But more than anything else I’m a sledder. Don’t
let this morning fool you. I’m not that athletic, especially not compared to someone like you. I just have plenty of shoveling experience since I have relatives in
upstate New York.”
“You seem plenty athletic to me.” Jack gave him a once-over, and Matías let out an excited laugh.
“Wow, okay,” he said. “It’s gonna take me a while to get used to that. How are you literally so hot?”
Jack blushed.
Mia smiled, feeling deliriously happy for the two boys. But then she accidentally made eye contact with Noah. She froze. Noah had a large, goofy grin on his face, too. For one alternative-universe-esque moment, they smiled at each other, and Mia’s heart beat impossibly faster.
That was the problem with crushes—some never completely went away.