Wyatt plays with the ends of my hair as we walk around the festival together. "I want to get you something."

I glance at him with a questioning look. "Why do you want to get me something?"

He shrugs with a nervous smile. "You do realize I'm competing with thirty guys for your attention, right?"

"How can I forget," I laugh slightly.

"I'm really glad that I got to spend time with you first," he grins.

I smile, "me too."

He stops us and stands in front of me. "Do you like surprises?" I nod and he grins before covering my eyes. He guides me to my surprise and I sit in a chair, but keep my eyes closed. He puts something in my hair and tells me to open my eyes. A woman smiles at me as she paints and I turn to Wyatt who has black sunglasses. "Have you ever been drawn as a cartoon?"

"No, have you?" He shakes his head. "Why did you choose this?"

He pushes the sunglasses on the top of his head and holds my hand. "It gives us a good chance to talk for one. I know I'm competing, but I don't want to force anything in our friendship or relationship. I want to be able for us to trust each other to talk about deep topics, but also be silly with one another."

"Aww, he's charming! You two would be cute together," the artist grins at us and I can feel my cheeks heat up.

Someone clears their throat behind us and I turn to see Dallas. He shyly waves, "could I have my turn?"

I turn to the artist. "I'm almost done. You can go and I'll give the picture to him."

I nod and turn to Wyatt. "Thanks for spending time with me. I'll see you later," I smile and squeeze his hand. He smiles back and I stand up.

Dallas grins at me. "I have some ideas in mind if you are up for them."

We begin walking and I nod. "What are your ideas?"

"I thought we could have a little fun. I want to do at least two things."

"Are you the adventurous type?" I grin.

He wiggles his eyebrows. "Absolutely."

I laugh at his demeanor. "I'm glad you wanted to spend time with me this early on. You were one who intrigued me."

He smiles, "I'm glad I didn't scare you away with my first impression."

"Of course you didn't." I smile and he suddenly grabs my hand.

"Come on, this is what I want to do first." I squeal excitedly as we run up the stairs to the gigantic slide.

"I'm going to beat you!" I exclaim.

"No way, I am!" He counters.

When we get to the top, we let go of each other and quickly grab the foam mats to race on. We get settled and the attendant tells us to go. I push off as the adrenaline rushes through me. I scream in excitement as the wind blows my hair and my heart races. I shout in victory as I come to a stop.

Dallas laughs at my excitement. "Your excitement is contagious; I'm glad you won."

"What's next?" I grin.

He smiles shyly and holds his hand out for me. "It's a surprise, and you can tell me no if you don't want to."

I squeeze his hand for encouragement and he leads me little ways away from the slide. He stops and drops my hand. "My mom is the most important person in my life. She is the strongest woman I know." He breathes out a long breath and laughs sadly. "She um battled cancer and just celebrated one year of being cancer free." My eyes tear up when his do. "She always told me to dance with the girl on the first date, so will you have this dance?"

"Of course," I nod. I hold his right hand and put my right hand on his shoulder while he puts his left hand on my waist respectfully. We begin swaying and I look up at him. "Thank you for sharing about your mom with me. She seems like an amazing woman. I can't imagine going through what she has."

He nods and twirls me around. I can't help but smile as he does. He grins, "That's what I like to see." Heat rushes to my cheeks and he laughs. He suddenly hugs me tightly and I hug him back. "Thank you."

A few minutes later, I find Oliver people watching on a bench and sit next to him for a while before Nolan finds me to go watch a local Christian band.

Nolan and I get pizza, and we find a table to sit at. I text all the guys to come find Nolan and I once they have gotten food. Soon all the guys are here and happily eating.

"So, are you guys enjoying the festival?" I question and they nod.

"I think most of us either stayed around the concert or played games," Wyatt says and the guys nod.

"What's you next group date going to be?" Nolan questions.

I shrug. "I have to pick someone to go on a date with tomorrow night first." I sip my water.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Oliver questions, and I nod in response. "Hear me out, but if I were you, I would choose Jacob."

John scoffs. "Why in the world would she –or you- pick Jacob to go on a date with, especially the first one?"

"Jacob offered to give her insider information. Adelaide needs someone to talk to. He admitted he wasn't here to be in a relationship with you, but some guys aren't brave enough to admit the same thing." Oliver explains.

"It makes sense," Dallas adds.

Once we are finished eating, John asks if I want to go get ice cream for dessert. I agree and get chocolate chip mint. John thinks it's gross, and he gets plain vanilla. Gavin saves me by inviting me to ride the Ferris wheel with him. He talks the entire time about surfing. We exit the wheel and Darren is patiently waiting for me.

"Hey, Darren," I greet and wave bye to Gavin.

"Addie," he smiles. "Will you join me to watch the sunset?"

"Of course," I smile and he leads me to a bench to watch the sunset. We sit down and I turn to him. "How did you react when you found out that you would be on this show?"

He laughs. "I was at work, and I thought it was a prank. I hung up on them and asked who it was. One of the other guys told me that I was idiot. They called me back, and I apologized before accepting."

"Oh my goodness," I say and hold back laughter. "Well, I didn't answer them the first time because I thought it was a telemarketer calling."

He tries to hold back laughter, but he bursts out laughing. The sun makes his dark brown hair look like its glowing and he turns to me with a smile gracing his features. He shakes his head, and breathes out "wow."

"What?" I ask in confusion.

He leans back into the bench and stares at the sunset for a moment before gazing into my eyes. "When people look at me, they immediately stereotype me and judge me." He holds out his hand, and points to his wrist. "The same place Jesus was nailed; I got forgive written to remind me of the little things I can do for his life that he gave for me. I have Psalm 23:4 on my ribcage. I told you that I'm a firefighter and sometimes it can be terrifying, but I pray that God will put a hedge of protection around me. The point I was trying to get to was that you never judged me or put me in a box that I would have to climb my way out of. Does anyone of this make sense?"

Tears come to my eyes, and I quickly wrap my arms around his neck. He doesn't react for a few moments, but he wraps his arms around me once realizes what I did. "I don't ever want to judge you or anyone here." I whisper and pull back to see his face. "That's why I'm so worried about sending people home. I don't want to judge you guys on the little things, but I also don't want to drop my standards or more importantly God's standards for us." A few tears escape my eyes and I immediately wipe them away.

"Hey," he gently says. He grabs my hand and rubs it comfortingly. "If the guys think you are judging them, then they weren't meant to be here or it was for a valid reason, okay?"

I nod, and turn to the sunset. I glance at him with big tears in my eyes, but a smile on my face. "I didn't mean to open up to anyone this early on."

"Plansaren't concrete," he says softly. I rest my head on his shoulder, and he putshis arm around me. We continued to watch the sunset until it was dark incomfortable silence. 

UPDATES EVERY FRIDAY. THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT ON THIS BOOK SO EARLY ON.

 ANY FAVORITE GUYS SO FAR? 

DO YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE IN MIND FOR ADELAIDE?

THERE WILL BE A SURPRISE NEXT CHAPTER... ANY GUESSES TO WHAT IT WILL BE?

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

LOVE, K