Chicago • Callum Jones

Chapter 2

Valentina was awestruck, quite possibly making a fool of herself under the gaze of the extremely attractive man that was standing in front of her. Since her eyes met his, she had made no effort to look away. She stood there near the kitchen counter and stared for several seconds that seemed like hours. Just drinking him up with her eyes.

His arms reached out and embraced her in a quick hug.

Before either person could pull away from the brief embrace, a small chime sounded from the crowd of people beside them.

"I've got a text!" Mitch shouted.

"Islanders, the public have been voting for which islander has the best game as a Newcomer, Valentina is not a contender." He spoke, sighing in exasperation after realizing that it was the end of the text.

The next chime sounded mere seconds later, Valentina looked at Luis as he held his phone up to read the text.

"The islander with the most votes will win an exclusive night in the hideaway with a person of their choice. They can cash this offer in at any time of their stay... The islander with the most votes, therefore winning is....".

"The anticipation is proper killing me." Hannah whispered from her space beside Luis.

"Callum."

A chorus of cheers and congratulations stormed through the small crowd of people in the garden, Toby engulfed Callum with his arms, the rest of the boy's following suit. The mancunian was chuffed to win a night in the hideaway from the symphony of snoring that ensued each night.

"The public chose wrong!" Chris screamed from the other side of the kitchen island causing a few chuckles to escape the mouths of the Islanders who weren't ruffing Callum up.

"I'm sure they did Chris." Vee responded with a tight lipped smile, nudging him with her arm in jest.

Several moments later, one of the proucers scurried in through a hidden side entrance, telling the Islanders to gather around the fire pit for a game of truth or dare Jenga.

Valentina was pretty unimpressed, her entrance, like everybody else's would surely have had a little more suspense, right? Not that she was too annoyed with the fact that the attention was not solely on her, that was a plus.

Valentina sat on the edge of the curved bench, with Chris on her right. Her eyes darted between the firepit and her feet.
"I think it's only right to let Valentina go first, seeing as she is new here." Georgia Steele beamed, her smile a little too wide for Valentina's liking.

"Oh yeah, sure thing."

The brunette girl stood up from her place and walked a few paces towards the small table next to the firepit. The familiar feeling of apprehension bubbling in her stomach as she carefully weaved one of the cuboidal blocks from the middle of the tower.

"Kiss the three islanders you are least attracted to... Oh gosh." She muttered, squeezing her eyes shut in contemplation. Her choices were pretty clear in her mind.

"I'm sorry, you're like my brother." She joked, giving Chris a peck on the cheek before moving on to Anton and then Mitch, who looked quite pissed off.

"Who'd you find the most attractive then?" Toby quipped, earning a sly dig from Georgia Steele.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out Hun." Valentina responded with a smirk as she took her space besides Chris once again.

"Me next!" Chris laughed as he almost tripped over on the journey to the table.

"Who do you think is playing the biggest game? Oh that's a loaded question."

Chris seemed to ponder for a while, his eyes narrowing.

Having only been there for less than an hour, Valentina was very thankful that she didn't get this question, causing drama or pissing people off on her first day was most definitely not in her plans. She bit the corner of her lip and scanned the row of islanders on the seating area with curious eyes, trying to gauge who she would put more effort in to get to know tonight.

Callum. He seemed pretty genuine, a bit quiet but when he speaks it's like you can't help but be drawn to what he says. Plus, vee was very attracted to him.

Toby vee had met him at an event before but their interactions were brief and he was quite rude. He seemed to exude childishness which was very off-putting for somebody his age.

Anton, Chris, Lib, and Kaz are all people she knew on the outside. Anton is an amazing guy who just has a hard time attracting the right women. Chris is the funny guy but his humour can rub people the wrong way, just as it had her, quite a few times. Lib and Kaz were sweethearts that honestly deserve the world and more — when Valentina made the jump from 'influencer' to musician, the pair had stuck by her through all of the initial public backlash and when the public actually realised that Valentina Hudson was actually gifted, and not just the typical influencer turned basic musician, they celebrated with her without wanting anything but friendship.

Georgia H seemed nice, that's pretty much all she could say for their brief exchange of words.

Georgia Steele now, she was somebody that vee could never see herself being friends with.

Hannah now —

"Val, it's your turn."

"Huh?" She blurted out, whipping her head round to meet Anton's rather unimpressed face. His lips parted and a chuckle escaped his mouth as he looked at her dishevelled state.

"Wherever you went up there needs to wait Val, it's your turn again."

She nodded and quickly got up from her space, speed waking to the table and pulling a block from the now wobbly tower.

"Fuck me..." She exclaimed

"Literally," she laughed, lifting the block up. "Act out your favourite sex position with the islander you find most attractive —— Callum you're up." She quipped, not wanting to waste any more time as the sun was starting to set and her bikini was providing little shelter from the unforgiving breeze.

—— Beach Hut ——

Callum sits with his arms behind his head. "I can't say I'm angry at the fact Valentina chose me, have you seen her?" A smug smile pulls at his lips, his eyes narrowing as he stares off behind the camera in thought.

Callum stood up from his seat, stretching his arms out. He walked over to Vee with a small smile on his face.

"On your back." She ordered, eliciting a chorus of oohhs from the islanders.

The Mancunian complied, vee not being able to peel her eyes off of his muscles as they rippled with every movement.

As soon as he was on the floor, flat ok his back, Vee climbed onto his lap, straddling him so that each leg was on either side of his waist. She could feel his abdominal muscles tighten under her skin.

"Cowgirl? That's so basic." Georgia Steele exclaimed, earning looks of disdain from Kaz and Molly.

"Okay, Miss Missionary." Kaz mumbled just loud enough for Molly to hear, she smirked slightly.

"It's my favourite as well to be fair, good choice." Callum responded as he dusted his knees and stood up after Valentina who simply smiled in response.

—— Beach Hut ——

Valentina sits with her head in her hands. "It's like I can't speak when he's near me... What the fuck is going on?" She groaned.