Free Love Elimination by Sarah Gates

her. Kate was looking at her with her arms pressed to her sides, her hands flattened and tense against her pencil skirt. Yvette and Tallulah were not so quietly whispering to each other, scheming how they’d stab her with their stilettos later that day.
    ‘Now, we can’t go revealing outside information to the other contestants. This will just have to remain our little secret. Off you go, Anna. You need to get ready for your date!’
    You’ve got to be kidding! Anna could barely keep the words locked away inside herself.
    * * *
    Anna didn’t like dates. She rarely felt her heart flutter at the anticipation of a romantic dinner or movie night. What she hated most was the hour of preparation, washing her hair, doing her make-up, and consulting with Kate about clothes. Then there was the inevitable disappointment that had tainted her love life up until now.
    Yet here she was on a beach, dressed in jodhpurs that hid nothing and a thin white shirt that was a size too small, being filmed by a camera crew. To top it off, she was within full view of the beach house’s second-floor veranda, so the other contestants were all out, watching. If this was supposed to be the waiting-in-suspense scene, Anna was not impressed. She knew she looked nothing but annoyed and squinty from the blazing sun. She was not allowed to wear sunglasses.
    Suspense was the last thing on the menu. Luke stood just twenty-five metres away, next to two tethered horses. She could smell the horse hair from where she was standing. Joe shouted directions for her to peer down the beach looking nervous and curious. Not that watching Luke climb onto a chestnut horse was a hardship. The man’s shirt was only half buttoned and the rolled-up sleeves left his arms bare. A crew member untethered the horses and Luke rode towards her, leading the riderless horse.
    Filming paused as two crew members rushed forwards to place a box next to the horse, allowing Luke to dismount with a drop of less than a metre. At this, Anna couldn’t help but smile.
    ‘Anna.’ When he was finally on the ground, he enveloped her in a hug. For the first time, his scent made her sneeze, not swoon. He smelt like a barn.
    ‘You look great,’ he said. ‘Have you ever been horse riding before?’
    ‘Only when I was really young, when they put you on a pony and lead you around a family fun fair.’
    ‘Then you’re better prepared for today’s date than I am,’ he replied, leading her towards the white horse. It was smaller than the chestnut one, but still too high for Anna to mount without help. Anna rubbed her palm along the horse’s rump and avoided Luke’s eyes as he placed his hands on her waist. With one swift movement, he hoisted her into the air. It seemed effortless. Her skin tingled beneath his touch and any protests she might have voiced died in the back of her throat.
    ‘If you’ve never ridden before, why would you organise a horse-riding date?’ she asked, mostly to distract herself from the cameras trained on their awkward interaction.
    ‘I don’t actually control anything. I’m a puppet in this show—same as you.’ He shot her a cheeky grin.
    ‘Luke!’ Joe barked.
    ‘I’ve always wanted to try,’ Luke explained with the exact inflections as his previous attempt. The accuracy made Anna giggle. He made her giggle. He was funny.
    With crew on either side to ensure the horses walked straight, they set off down the beach. The whole thing was surreal and the silence was agonising. Anna wasn’t usually one to fill every moment with talk, but without it she couldn’t help obsessing over the feel of the smooth saddle through the thin fabric of her jodhpurs and hard leather beneath her bum. She squirmed. Sun glinted from the cameras so they stood out like ugly growths on the otherwise stunning beach. There were five cameras and more than double that in crew, all focused on Anna and Luke as the horses ambled along the beach.
    ‘Ask him why he chose you for the single