TODAY WAS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. AFTER their shower that morning, they’d gone to the seating area located outside behind the hotel—though Ejiro wouldn’t have called it a hotel, it felt more like a luxurious manor in the woods by the riverside—to enjoy the morning air by the small river. Though it was freezing cold—it was mid-February, after all—other guests had had the same idea as well, enjoying hot cups of cocoa and conversing quietly.
The tranquil setting—and their brief, but intense lovemaking of that morning—seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day.
By the time they made it to Wickers World for their hot air balloon date, Ejiro was nearly vibrating out of his skin with sheer love and excitement.
It had been a few weeks ago, when Ejiro had surprised Obiora with reservations to go bungee jumping. Cupid Calling had since finished airing, but Ejiro hadn’t been able to stop thinking about his idea of the perfect date, and how he’d shared it with the wrong person (no offence to Sophia). So he’d decided, screw it, and bought the reservations to go with the true love of his life.
Obiora’s face when Ejiro had told him his reasoning—Ejiro would never forget it. It was like seeing the sun peeking out from behind a raincloud.
And when Obiora had decided they should go on his own idea of a perfect date as well, Ejiro had very nearly combusted with love for him.
He was aware that the hot air balloon date had been one of the items on Obiora’s late girlfriend’s bucket list, so Obiora taking him here meant twice as much; that Obiora still got to do this with someone he loved meant absolutely everything to Ejiro.
They held hands almost constantly now, regardless of where they were. Ejiro gave Obiora’s hand a light squeeze through their gloves, trying not to bounce on his feet as they got checked in.
“Ah, I can’t wait,” he said. From here he could see the grounds where they were going to lift off, and the scenery looked freaking gorgeous. “I’m not a big fan of flying, but since this is going to be in open air and not a giant metal bird, I think I might enjoy it.”
Obiora snorted a laugh. “A giant metal bird?”
“That’s what it is, isn’t it?” Ejiro deadpanned.
Obiora laughed, Ejiro grinning, tilting his head when Obiora leaned in to kiss him.
Ejiro had researched the place after Obiora had told him about it in order to properly picture it, and he’d seen that the tours were held in groups of ten to twelve—the couple tour was really freaking expensive—but he hadn’t really minded, as long as he and Obiora were together.
So imagine his surprise when they were led away from the group toward the edge of the field where a smaller balloon waited.
“Baby,” Ejiro said, his voice thick with emotion, squeezing Obiora’s hand so hard it must have hurt. Throughout their relationship, he kept thinking he couldn’t possibly get any happier than he was at a given moment, then Obiora went ahead and did things like this. “Baby.”
Obiora was grinning, looking very fucking satisfied.
“Yeah?” he encouraged, giving Ejiro’s hand a squeeze. “I thought you might’ve liked the more private tour.”
“I do,” Ejiro said earnestly. “I love it. I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby.”
Ejiro pulled him close for a kiss, wincing a little and laughing at how cold their noses were. Obiora laughed into his mouth, before kissing the smile off his face, and God Ejiro loved when he did that—just kissed the laughter off his lips like he wanted to somehow consume the physical evidence of Ejiro’s happiness.
Their pilot was a smiling young, white man, with pale round cheeks and curly brown hair framing his face from underneath a beanie pulled down over his ears to protect them from the cold.
Something about the man’s smile was contagious. Ejiro had a grin on his face as he set them up inside the balloon, and began talking about how to switch it on.
“There isn’t much steering going on,” the pilot, who’d introduced himself as Jon, explained. “The balloon follows the wind; we’ll enjoy the scenery for about an hour or two, and then land. Easy peasy.”
“Easy peasy,” Ejiro echoed, making them laugh.
Ejiro exclaimed, unable to help it at the slight jolt as they lifted up, his eyes drinking in everything.
When he glanced at Obiora, his boyfriend was watching him with this sweet, soft look in his face that never failed to make Ejiro blush.
They spent the first few minutes basking in the scenery and in themselves, ignoring Jon’s presence behind him. Ejiro had expected Jon to talk through the tour—he’d read on the website about the pilots giving a brief history on the surrounding sites—but Jon was quiet, so quiet he could almost forget the man’s presence behind them.
The website had boasted a calm, serene ride, and they’d been right. Ejiro felt almost as if he were floating. They could hear the sound of life below, and see the animals and plants in the surrounding hills. He and Obiora didn’t say much, mostly quiet as the balloon slowly advanced, but it was a honeyed silence built from the trust and comfort of being next to someone you loved. The balloon was carried by the air current, which was easy and perfect this morning, thank God.
“I’m going to take some pictures,” Ejiro said after a while, smiling brightly.
“Go right ahead, baby.”
