Standing up to him had felt so good. He wished he could’ve told Ajiri about it the second after it had happened, but since he couldn’t, he’d settled for using the “confession” room at the mansion.
“You should have seen his face,” he’d said that morning with an almost manic grin. “He obviously thought I was going to be the “bigger person” and let him off the hook, but something in me was like, not today.”
“Something to share with the class?” asked an amused voice.
Ejiro blinked back to the present, realising then that he was grinning from ear to ear.
He blushed, attempting to temper his grin but it was no use. “I’m really excited for the group date today,” he said, remembering at the last moment not to answer directly.
The limousine chose that moment to come to a stop.
“You ready?” the staff in the passenger seat asked, still sounding amused.
“I’m ready,” Ejiro said.
Sophia was standing in front of what looked to be the edge of a dense forest, a few cameramen and one of the directors standing around her. She was dressed in exercise gear; black yoga pants, a loose white t-shirt and neon green trainers. Her hair, held back with a matching neon green sweatband, was pulled up into a tight ponytail, though a few strands escaped from the do to frame her face and neck.
God, she was so beautiful.
Ejiro was still grinning as he walked up to her. When she noticed his smile, her demeanour seemed to brighten, creating a feedback loop between them until Ejiro was almost giddy with it.
“Hello,” Ejiro greeted, a little breathlessly, giving her a quick hug when she held her arms open in invitation.
“Hi, Ejiro! How are you doing?”
“I’m good, I’m good. And you? You look amazing, by the way.”
“Really?” She seemed to ask in genuine surprise, glancing down at herself.
“Yes,” Ejiro said firmly. “Then again, you could probably wear nothing but a bin bag and I’d still think you were beautiful.” He laughed a little shyly.
And then he began to panic a little.
Oh dear God, had that been too cheesy?
But Sophia blushed, thank goodness. “Flatterer,” she said slyly, trailing her fingers playfully up his chest. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He blushed as well, ignoring how the intimate flirtation in her touch made his stomach clench in on itself, which he attributed to a mixture of nerves and butterflies.
“Do you know what we’re going to do today?”
Sophia dropped her hand, thank God.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” she said with a laugh, then gestured behind her. “Just follow the pathway and it’ll lead you to a clearing. I’ll see you there.”
“See you soon, Sophia.”
With one last exchanged smile, Ejiro headed down the marked pathway, ignoring the few crew members following behind him.
He cursorily looked around, trying to guess what the second group date with Sophia was going to entail. They’d been instructed to wear exercise gear that was easy to move around in, and that was about it.
Were they going on a hike? A bike ride? Climbing atop a mountain range? How would all that help the bachelorette in getting to know them? It was probably a TV show thing, he reasoned. Something to keep the viewers engaged and entertained.
Or could it be a ploy to test their strength? He wrinkled his nose. Wouldn’t that be a little unfair? The other bachelors seemed fit enough; Ejiro just thought it was a little shallow to use fitness as a test for compatibility.
He was the first bachelor to arrive, stopping at a large clearing when a staff in the background indicated to him to stop. He took a deep breath and put his game face on. The first night had ended on a rough note for him, but Ejiro didn’t plan on falling behind this time around.
His goal today was to get the Red Heart; he’d accept nothing less to overshadow his failure on night one.
