If he’d noticed Ameri’s playful comment, Ejiro didn’t show it. In fact, he was in the middle of a whispered conversation with Chris Wu, one of his roommates, Obiora had found out, and the winner of the first night’s Red Heart.
His smile, what little of it that curled his lips, small and carefree, was the most gorgeous thing Obiora had ever seen. It still held a trace of reservation, which, for some reason, made it all the more attractive.
Obiora was so fucking fucked.
“Before you all get too excited,” Ameri continued, “there’s a catch.” The bachelors fell silent. Ameri’s grin was wide and predatory. “Here it is: you all aren’t only going to compete for a date with the bachelorette, the bachelorette will also be competing for a date with you.”
“What?”
“Oh boy, here we go.”
“Oh?”
Sophia waved and blew them kisses, making some of the men pretend to swoon dramatically. She laughed with delight.
“That’s right,” Ameri continued gleefully. “The bachelorette is also going to compete in the obstacle course. Here’s the breakdown: each person to go through the obstacle course will be timed, the bachelorette included. Whoever sets the fastest time within their group will get to go on a date with the bachelorette. However, if the bachelorette’s time happens to be faster than that of the winner in a group, she gets to pick whoever she wants—winner or not—from the losing team to go on a date of her choice.”
Obiora could practically feel the wheels in the bachelors’ brains turning.
Did the men want to risk losing on the off-chance Sophia might pick them? Or did they want to go all out and win the date with her one hundred percent?
Obiora didn’t know about the rest, but he was counting on the latter. From the way the men’s shoulders were straightening, Obiora assumed they’d chosen similarly.
Ameri clapped her hands delightfully. “Now, before we divide you into your groups, Sophia will run through the obstacle course. Are you ready to cheer her on, gentlemen?”
There was a chorus of yeses.
“Are you all ready to lose disgracefully?” Sophia said, waggling her eyebrows.
Some of the men laughed, some of them booed at her playfully.
“Are you ready, Sophia?”
Sophia began to jog on the spot. “I’m ready. I’m good. Let’s do this.”
They led the men to the finish line, while Sophia was led to the starting point.
Ameri picked up a megaphone. “On your mark—set—ready?—go!”
The bachelors exploded into a cacophony of sound, screaming encouragement at Sophia as she made her way through the obstacle course, her pretty lips twisted into a moue of concentration.
She did it all smoothly. The bachelors hollered and applauded after she crossed the finish line, sweaty and a little muddy, but still as beautiful as ever.
“Four minutes and thirty-two seconds!” Ameri announced when she made it to their side of the obstacle course. “Can our bachelors beat our bachelorette and win a private date with her? Let’s find out!”
Nerves hit Obiora as Ameri led them all to the starting line. He eyed the obstacle course nervously, already trying to pre-predict his movements. On the other side, the staff were buzzing around Sophia, wiping her sweat and handing her a cold bottle of water.
“As I said before,” Ameri began in a normal tone, “each team will be a group of six, decided by which number you pick out of our draw.” As she spoke, a member of the staff walked toward Ameri, holding out a small fishbowl with plain white cards folded in half mixed within its depths. “So, team one will be from numbers one to six, team two from numbers seven to twelve, and so on. Now that you understand the rules, contestants, please come forward and pick a number. Do not open your cards until I say so.”
One by one, the bachelors moved forward, taking a card until the fish bowl was empty.
“Open your cards.”
Twenty, Obiora read. He was going to be in the last group. A good thing and a bad thing; if he did really well, he’d make a better impression because he was one of the last, but if he did really bad, that would be what the bachelorette would take away from this. Fuck.
“Bachelors number one to six, please step up to the starting line.”
Obiora looked up, his heart in his throat.
