“Ejiro!” Sophia exclaimed with delight, rushing in his direction.
Obiora’s chest twisted with something sweet and painful as, like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, Ejiro’s face opened up into a dazzling grin, wrinkling his eyes and softening his mouth.
He caught Sophia in his arms, blushing furiously. “I’m so sweaty right now,” he said self-consciously, though the elated smile didn’t falter from his lips.
“I don’t care!” Sophia laughed. “Did you all see that?” she asked, finally pulling away from Ejiro’s embrace. “He was like—like—freaking Usain Bolt!”
“I’m not really,” Ejiro protested, but the man was chuffed, the boost in his confidence making his aura shine brighter, the pull of it like a magnet Obiora had to try furiously to resist.
TO ABSOLUTELY NO ONE’S SURPRISE, later that night, during the Heart slash elimination ceremony, Ejiro was given the Red best-impression Heart.
As Sophia faux-pinned the heart to Ejiro’s suit pocket, Ejiro was beaming. His dark eyes danced like he held a secret you desperately wanted him to share—you wanted him to look at you, and only you.
Obiora felt the mad, desperate urge to shed the tiny bit of self-consciousness still clinging to the edges of that smile; he wanted to see what Ejiro would look like when all his walls and defences were down—how it would feel to be the centre of Ejiro’s undivided attention, to be the cause of his unbridled joy.
This, he realised. This was why Sophia had given Ejiro a heart on night one.
She’d gotten a mere glimpse of the passion that lurked underneath that unassuming façade, and like Obiora, it had left her practically starving for everything.
Episode 2: The Contestants Show Their Prowess
Part One: Brawn
Episode Summary: The Bachelors are invited to compete—in four teams of six—in an obstacle course for the chance to win a private date with the bachelorette. The catch? The bachelorette will be competing with them, and if her time is higher than that of the bachelor’s of a winning team, she gets to pick who she wants for a private date from that team.
Chris Wu wins in the first team, and Damien wins in the second. On the third team, Sophia beats the winning bachelor, and ends up picking Liam as her date from that team. This causes contestant Ricky obvious displeasure, which he chooses to voice in the form of barely-concealed misogynistic comments.
For the final team, Ejiro steals the spotlight by having the fastest time set for the day, which earns him the Red Heart of the night.
Ricky, Fred, Sunil, and Cornelius were eliminated.
Click here to watch the full episode on Netflicks!
NINE
WHEN EJIRO WOKE UP, HE did so with a smile. He stretched, the taut pain-pleasure pull of his muscles reminding him of the game of the day before, which made his mood lift higher. He’d set a goal for himself—winning the Red Heart—and he’d freaking done it.
After the congratulations from some of the bachelors last night, Ejiro had gone straight to the confession room to squeal like a teenager. He’d pretended—and this was probably going to become a constant as the show went on— that the cameras in the room were Ajiri and Blessing.
“Their faces,” he’d said, so giddy he could shout. “None of them saw it coming, which made it all the more exciting when I won. I just need to keep this momentum going until the end of the competition. I could …” He’d paused, looking directly at the camera mounted in front of him, his expression a little stunned, but a lot hopeful and excited. “I could win this. I could actually win this.”
Ejiro tried to imagine winning the competition, introducing Sophia to his family after everything was said and done, but he couldn’t quite picture it. Not yet. But that was fine. He didn’t know Sophia all that well just yet, and even though he liked her so far, he had to get to really know her to feel more comfortable picturing them having a future.
And now he had that opportunity in the form of a private date. The thought filled him with equal parts excitement and anxiety.
They were going to film their cutaways to yesterday’s episode later today, then Ejiro was going to tell Ameri what his plans were for his date with Sophia. Since he’d won on the obstacle course and also gotten the Red Heart, he got to have the chance to spend a full day wooing the bachelorette, while the other bachelors who’d won during the game only had parts of the day to pick: either the morning, the afternoon, or the evening.
Ejiro had given the date much thought, but he still felt extremely nervous at the thought that he was going to be spending time alone with Sophia. With cameras of course, but still. It would technically be them alone.
Butterflies took flight in his stomach. His heart flew up into his throat.
Oh dear God.
He shook his head lightly, and forced down his nervous excitement. He still had another day until the date, so there was no point in freaking out right now.
Ejiro’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness as he’d laid there thinking, so he was able to see the clock clearly when he glanced at it. Almost five AM. Inwardly thanking his inner alarm for waking him up on time, he slid out of bed, stretching again.
He moved to his wardrobe, reaching for his jogging outfit, then paused. The obstacle course might have felt quick as it had happened, but it had been such a workout in the end. He didn’t feel too much like jogging this morning. Perhaps a swim?
