Obiora glanced at his full mouth, his infectious smile, then quickly looked away, cursing himself for his weakness. He’d promised himself to act natural; the day had barely begun and he’d already fucking failed.
Ejiro picked his number first, then Obiora picked his. They moved away for the rest of the bachelors to pick theirs.
“Two,” Ejiro read aloud. “What number are you?” he asked, his voice filled with hope. And then, like he wasn’t already endearing enough, the bastard crossed his fingers.
Obiora’s heart donned chaps and a guitar, and started to write a serenade.
Did he want to be on the same team as Ejiro? Or did he not? Fucking hell.
He opened his card.
There was a God. And there was also a Devil.
“Four,” he said.
“Yes,” Ejiro hissed, then quickly wiped the excitement from his face, though it didn’t completely work. He cleared his throat. “This could go wrong so easily, if you’re paired with people you’re incompatible with.”
He thinks we’re compatible! Obiora’s crush-sick heart screamed.
“That’s true,” Obiora said, calmly. “I mean, I adore my best friend, but I don’t think we’d last long if we were locked together in a room for any amount of time.” With Obiora’s competitive streak and Esther’s constant need to be right about everything, they’d probably end up in a fistfight.
Ejiro laughed. God, every time he laughed, Obiora had to resist the urge to sway forward into his space, like Ejiro’s laughter was the sound from the Pied Piper’s flute, and Obiora was the ensnared.
“Now!” Ameri clapped her hands to get their attention. “As you might have noticed, there are only two escape rooms here today: one for the bachelorette, and one for the contestants.”
Ameri went on to explain that she wanted the bachelors to watch and react to Sophia while she tried to escape her room, and vice versa. But for the latter to happen, the bachelors would have to go in team by team, with the non-competing teams waiting outside the building to prevent cheating.
“So, bachelors one to four, please step forward! Bachelors five to sixteen, please follow Diana out of the room and wait until your cue.”
Obiora looked around. His and Ejiro’s other two teammates turned out to be Jin and Noah. A good balance, Obiora thought, since he and Jin had yet to win a private date with the bachelorette, while Noah and Ejiro had both managed to win Red Hearts. Since the bachelorette would be watching them, he wondered what criteria she’d be looking for to pick this week’s Red Heart. Co-operation? Intuition?
“Wonderful,” Ameri said when the other bachelors had disappeared and only four of them, Sophia, the other directors, and some of the staff were left. “Are you ready, bachelors? Please proceed into the room.”
“Good luck!” Sophia called, beaming and waving.
“Thank you,” Ejiro said shyly.
“Won’t need it, but I appreciate the thought,” Noah said cockily.
“Okay! I see you,” Sophia hollered, making them laugh.
“Thank you,” Jin said flirtily, bowing a little as he did. Not for the first time, Obiora wondered if Jin was secretly royalty. With that posh accent and that full mouth, Obiora could see Sophia literally trying not to swoon.
Ejiro’s words about him coasting along in the competition came back to haunt him, and Obiora found himself blurting, “Can I have a good luck kiss on the cheek?” his usual smirk curling his lips.
“Oh?” Sophia blushed. “Well. I don’t see why not.”
Obiora grinned, heading to her. She leaned up and brushed her lips against his cheek, lingering a little.
Obiora winked at her as he pulled away. “Thank you, gorgeous.”
“Stop it.” She blushed. “Off with you, now.”
Obiora laughed. In the background, Ameri was giving him two thumbs up, no doubt because his little stunt was going to look great on TV.
When he turned around, Ejiro’s smile had faltered, and he looked deeply uncomfortable. But when their eyes met, Ejiro quickly wiped away the expression, grinning widely instead. Obiora’s heart gave a traitorous skip. Had that been jealousy he’d seen? Then his stomach plummeted, because if Ejiro had been jealous, he would’ve been jealous of Obiora.
The memory of how happy Ejiro had looked after his second date with Sophia flashed through his mind’s eye, and it was like being doused with icy water.
