“Imagine if none of us had read the fact sheet,” Ejiro said with mock horror.
“I’m sure at least one of the other groups wouldn’t be so fortunate,” Jin said with a smirk.
“Can you imagine? I would love to see that. Does that make me a bad person?”
Jin smiled, a reserved thing. “If it does, then I guess I’m just plain awful.”
Ejiro laughed.
Obiora silently seethed.
The rest of the time passed like that, with Jin and Ejiro bonding over their insider knowledge of the answers to the clues, while something cloying and bitter thickened in Obiora’s throat.
Sometimes even Noah chimed in, since he had spent a full day with Sophia. Obiora remained the odd man out. His only opportunities came in the more generic clues, in the simpler riddles and codes—there’d been a map, and thanks to his degree in Architecture and his numerous days of drawing plans, his eyes were sharp enough to pick up the illustrated clue hidden within the map’s depths.
By the time all the teams had been through, their team was the winning team with literal seconds to spare.
“We won?” Ejiro asked, vibrating at a speed that could shatter glass. “We won? I can’t believe it.” Then he turned the full force of his smile on a defenceless Obiora as he leaned over and nudged their shoulders together, whispering, “I guess this means you can coast along the competition with your charm and good looks alone, because God knows you weren’t much help back there.”
“Oh, you can fuck right off,” Obiora said, but he was grinning.
Ejiro laughed, waggling his eyebrows.
Obiora wanted to kiss that smile off his mouth. He wanted to hug him—touch him, in any fucking capacity. See how it would feel to have Ejiro in his arms, his magnetic warmth sinking into Obiora’s skin.
The realisation dawned, sinking like a rock in his stomach.
This crush wasn’t going any-fucking-where.
Episode 4 – The Contestants Show Their Prowess
Part 2: Brains
Episode Summary: Sophia goes for breakfast with Ejiro, lunch with Dean, and dinner with Chris Wu, the winners of last week’s blind date. Ejiro makes Sophia swoon like a lovesick girl when he ends their date with a tender kiss on the back of her hand, Dean curls Sophia’s toes with a steamy kiss after their lunch date, and Sophia and Chris Wu almost have to be pulled apart when the man kisses her after their dinner date. But Red Heart winner Noah steals the spotlight when he takes Sophia on an exhilarating ride on his bike, gives her an impromptu tattoo, and ends the day with a quiet picnic dinner in a gazebo strung with fairy lights. He becomes the first contestant to receive the Red Heart during the date.
For the group date, the bachelors are invited—in four teams of four—to break out of an escape room. All members of the team that break out first will win a chance to go on a private date with the bachelorette. However, the bachelorette will ALSO be competing in the escape room, and if her time beats the contestants, she gets to pick her four winners from whatever team she wants, no matter their finishing time.
Jin, Ejiro, Obiora, and Noah end up winning the challenge. Oscar, Ronald, Liam, and Charlie are eliminated.
Click here to watch the full episode on Netflicks!
FIFTEEN
OBIORA SANK INTO THE BUBBLING hot tub with a sigh of pleasure. The small glass room was currently deserted, and Obiora planned to take full advantage of that fact. Some of the other men had barbecued earlier, and Obiora had managed to steal himself some of the meat—a variety of hotdogs, beef and veggies skewered on sticks, and hot ribs. He carefully removed one of the beef skewers from the plate he’d balanced on the flat, wide edge of the hot tub, and took a bite, moaning sinfully at the taste.
This was the life. Right now, Obiora could say with confidence that he was finally fully beginning to enjoy his “vacation.” When he eventually went back home, he’d have to make sure to give Esther whatever the fuck she wanted for the foreseeable future, because he couldn’t remember when last he’d been so relaxed. If she hadn’t convinced him—read: challenged him—he’d still have been home, slaving away and stressing himself to death. Then he remembered that when this was all over, he’d have to go back home to said work, which threatened to ruin his mood, so he shoved the thought far back down the back of his mind where it belonged.
There were whispers between the other bachelors that in the coming days, they were going to be travelling to an exotic destination.
“It’s a trope in these kinds of dating shows,” Jin had said. “They film in one location for a few episodes, then there’s a surprise trip about halfway through. There might even be celebrity visits at some point, I’ll bet.”
Obiora had inwardly snorted. What the fuck would they gain from a celebrity visit? The thought of travelling to some exotic destination greatly appealed though.
Yesterday, he’d gone on his first private date with Sophia, which had ended successfully, if the lingering hug he’d given her at the end had been anything to go by, which meant he was safe from elimination for at least another week. He’d felt a smidgen of guilt for leading the bachelorette on, considering his growing feelings for Ejiro, but he’d told himself nothing was going to happen with either of them in the end, so it didn’t really matter. The thought made him feel a pang, which he studiously ignored.
With this rumoured trip supposedly coming up, it would be the perfect conclusion to his vacation time. He wondered where they’d end up. Some place in England? Or out of it? Paris, maybe? Edinburgh? Amsterdam? The possibilities seemed endless, and with Ameri Shae’s flair for the extravagant, it could be the freaking South Pole for all he knew.
His goal now was to make it to whatever exotic destination it was. Even though being in the mansion felt like a holiday, there was still this feeling of being too close to home, because outside these walls, everything felt familiar. It would help immensely if he left the country—really make it feel like a vacation. After that, he’d plan his graceful exit from the competition, and get home feeling hopefully refreshed.
