The bachelorette left the building first. The men all chatted to themselves as they walked the short distance to the water-filled streets.
“Ameri’s smart to do this, don’t you think?” Obiora leaned over to whisper.
Ejiro tried not to stiffen at the closeness, as a gentle breeze blew Obiora’s scent right into his nostrils. God, Obiora smelled amazing, heady and woodsy. Ejiro wanted to bury his face in the point that joined Obiora’s neck with his shoulder, and inhale his scent like a vampire.
He cleared his throat. “What do you mean?”
Obiora smirked. “You know how Eddie was complaining about feeling cooped up—”
“Ah, right.” Ejiro laughed. “You think she’s giving us a tour of Venice so we don’t complain that we came all the way here, yet we aren’t really seeing any of it?” Just like back in Oxford, they weren’t allowed to leave their accommodation under any circumstances. It was a part of their contract.
“Exactly.” Obiora winked.
Ejiro felt that wink all the way down to his toes. He looked away, heart racing.
Sophia was the first to get into her private taxi, one of the directors, two cameras, plus three members of staff following after her. The remaining four water taxis were shared between the twelve men and remaining staff; it ended up with four men in a taxi with three camera crew. The directors took their own taxi, following after the men at the back.
The taxi was actually quite spacious, but despite this, Ejiro could feel the heat of Obiora’s body like it was a brand. He’d barely been able to sleep last night, unable to stop thinking about how close their beds were, how easy it would be to cross the little boundary between them. Only his panic at his new found feelings kept him rooted right to his bed, because with the way Obiora had started looking at him, Ejiro was afraid Obiora knew exactly how he felt, and worse, he felt the same way, too. Ejiro didn’t know what the heck to do with that information, so he chose to pretend he didn’t notice.
Eventually, Ejiro was soon taken in by the sights and sounds, nearly leaning over the side of the boat in his awe. He felt slightly upset that he’d left his sketching materials behind, because his fingers itched to draw everything. The men weren’t even allowed cameras, so Ejiro couldn’t even take reference pictures for later. He’d much prefer drawing the real thing, obviously, but pictures he’d taken himself would have sufficed.
The voice of the tour guide slash driver faded to the background as Ejiro practically gobbled up the scenery with his eyes, wishing fiercely that he could’ve experienced this with Ajiri and Blessing. Heck, even his mother. The woman deserved a break.
At one point, he’d glanced at Obiora to show him something, trembling with excitement, and found Obiora already watching him, his eyes soft with a terrible fondness.
Ejiro’s stomach had swooped, and he’d found it hard to breathe. He’d shown Obiora what he’d been pointing at, then focused resolutely on the sights outside of the taxi for the rest of the trip, though his heart didn’t stop racing, his cheeks hot with a self-conscious blush.
The list of attractions Ameri wanted them to see wasn’t long, and were located vaguely close to each other around the canal, so the tour only took thirty minutes.
Afterward, they were taken back to the house.
“Right, I’ll be giving y’all the next thirty minutes to pick your locations. Your dates with Sophia will start exactly at twelve PM—so about three and a half hours from now—and will end at eight PM, with time for her to move between dates. Six people will be taking Sophia out today, and six tomorrow to give her time to breathe. I’ll let y’all toss a coin on who can go first.” She winked. “I’ll see y’all in a bit. Good luck!”
Ameri faded back into the crew. The cameras followed them as they headed into the house, so they had to be on their best behaviours. When they arrived in the veranda of the big house, settling around the chairs laid out around a wide, round table, they didn’t waste time in picking who would go when.
Ejiro ended up with today. Obiora ended up with tomorrow.
At the thought that he was going to go on a date with Sophia, Ejiro really began to panic. The second Ameri returned to know their locations and left to prepare the crew, Ejiro disappeared, finding his way to the private garden. The terrace extended out of the house and was held up with thick, baroque pillars, creating a small nook at the edge of the garden that he could successfully hide and panic in.
The last time he’d gone out with Sophia, she’d ended up kissing him when he hadn’t wanted to be kissed. With everything happening with his feelings with Obiora and all, he’d completely forgotten he’d have to tell her about it if he wanted a future with her.
Did he still want a future with her? He didn’t know anymore. No. Yes. Yes, he did. Of course he did. Right? So what if he was attracted to Obiora? He could be attracted to him without it having to mean anything, right?
Except—
The way Obiora had looked at him on the boat during the tour, like Ejiro was the centre of his universe.
He shook his head. No. He was probably reading into things. Besides, he was here for Sophia. He was technically dating her; his feelings for Obiora would have to be pushed to the side.
The bachelorette had to come first.
EJIRO ENDED UP BEING THE last bachelor to take Sophia out for the day. Since it was going to be in the evening, he’d picked one of the canal-side restaurants to take Sophia on his own date. He’d initially wanted to take her to one of the famous museums since she loved them so much, but literally all the other men had had the same idea, so Ejiro at least had some originality going for him.
“Ejiro!” Sophia exclaimed happily.
He was waiting for her outside her accommodation. Ejiro grinned. “Hey, Sophia.”
She jogged lightly up to him and jumped, throwing her arms around him.
