Relieved because he didn’t know what the fuck he would do—or say—if he saw Ejiro right now, and disappointed because, well, Obiora wanted to kiss him again. Badly. It had been so long since anything in Obiora’s life had felt as right—as fucking perfect—as that kiss had.
You don’t have to choose.
“Fuck.” Obiora scrubbed his hands over his face, said hands trembling slightly.
Behind his ribs, his heart felt so fucking big.
AS EJIRO LEFT THE GARDEN, he didn’t go back to the room he shared with Obiora, too shaken after that earth-shattering kiss, too afraid of what he’d do if he ended up there and Obiora followed him and they ended up alone. Together. The thought filled him with unbearable heat—a scorching desire he was in no way ready to deal with.
He could still feel the press of Obiora’s soft mouth on his own, the scrape of Obiora’s barely-there stubble against his chin and cheeks, the sensual wet heat of Obiora’s tongue inside his mouth—Obiora’s thick thigh between his legs—
Oh dear God.
He frantically shoved the memories down, increasing his pace, like he could run from the lingering taste of Obiora in his mouth.
When he got to the sitting room of the big house, the rest of the men were there. The air was slightly heavy, probably due to the fact that the men now knew what the episode was about, but by some kind of silent agreement, none of them were talking about it.
On his way here, through the terrace that connected the two houses and led to the garden, Ejiro had seen that a majority of the crew were still on the veranda of the big house. Ameri and Sophia were in a far corner at the very end of the terrace, talking lowly, while the crew seemed to be on a break, chatting amongst each other and checking their equipment.
“Ejiro, you all right?” Jin asked when there was a lull in their conversation.
Ejiro startled, realising he was just standing there by the door leading into the sitting room like a cow, lost in thought.
He shook himself and walked in further, taking a seat on one of the free armchairs. “No. I mean, yeah. Yes. I’m fine. I’m all right. How are you guys doing?”
There were echoes of assent from the men.
“We were just saying,” Jin said, “we highly suspect Alistair might not have been very receptive to Sasha Pierce, hence his sudden elimination this afternoon.”
“Right.” Ejiro nodded. “That makes sense.”
“And is completely understandable,” Jin said with slight amusement. “Honestly? I don’t feel Ameri went about this the right way at all. It takes a lot in people to even consider therapy on a normal day; it is such a personal decision. So, springing one on us, just like that? Not a good look, in my opinion.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Ejiro hummed neutrally. He inwardly agreed with Jin, but he felt guilty if he said it out loud. He was realising that he’d unfortunately put Ameri on a pedestal, and it felt awful to imagine that she wasn’t actually perfect. Of course she wasn’t, she was only human. But he couldn’t help how he felt.
Obiora appeared at that moment, stepping in through the open veranda doors. Ejiro’s heart stopped beating at the sight of him, and then resumed at a frantic pace.
Obiora met his eyes for a brief second. Ejiro’s breath caught in his throat.
“You okay, Obiora?” Dean asked, making Obiora look away, thank God. “It seems like you and Ejiro took today’s filming a lot harder than the rest of us, seeing as you both disappeared after.”
Obiora waved him off. “Nah, I’m fine. I did need a breather, you’re right about that, but it isn’t anything to worry about.”
Oh, Obiora, Ejiro thought, his chest twisting painfully. Did he always do this? Downplay his feelings, especially when it came to Ada? It made Ejiro want to bundle him in a nest of blankets and hide him away from the world.
You don’t need to hide from me. Never.
Like he could hear the words, Obiora glanced at him again. His dark eyes burned with all the things left untouched and unsaid between them, and Ejiro trembled with it.
“Hey, y’all!”
Ameri’s voice broke them out of their stare down, nearly making Ejiro fly out of his skin, his heart racing now for a different reason.
Sophia followed in behind the director slash producer, and Ejiro felt his stomach plummet.
The bachelorette’s eyes and nose were a little puffy and red. The other men seemed to notice how she looked at the same time, because they all stood up in alarm. Behind them, coming in from the veranda, some of the crew had their cameras on, red lights blinking.
At the sight of the bachelorette, Ejiro felt a swamp of guilt. It didn’t matter that he felt platonically for her, it still wasn’t fair of him to kiss someone else behind her back, especially when she was hoping for something solid to form between them.
