“I’ll probably see you at the live show in a few months,” she’d said, low enough so their mics wouldn’t pick it up.
Ejiro grinned. “Yeah. See you then.” He raised his voice a little. “Good luck, Sophia. You’ve got your choice cut out for you.”
“You’re telling me,” Sophia said, grimacing playfully. He laughed.
And then it was over. The second Ejiro got in the car Ameri hired to take him straight home, Ejiro spared only one last despondent glance back at the mansion, before he was fumbling in the secure little bag that held his devices, bringing out his phone and switching it on. A flood of messages and notifications lit up the screen, which he ignored for now. He’d ripped out the page from his sketchbook that held Obiora’s number earlier, and it had been sitting folded in his suit pocket like a brand all evening as they’d filmed the Heart-giving Ceremony.
Ejiro already had the digits memorised—whenever he missed Obiora, he’d stared and thumbed at the paper, like imprinting Obiora’s handwriting into his brain would somehow make him miss him less (spoiler alert, it didn’t)—but he still double-checked that he had the number right from the piece of paper just in case.
His heart leapt into his throat when he created a new contact and the WhatsApp icon immediately appeared underneath.
“Oh my God,” Ejiro whispered, struggling to breathe.
Unable to help it, he clicked on the icon. It redirected him to the messaging app.
Seeing Obiora’s face, even if it was just his profile picture on WhatsApp, had Ejiro’s heart skipping several beats, his stomach roiling with butterflies. He clicked on the picture to see it better, nearly swallowing his tongue when he saw that Obiora was at the gym. He was sitting with his thighs spread on either side of the weight-lifting bench, dressed in nothing but black gym shorts and a black tank top, thick curls messy, his skin glistening with sweat.
He held a water bottle loosely in one hand, and was smirking and flipping the camera off with the other hand, which told Ejiro that Esther had probably been the one to take the picture.
Warmth pooled in Ejiro’s lower belly as he stared at the muscles in Obiora’s bared arms, his ridiculously sexy smirk, and his freaking thighs Jesus freaking Christ. Ejiro clicked back into the chat, like staring at the empty chat box would rid him of his lust.
This was real. This was freaking real.
Obiora’s status abruptly changed to “online”. Ejiro immediately locked his phone and resisted the urge to throw the device across the seat.
He must’ve made a distressed noise, because the driver asked, “All right, mate?”
“Huh? What?” He cleared his throat when his voice came out too high. “Yeah. Yes. I’m fine. Thank you.”
I’ll message him later, Ejiro thought, unlocking his phone and clicking instead onto the chat he shared with Ajiri and Blessing. When he got home tonight, before he went to bed, he’d message Obiora. The thought made him feel like squealing.
“This is real,” he repeated out loud in a low whisper. “This is …” He hesitated, then let the curse fly. “This is fucking real.”
When Ajiri and Blessing flooded the chat with excited messages and emojis after Ejiro said he was on his way home, Ejiro locked his phone and sat back, closing his eyes.
He tried to take a nap, then when that failed, listen to music on his headphones, but he was just too jittery.
He was home before he was ready, walking down the short path that led to the three-bedroom house he shared with Ajiri and Blessing. Everything still felt dreamy. It almost felt like homesickness, even though he was home.
“EJIRO!” Ajiri screamed, jumping into his arms. She must’ve heard his key in the lock and rushed to open the door.
Ejiro laughed, stumbling back in surprise but managing to catch her.
“Ejiro!” Blessing echoed, also running at him.
“Oof!” he gasped as she joined in on the hug, the momentum making him take several steps backward.
“Welcome back, welcome back! Oh God, I missed you.” Ajiri abruptly turned away to wipe her eyes.
“Ajiri, stop! Don’t cry! You’ll make me cry,” Ejiro protested, his eyes already burning.
In the back, Blessing sniffed.
Ejiro laughed, even as the tears slid down his cheeks. “Not you, too!”
The three of them laughed, hugging tightly. Ejiro clenched his eyes shut, breathing in their familiar scents. God, he’d missed them. He hadn’t realised just how much he’d missed them until he was in their arms again.
“Come on,” Ajiri said, wiping her eyes again and sniffing.
