“You tell us everything right now!”
“Yes, ma.”
Ajiri pinched him. Ejiro yelped, but he was laughing.
“I think I’m going to need something stronger than a cider,” Blessing said, still laughing, standing and heading into the kitchen.
“Just bring the entire bottle of vodka in here, babe!” Ajiri called at her.
Ejiro couldn’t stop grinning. God, he loved them, he loved them. It felt good to be home.
“MY GOD,” BLESSING SAID WHEN he was done, ending his tale with Obiora leaving his number in Ejiro’s sketchbook (though he’d glossed over the passionate goodbye kisses they’d shared). She and Ajiri were “buzzing”, thanks to the alcohol and the topic of conversation. They sat almost straight-backed on the sofa, their eyes intent on him. “So.” Blessing waggled her eyebrows. “Are you in love with him?”
Ejiro blushed furiously. “I-I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know. Stop staring at me!”
His twin and her girlfriend laughed.
“Look at how he hasn’t stopped smiling,” Ajiri said, still laughing. “My guy is fucking whipped!”
Ejiro groaned, hiding his face behind his hands again. His cheeks were so, so hot. “Abeg, leave me alone.”
“Aw, you must really like him,” Blessing cooed playfully.
“So, what does this mean?” Ajiri asked. “No pressure, obviously. But does this mean you’re bisexual? If you don’t want a label, that’s also completely fine.”
“Oh, um, I guess I am?” He dropped his hands. “I’m—I’m demisexual.”
“Huh,” Blessing said. “That makes a lot of sense.”
“Wow. Now why does this kind of make me hate Sam a lot more?”
Ajiri had never liked Ejiro’s ex, and now that Ejiro was settling into his newly discovered sexuality, he realised that his relationship with Sam really had been bad. He’d gone through the motions with her because he’d thought they were what he was meant to do, not because he’d actually wanted to do them. She’d been pretty and she’d talked to him and Ejiro had mistaken his awe and nervousness at her beauty for sexual attraction.
Looking back at how she’d bulldozed him into a relationship and then dumped him like hot coal when he’d begun to think he was going to marry her, Ejiro had to admit that he hated her a little, too. Sure, he hadn’t been aware of his sexuality then, but he’d tried to be good for her. He’d practically tried to mould himself into whatever shape she wanted—after all, he’d thought, wasn’t that what a good boyfriend did? But looking back, it was obvious she had known this, and taken advantage of it.
“She was always so grabby, wasn’t she?” Blessing said with a wrinkle of her nose. “I thought you were just a no-PDA kinda guy, but you were literally uncomfortable and she—Jesus Christ.”
“Let’s not talk about that bitch.”
“Ajiri!” Ejiro gasped, but he felt warm at her defence.
“So.” Ajiri leered, ignoring his scolding. “Have you called him yet?”
Ejiro’s phone suddenly felt heavier in his pocket. He swallowed, throat bobbing. “Not yet.”
Blessing raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to call him?”
“Of course I’m going to call him!” Ejiro scoffed. “Just not when you two are staring at me like that.”
Ajiri comically widened her eyes, leaning forward in her seat, not blinking. “Like what?”
Ejiro threw a pillow at her.
She laughed.
“Oh God,” she said suddenly, wheezing. “Oh God, I just realised—mummy’s going to flip her shit!” She laughed hysterically, while Ejiro felt his heart drop into his stomach. “Can you imagine? With all her disgusting homophobic talk and now both of us are queer! Ha! I wish I could see the look on her face when you tell her.” Ajiri narrowed her eyes when she noticed his strange silence. “You are going to tell her, right?”
“Ajiri,” Blessing said gently.
