*****Delilah's POV****
There was an awkward moment as Laura left where none of us kind of knew what to do with each other before launching into personal introductions. All the guys seemed so sweet but on first impressions I would say the public got it right with Luca, he was my type on paper.
I could see a few of the girls exchanging glances before hinting at a move over to the sofa as the boys took the fire pit.
"Come on girls, what are we thinking?" I asked. "Are they matching up to your type?"
"I'm happy but I'm not like blown away." Gemma said. "I usually go for the muscles, which he's got, but he's maybe a bit shorter."
"I obviously don't know Ikenna but he's got a nice height on him." Indiyah said. "I was a bit distracted by the crocs but we'll have to see. I'm probably with Gemma in that I'm not blown away."
"Delilah?"
"First impressions are good, I am attracted to him but we'll see. I can't quite read him yet so I'm not sure how well matched we are..."
Amber and I made our way over to our boys so we could go and explore the villa. Luca and I made eye contact as we walked side by side, our shoulder brushing as we went through the narrow doorway.
"Woah look at this place." Dami said, searching for his name on the beds. The two of them seemed quite well matched as they fought over the bed.
"So do you have a preferred side?" Luca asked as we found our bed in the corner.
"I usually sleep on the left but I don't mind."
"No I'll take the right then."
Continuing on we found the make up room, which was honestly the place of dreams, connected to the terrace. Amber and Dami left us to it, so we took the moment to have our first poper conversation together.
"I feel like I should introduce myself then." I told Luca as we sat on the L-shaped cushion. "So yeah I'm Delilah, I'm 25 and I'm a midwife."
"Ok, so I'm 23 and I'm a fishmonger. Did you always want to be a midwife?"
"Always and yeah it's my dream job. I love every moment, don't get me wrong it's tough but I can't imagine doing anything else."
"How long have you been single?"
"So I got out of a four year relationship a year ago."
"Wow, so I'm kind of like the opposite of that, my last relationship lasted about six months and that was six years ago."
"You can't tell me you've been single six years."
"Very smooth, I've just had other priorities and yeah then work took over and I've never really had the confidence to go back on the dating scene." I wanted to make it clear to everyone together the real reasons behind it rather than have rumours floating around. "Do you have a go to date?"
"The last date I took a girl on, I took her on a plane."
"That's pretty out there."
"I mean the first one's got to be special, after that you can just go to Nando's every week. Do you have a favourite sex position?"
"Straight in there."
"Got to know these things." He was definitely a cheeky guy and at the moment I kind of liked that.
"I actually really like spooning and then the guy just like slipping it in there. Boring I know but yeah... you?"
"I think it's called like an oyster or something."
"Explain it to me."
"So your legs are like up in the air." He made hand gestures as he spoke, wrapping a harnd around my ankle to gesture to my legs.
"Mine?"
"Yours and then my head kind of pokes through."
"Maybe I'll try it one day."
"Maybe you will"
Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for the night. I wanted to start off strong so I did quite a full face of make up and chose one of my best dresses in a pink satin mini dress.
"Is there anyone you particularly want to speak to tonight?" Tasha asked me.
"I want to get to know them all. They're all attractive guys. See what they're wearing first."
Everyone was really hyped up for the first night, having a quick dance and the drinks were flowing. We were about to separate again when I could see Tasha was trying to pull us all together.
"I want to speak to you all."
"Oh ok."
I took my spot next to Liam, giving him a shy smile before my attention fell back to Tasha. "Sorry I just wanted to get everyone together and I feel like now is the perfect timing. Basically I was born completely deaf." Wow. "I wear a cochlear implant in my right ear. It's just something cool that I've got about myself and yeah I call it my superpower. But I try to not let it define me, it's just a part of who I am."
"You're amazing." I whispered in her ear, pulling her to my side.
"Thank you."
"But yeah maybe as we're all here I should just give it to you all straight before you hear rumours and I know it will put people off but yeah..." I got their attention. "I have a son, he's 5. His name's Theo and he's my absolute world. I just wanted to put that out there before I tell people and then word gets around. We're a package deal and I think anyone who's potentially going to be with me should know that."
I know it's not how some people would have done it but we are a package deal and I'm not ashamed of it at all. Without even being here I know Theo will be on my mind all the time.
I didn't want to get the initial reactions of the guys in case it upset me so I focused on the girls who were all really supportive and took their turns in giving me a hug.
"Anymore for anymore?" I tried to joke as we went to walk away but I was pulled back by Dami as he wrapped his arms around my shoulder to stop me.
"You're amazing, keep telling yourself that." He whispered in my ear. I don't know why but I didn't get romantic vibes from it at all, it felt more like my big brother saying that.
"Thank you." Many family and friends have told me that over the years but just hearing someone who was a stranger only a couple of hours ago say that took me aback and gave me that confidence that I could be here and I wasn't defined by it at all.
****
Tasha, Gemma and I went over to the sofa where Andrew, Liam and Luca were sat. I hadn't spoken to Luca since I told them all about Theo, I didn't blame him though I know it's a big shock and they all probably have millions of questions they want to ask me.
"I said you three are going to be like the naughty trio." Tasha said to the boys as I took a seat between Luca and Liam.
"We're good boys." Luca replied sharing a cheeky look between the other boys.
"What do you do?"
"I sell fish"
"What about you?" I asked Gemma, suddenly realising I only really knew her age and that was it.
"I'm an international dressage rider."
"All I can picture when you say that is just a horse doing the robot. So how do they dance?" Luca asked.
"They just like fling their legs around and walk sideways, it's a bit cringe to talk about it to be honest."
"Gemma what?" Liam asked.
"Gemma Owen."
"Owen?"
"Yeah."
"Nice, it just flows." Of course we all knew what he was getting at, she was well known to be a footballer's daughter and when you know you're going on here you're super attentive to any speculation on possible fellow islanders.
"You're Italian so what's yours?" Andrew asked Luca, which I did not know.
"My name is Luca, because my mum got to choose that. My surname is Bish."
"Bish?"
"Yeah not like Bishop just Bish."
"I like that." I had to admit, Luca Bish did have a nice ring to it.
"I'm not a big fan of that, not feeling it." I did feel like that was a bit harsh from Gemma, like way to make a man feel insecure. It's not like he could have any input on his surname.
"So Bish sells fish." I tried to make a joke out of the situation, leaning into his side to try and provide some comfort to him. "Destined to be you."
"I guess." He whispered back wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
"So Delilah was you like my age when you had your son?" Gemma asked me.
"I found out I was pregnant when I was 19 and had him when I was 20. Not the most ideal time in the second year of uni. But I wouldn't change it for the world now and we made it work."
"Shut up!" All our conversations stopped when we heard Indiyah shout. "Someone's just walked in."
I don't think my head has turned that quick in a very long time, my eyes immediately settling on the hunk tall, handsome guy that just walked out into the garden. "Did someone order an Italian snack?" Of course there was an accent to go with it, his strong Italian accent shining through.
There was no denying that he was good looking, quite tall with nicely groomed facial hair. As I got closer I could also take in his eyes, almost impossible not to get transfixed in them as he pulled me in for two kisses on the cheek.
"Hi I'm Delilah."
"Delilah, I'm Davide."
"That's a strong Italian accent you've got going on there."
"All in the charm babe."
Ok, I can't lie there could be a bit of competition appearing here between the girls. I can kind of see everyone is a bit is a bit shocked at the moment, I think the boys should feel a bit threatened to be honest.
****
After his initial introductions we made our way over to the firepit to play a game of dares. Of course we all knew they were going to mainly be saucy to get the mood going and break the ice.
"Do a striptease." Davide gave us all a little treat, taking off his shirt revealing those lovely abs of his. Yeah I can't lie I don't think I blinked for a good minute whilst he was undressed.
"Seductively kiss the finger of the Islander you fancy the most." Ikenna must have got the wrong end of the stick because Indiyah definitely received more of a suck than a kiss.
"Pick someone to do a Magic Mike dance on you." Liam read his one out.
"Definitely do not pick me." Gemma immediately said.
He kind of looked round for someone to give him someone, obviously he was going to go for Gemma at least as the safest option anyway.
I could see him scanning through the girls before his eyes landed on me. "Delilah."
I was a bit surprised but I fixed my dress and gave him a quick wink before striding over to him. If there's one thing I knew about things like this, it was that you needed to be confident and that would make the whole thing a lot easier. So I took my opportunity straddling his waist, lightly grinding my hips on his thighs and pressing my chest into his.
"That's all you're getting." Taking a quick glance at his face I could see he was quite pleased with my effort, giving me a soft smile before I returned back to my seat.
"Kiss the islander you want to share a bed with the most." If the previous dare wasn't too big of a blow for Liam this definitely was as Gemma took little time in making her way over to Davide. I was a bit shocked by that and the big thing for me is her age, Davide looked to be older than me and I wouldn't go for a 19 year old myself.
Thankfully I managed to avoid Andrew putting me into a sexual position of his choice and swerved a toe sucking by Dami who chose Amber as the one he fancied the most. Davide was spoilt for choice tonight though as Tasha chose to slow dance with him and I thought they were a good match together, who quickly followed it up with a kiss with Amber. Indiyah got to ride Ikenna like a pony round the garden which I also found hilarious.
I was up next and sent up a little prayer as I chose my dare. "Suck the ear of the two islanders you find the most attractive."
Thankfully the picking wasn't too hard for this one, it was more the execution of the dare that was the problem. I first made my way over to Luca, perching next to him and leaning over to take his ear in my mouth. I gave it a quick suck with a few flicks of the tongue before turning round and doing the same to Liam. Settling back between them both and gave them each a kiss on the cheek before going back over to my original spot.
Liam: Girl's got game man, I'm impressed. Really impressed, I want to get to know her more
Luca: Yeah I think I've got some competition here but luckily for me I'm the one she's sharing abed with
****
"How are you all feeling after that?" I asked Amber and Indiyah as we went off afterwards.
"I feel like there's so many underlying feelings floating around that people just aren't sharing yet." Amber said.
"I feel like because me and Ikenna were put together there's like a pressure for there to be some sort of attraction between us. Like does he pick me for the challenges because he wants to pick me or because we've got this sort of awkward connection now."
"That's the same with me and Dami but I don't know, I quite like him. But then I think he kissed me because he thought I would be pissed off at him kissing another girl"
"I did feel bad though for Liam when Gemma told him she wouldn't do that dare and then kissed someone else." I said.
"Wait they're up there." Amber said pointing to the boys up on the balcony. "That means they must have gone through our dirty dressing room."
Remembering our panic getting changed for tonight I can picture the room right now being a state, I'd basically just stripped in front of them all. "My bra's just hanging on the mirror."
"So who does everyone like?" Amber asked.
"I would say my top two boys are Liam and Luca." I said honestly, but I've barely spoken to Liam and my conversation with Luca was really brief. I need to find that connection with them on a deeper level before I could make any distinction between them.
"Their faces as well when you sucked their ear, they're attracted to you." Indiyah confirmed.
"But then there's Davide as well and he's possibly a bit older than the other two. I want to have a chat with him but I also kind of want to wait until all the fuss has gone."
"All I'd say though is that Gemma and Tasha did seem quite taken with him, I'd try and have a chat with him tomorrow, even if it's just casual." Indiyah said. "It's not like he could forget you anyway but just keep you in his mind."
"Yeah."
"I've got a text." Davide shouted from where he was on the bean bags with Dami. "Davide in 24 hours you will couple up with a girl of your choice, leaving one boy single and vulnerable #italiansnack #ciaobella."
"Oh shit."
"24 hours ok,"
"Who do you think he's going to choose?" Indiyah whispered.
"Fuck knows, he's got a lot of options."
****Author's Note****
I hope you like this chapter.
Promise there will be more 1 on 1 chats coming, the start I feel is always so awkward to write.
Boy's POV/third person also coming up....
Please vote and comment any suggestions.
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