****Deliliah's POV****
"Luca."
I know I should feel bad for Gemma but my overwhelming emotion was just relief that she hadn't picked Jacques, I know she could still be interested in him but this was at least one obstacle that we'd managed to avoid. I could finally lift my head up at that point and ignored Luca going to hug Gemma and focused on Jacques who had his signature smirk on his face as he gave me a wink.
Next up in the recoupling was Tasha who went for Andrew, promptly followed by Amber who picked Dami.
Ekin-Su was the next one to couple up. "I've decided to couple up with this boy because he's made me feel a certain way I haven't felt. I felt like the connection between me and him was something I haven't had in a long time. And he made me feel like a little girl at christmas opening her presents and I haven't felt like this in a long time. And I wanted to go for my feelings and I'm very excited to see where this could go. So the boy I want to couple up with is Jay."
Gemma was then up. "I want to couple up with this boy because I think in the last few days he's really started to show his personality in here, his funny side and I think everyone can agree that we love that side to him. I think obviously the guy that I was supposed to be coupled up with is taken. But the boy I want to couple up with is Davide."
Which left me with the next prompt to stand up.
"I would like to couple up with this boy because when I'm with him I feel like I can truly be myself. Even though we've only known each other a short period of time it feels very natural when I'm with him and he makes me feel comfortable all the time."
"I've turned into a soppy girl again and even though I hate that side of me I also can't thank him enough for allowing me to feel like that again and I'm excited to see where this could go. So the boy I would like to couple up with is..."
"Jacques."
I don't know who was smiling more as he came over, planting a small kiss on my lips before sitting down with me, his arm resting on my shoulders. "I should be the one thanking you." He whispered. "Was that nerve racking?"
"I think my heart is still pounding now."
Indiyah was the last girl left standing and she had Ikenna and Remi to choose from, whoever wasn't picked would be dumped from the island.
"I would like to couple up with this boy because he is handsome, he makes me smile and he's such a gentleman. I feel like he's starting to peel off his layers now and I'm excited to get to know him and happy to see what could happen between us in the future. So the boy I'd like to couple up with is Ikenna."
I think everyone is upset when someone goes and they haven't really had their chance in here, it must be hard when people are starting to close themselves off and are maybe reluctant to get to know other guys. But Remi was a gentleman and we gave him a good send off, hoping he would find love on the outside.
*****
Once we'd seen Remi off we moved back into the garden and we were all stood in the kitchen chatting about what had happened, with Danica taking Luca off.
"I kind of admire her for having the balls to pick Luca." I told Indiyah as I stood between Jacques' legs as he sat on the counter. "Don't get me wrong I would be saying something completely different is she picked Jacques so I can understand why Gemma might be upset."
"I get it but then at the same time she's given herself an added obstacle, like if Luca does close himself off then she's basically got to go and graft another guy."
"I kind of didn't like his reaction though, he was borderline rude I think with not even acknowledging her."
"I think it's hard to understand where the line is drawn." Jacques said. "Like he's probably just being cautious because he doesn't want Gemma to get the wrong end of the stick."
"Yeah."
"Anyway can we go and chat." Jacques said, quietly saying goodbye to Indiyah as he took me over to the little alcove, sitting in the corner of the sofa so my legs were over the top of his. "Are you happy then?"
"About what?"
"That I didn't get picked, that we can share a bed again tonight." He whispered, his hand slowly going further up my thigh till it reached the hem of my dress.
"I can't lie and say I'm not happy. She's a good looking girl and that just complicates things even further."
"Even if she did pick me, I'd still be focusing on you. You're my number one priority right now."
"Really?"
"Honest, I'm nothing if not honest and I'd tell you if I felt differently, like you really don't have to stress about it I don't think. Obviously you said it in your speech but this just really feels natural with you. I feel like we could sit here and just talk for hours."
"Same, you've brought out another side to me that I haven't had in some many years."
"So when was like your last date?" He asked.
"I think I've been two dates in the past six years. I just close myself off to people and that's why I came on here to push myself to make that move and try and find something serious."
"Do you think you've done that to protect yourself?"
"I guess, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm just scared of getting hurt and I know guys struggle to understand that they can't be my number one priority on the outside world and they'll always come second to Theo. Maybe that's why this is good, I've got this time to get to know someone and they can judge then if it's worth it that I won't be at their beck and call."
"Well all I can say is these guys are definitely missing out, I'm just the lucky man who's got the opportunity to get to know you."
"I think I'm the lucky one." I whispered, leaning in to him as he reciprocated the kiss I gave him. This was more intense and passionate than any of the ones we shared before, I knew no one could see us and my senses had gone into overload with his hands pulling me to straddle his lap, his hands near enough on my arse as I threaded mine through his hair. I had to be one to separate us, almost running out of breath as I leaned down to rest me head on his chest. "That will definitely take a bit of getting used to,"
"You're telling me."
The bedroom had definitely got a bit more awkward with the bed swaps going on. Luca had decided that he didn't want to share a bed with Damica out of respect for Gemma but that left Damica on her own, whereas Gemma had decided to stay in her bed with Davide. Jay was silently smirking though as he got to finally share a bed with Ekin.
"Mate what's happened to your hair?" Dami asked Jacques as we got settled in bed that night, his hair sprouting all different ways from earlier on.
"Lilah must have a thing for hair." He smirked as I his my face in his chest.
"Stop!" I shouted before leaning up to whisper in Jacques' ear. "If I've got a thing for hair you've definitely got a thing for my arse.
"Hey I'm not disputing that one bit."
****
Ekin had a big smirk on her face the next morning as Jay made a special trip up to the terrace to bring her a cup of tea. You could tell he'd been taking notes and knew not to take the wrong turn like Davide had.
"How was your conversation with Luca?" Amber asked Danica. "If you don't mind me asking."
"No of course you're alright to ask. He was very polite and respectful, he just sort of said that right now he doesn't think his head would be turned. I have absolutely no problem with that. It was a massive risk for me to take but I just didn't have anything to go off and I don't regret my decision as such but I've maybe made this a little bit more difficult for myself."
To make things just that bit more awkward Danica and Luca were sent on a date that afternoon. I guess all I could hope for with this is that Luca would at least be a bit more welcoming to her, I didn't want her first date in here to be just silence.
"Are you looking forward to our first date?" Jacques asked as we led together on the sofa.
"Yeah, I hope they do something good for us though. I would have liked the tennis one to be honest, something more active and then chilled."
"Nah I reckon they'll give us like a picnic or something like that."
"I mean whatever it is will have to make up for the company." I joked.
"Take that back." He whispered in my ear before moving to straddle my waist, tickling up and down my sides as my chest rattled with laughter and I tried to escape his grasp not able to keep still.
"I swear my top is about to come off." I warned as my boobs were almost about to burst out of the stringy top.
"It's almost like you want me to carry on saying stuff like that."
"Oh yeah?"
"Oi oi, what's happening?" We were interrupted in the moment as Luca shouted that out, Jacques sitting up, still on top of me.
"Thank the lord man, I thought Jacques and Delilah were about to strip each other's clothes off in front of us then." Dami said.
"Shut up Dami." I shouted back as we had to separate with a pat on my arse sending me off to go and sit with the girls.
"Where did you go?" Amber asked.
"We went to the beach. Quite a rocky beach."
"How was it with Luca?"
"Yeah he's a nice boy, you know I've not got a bad word to say about him. He was polite and was clear that he didn't want things to be awkward between us so yeah that's all you can ask"
I had noticed that afternoon that Danica did pull Jacques for a chat and I could see he was engaging her but I was going to keep my promise of not sweating over this until he gave me a reason to do so.
****
That night I got changed into a bright yellow dress, I can't lie and say a bit of thought didn't go to Jacques as he did seem like a boobs man.
I took a seat next to Indiyah around the firepit with Luca.
"How are things going with Ikenna?" I asked her.
"We're still getting to know each other but then sometimes I feel like I should know more. With me, I am a confident person but then maybe because he's more shy and in to himself that I kind of mirror that and I don't want to make him uncomfortable or anything." You could just see how down she was about the whole situation. "But yeah, it's tough. I'm starting to think that maybe our personalities are too different and yeah it may have been two weeks..."
"But like two weeks is a long time, sharing a bed with someone, spending time with them 24 hours a day." Luca said. "If something has not happened in that time then is it the time to move on.."
"I just think there's something missing. For example like Dami, we just talk and bounce off each other but is it because we're not in a romantic setting. But then Dami is probably easier to talk to for everyone, I just want to be clear of the situation now because I don't want to just coast along if he isn't feeling it."
"Do you feel that spark?" I asked.
"Not yet."
"I can see him talking to Danica." I said. "Come on Luca, you must have talked to her, is she feeling him?"
"She didn't mention him when I asked her."
"You asked her! Who did she say?"
"Probably not the best way to reveal this but she said it was between me and Jacques. I think he's like top of her list to get to know."
"Fuck me." I whispered, leaning into Indiyah. "Go for someone else man."
"But it's early days." Indiyah said. "Just trust him until he gives you a reason not to because so far all I've seen is like them just having chats, it's nothing like how affectionate you two are."
"I guess, at least I've got you and Amber to tell me some home truths."
"How are you and Amber getting along?" A bit of a weird question from Luca.
"Yeah we get along well, probably someone I trust more than some of the girls."
"Do you know something?" Indiyah asked and now that I notice it he did wince a little when I said that.
"Obviously I said that I'd have your back in here and everything but when I talked to her the other day she asked whether Jacques could be doing all this to warn Jay off and then asked if you was being more affectionate with Jacques to make me jealous."
What the fuck. Like that pisses me off, why judge someone for coming out of their shell a bit more and why does she feel the need to talk to Luca of all people about this,
"Is that not snaky?" I asked, "Like why be like that one moment and then encouraging me to find someone the next."
"I just said that I couldn't see you doing something like that. It was hard I'll admit to see you be like that but I could also respect that I deserved that for how I handled things."
"Now that you mention it when we were up on the terrace she was like talking about he's a player and how you could get hurt for going with him." Indiyah said, remembering our conversation from just the other day after we kissed. "She was concerned that you kissed too soon."
"I just don't get it. Like that's snaky and I don't like snaky people. Say it to my face or don't day it at all because then I'll have a problem with you."
Don't judge my character whilst pretending to be concerned for me to my face because I can be a bitch when I need to be and Amber has got a whole ton of explaining to do.
****Author's Note****
I hope you like this chapter.
I've kind of made it hard for myself here, the plan was always to have her kind of unlucky in love and that would have meant Jacques having his head turned but honestly I love them so much together!!!! Still deciding what to do but for now they're as strong as ever!
Please vote and comment any suggestions.
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