This chapter contains gropes, dirty jokes & butterscotch chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.
**Viewer Discretion is Advised**
Bobby woke up groggy and anxious. He brushed his teeth and showered, feeling half-alive. There was no sense of time in the villa, the phones didn't even have clocks, but he guessed that he'd only gotten about two hours of sleep. Lili was gone when he got up and he hadn't been able to find her anywhere, which only spiked his anxiety.
He had no idea what had happened the night before. Things seemed so great. They'd kissed and cuddled and done bits and she said that she might be all in with him. And then Lucas said something to her about wanting to leave the villa and after that she'd completely shut Bobby out.
His stomach churned when he remembered her turning away. He didn't truly think Lili was a liar, but maybe she had feelings for Lucas that she wasn't ready to admit. He rubbed his head and groaned. It was time for a brew.
He bumped into Lottie on his way to the kitchen and she was moping about, looking like his little sister when she'd lost her Barbie doll in the sandpit. He couldn't stand the fog of sadness she was spreading throughout the villa.
So, he baked.
First, a batch of cupcakes and then while they were cooling, a batch of oatmeal butterscotch chocolate chip cookies. And while those were cooling, a batch of homemade croissants drizzled with honey butter.
Baked goods didn't solve problems, but they did make things feel better for a little while.
He hid the cookies, piled the croissants prettily on a tray, then set it in the middle of the table. After, he turned his attention back to the cupcakes and decorated them with rainbow waves and little fondant dolphins. It didn't take long for word to spread and soon the entire villa had descended like locusts on the platter, leaving nothing but a pool of honey butter and a few flaky bits of pastry behind.
But no Lili.
He sat the platter in the sink, and walked out of the kitchen, pretending that he was there to stretch and not to search for his missing partner. Hope and Noah were playing with a beach ball in the pool. Priya and Marisol were on the daybeds. Rahim, Gary, and the Horse's Ass were all working out at the gym. Lottie was curled up in a sun lounger, one hand on her forehead, looking tragic.
"Hey!" Hope waved toward the villa and Bobby followed the direction of her gaze. His chest tightened as Lili gracefully sauntered to the yard and waved back.
What was she wearing? Instead of one of her sexy bathing suits, she had on jean shorts and a black t-shirt that was snug across her chest. He squinted his eyes to read it. 'Real men eat cupcakes.'
All of his apprehension was knocked aside. He'd seen her in tiny bikinis that made his pulse go mad, but for some reason, the sight of her in his shirt did even more for him. Maybe he'd been overthinking everything with her and Lucas. When a woman wore your clothes, she wanted to be yours.
Hope gestured for Lili to join her at the pool but she shook her head and kept walking, heading toward the kitchen. Bobby skipped backward, nearly tripping over his own feet and attempted to look busy with the finished cupcakes.
She stopped when she saw him. "Oh, hey," she said, tentatively.
"Hey." He nudged the cupcakes that were already perfectly ordered on a plastic tray. "Are you alright? I was starting to worry about you."
She cast her eyes down, looking guilty. "Yeah, I'm sorry, babe. Got a text and I had to go to the beach hut for a confessional. And after, I just...needed some time to myself."
"Okay," he said brightly. "Well, I'm glad to see you."
Her smile was so soft and lovely he blinked to protect his tired eyes from it. She crossed the kitchen and reached for him. He quickly wiped his hands on a towel and wrapped his arms around her, feeling the morning's tension ebb away. This was what he'd missed the night before. She pressed her face to his neck and sighed.
"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?" he asked.
"No. No. I'm...I'm okay." She pulled back. "I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I'll be fine."
"Is it...am I making you fee--"
"No babe!" She stroked his cheek. "You're amazing. It's not anything to do with you."
Then it was Lucas. Lucas had made her feel some kind of way and she had needed the morning. That could mean anything. He sighed and looked down at the words on her top. It had to mean something too. "You're wearing my shirt."
She tugged at it. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't ask before putting it on! That was so rude of me. I've been a little off since I wok--"
He grabbed her and pulled her in for a kiss. She melted into him and laughed giddily as he pushed her against the fridge and kissed her again and again. He slid a hand beneath the t-shirt, stroking her stomach. "This shirt on you is doing things for me."
"I can see that," she said.
His hand slid a little higher on her stomach, and his mouth dropped lower, kissing the soft skin under her jaw. She made a rumbly sound of enjoyment.
With ease, he slid a knee between her legs and pushed them apart. "Am I going to have to start calling you, Cupcakes?" he murmured in her ear.
She gasped and shivered. "That's a nickname you'll have to earn calling me."
"Mmm, that's fine. You happen to be my favourite dessert."
Her moan unraveled his brain like a licorice twist. She kissed him hungrily and sucked the tip of his tongue. His hips jerked at the delicious sensation and he pushed closer. Her laugh was husky and hot. She reached between them and gave his cock a few slow surreptitious strokes. "I do believe you owe me a meal of my own."
All the blood rushed from his brain. He gripped her hips and pulled her to him. "Bedroom," he growled.
Her eyes brightened with excitement and she nodded. He grabbed her hand, eager to get them back to where they were yesterday afternoon. But Lottie wandered in looking wan, and they both froze. "What are you two up to?"
"Nothing," Lili said, far too quickly. Bobby struggled to keep his smirk at bay.
"Are those dolphins?" Lottie asked, pointing at the cupcakes on the counter.
"Oh yeah! They're for you! I know that dolphins are your favourite and you were feeling down so..."
Lottie's eyes filled with tears. She yanked him into a hug. "That's the sweetest thing anyone's done for me. Thank you!"
Bobby arched his hips backward, to avoid rubbing his still pulsing stauner on her, and patted her back. "It's no problem." She held him for a really long time. He caught Lili's eye over Lottie's shoulder, and she raised an amused eyebrow at him.
He threw his arms out to his sides in a 'what-can-you-do?' gesture.
"How did you make these!" Lottie said, releasing him and grabbing one of the dolphins off the rainbow icing. "Show me!"
"Oi, no mangling my creations!" he said, placing the dolphin back into place. "I'll show you."
He gave Lili an apologetic look and she pouted playfully at him in return. Shrugging, she turned as if to leave, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back. The whole villa would benefit from him lifting Lottie's spirits. But being around Lili would lift his spirits. Maybe he could have both. "Oh no you don't. You get over here." He lifted her up and plopped her onto the clean back counter. "You Houdinied on me enough today. Stay there."
Lottie was still poking at the dolphin with her dark nails. "Stop it," he said. "Here." The leftover fondant was still on the counter. He grabbed a handful and handed it to her. "I'll show you how to make one. But first..." He turned and grabbed the cookies from their hiding place in the lower cupboard and pulled one out. He smiled at Lili. "You told me the other day that Lauren's oatmeal butterscotch chocolate chip cookies were your favourite."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "Oooh, you are a brave boy."
"I'm confident."
"Hmm. We'll see. I have exacting cookie standards."
He folded a cookie in half and fed it to her. Her brows rose and fell as she chewed, her eyes sparkling. "Oh my god, how did you manage it? Lauren is never going to forgive you!"
"Hey, this is what I do best." He fed her the other half.
"Oh my god," she moaned. Rapture filled his heart...and other parts.
But he also had a Lottie to cheer up. So, he turned back around to find that she'd made a little witch hat with a curvy brim. "That's cute but it's not today's lesson." He grabbed some more fondant and rolled it into the shape of the dolphin's body and made the crude start of a snout. "Like that, see?"
He glanced behind him at Lili, who was eyeing the cookie container and probably calculating her chances of whether he'd notice if she took another. He got the milk and poured a mug full and handed it to her, along with another cookie. "I'm watching you, lass. You can't be trusted with baked goods."
She blinked big innocent eyes at him and dipped the cookie in the milk.
When he returned to Lottie, she was shaping a pretty decent dolphin and looking happy for the first time all day. A rush of pride washed through him. "That's great!" He took it and shaped it up a bit and then handed her the food coloring and a ragged detail brush he'd found in the drawer. "Paint it. Go mad."
Lottie squealed and set to work. He spun and caught Lili slipping a cookie from the container. He raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned. "You knew what this was."
He put the cover on the container and shoved it back inside the cupboard, before sliding his hand into Lili's hair and pulling her face close so he could taste the butterscotch on her lips. She giggled. "You are a man who knows how to multitask."
He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "You already knew that." When he checked on Lottie, she was gleefully painting her dolphin black.
The slap of giant feet on the decking distracted him as Noah wandered up. He was soaking wet from the pool. "Hope is requesting the presence of one Lili Clarke-Reyes in the pool for a game of beach ball volleyball."
"Oh, no thank you," she said. "Not today."
"You have met Hope right? She doesn't exactly take no for an answer. Are you really sending me back to tell her that?" He gave Lili a pleading look.
"I don't feel like swimming."
Grimacing, he nodded and returned to the pool. A conversation ensued and then his giant paddle feet returned to the kitchen.
"I'm supposed to tell you..." He cleared his throat. "'Girl, get over it and stop shaming yourself for being attractive.'"
"What?" Bobby gave Lili a confused look but she didn't make eye contact.
"I'm not shaming anything, I'm just not comf--" she shook her head. "Hope has a big mouth. No."
"Okay well, there's a recoupling today and I have to make my duck happy, so I hope you can forgive me for this." Noah took three huge steps toward Lili and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
She laughed and shrieked. "Nooooo!"
He turned around and shrugged. "Sorry Bobby, I'm stealing your girl."
"Just as long as you bring her back."
"You have my word." With that, Noah made his way back to the pool and gently sat her on her feet. He gestured to Hope, who swam to the edge of the pool. Lili laughed and shook her head.
"Lottie," Bobby said quietly. "Do you know what Hope meant about shaming?"
"Uh-huh," she said as she painted silver stars on her dolphin. "Partly. That mean tweet has her all knotted up about seeming like she's leading the guys on. Then there was something about Lucas."
Bobby's back tensed. "What about Lucas?"
"I don't know. She was telling Hope something this morning but she pulled her head in when she saw me. Priya was snooping too. She might have caught more than I did. Lili doesn't usually gossip or keep secrets so it must be juicy." Lottie spun the dolphin around on a scrap of waxed paper and showed it to him. She perched the now-purple witch hat on top of it's head. "What do you think?"
"Looks great," he said, absently. "Sit it in the fridge and let it dry. It'll keep for a while. And take a couple cupcakes. But don't mangle any in front of me. I put a lot of work into them."
Lottie squealed and slid her dolphin in the fridge. She grabbed three cupcakes in her slender hands and bent to kiss Bobby's cheek. "Thank you again for being so sweet. You really are the best."
She took off for the villa and Bobby went to talk to Priya, who was chatting with Marisol on the daybed.
"Hey Bobby!" Priya said. "Something smells amazing over in the kitchen."
"I made cupcakes and cookies. The croissants are all gone."
"Busy boy." Priya stretched out and watched him closely. "What's that look?"
He hesitated, not wanting to create gossip. Priya could be trusted to a certain extent, but Marisol enjoyed creating gossip havoc upon occasion. As if Marisol read his thoughts, she stood up. "I'm hungry. I'm going to see if there's any fruit in the bowl." She wandered away and he sat down next to Priya.
"You're making a very un-Bobby face. What's up?"
"Lili's acting a little strange and Hope said something about body shaming? I was wondering if you know anything about what's going on. Lottie thought it might have something to do with Lucas, but she didn't know more than that."
"Mm," Priya nodded. "I overheard her talking to Hope but I didn't catch much. Something about feeling guilty? And she was worried it was her fault? I don't know." She gave Bobby a stunner of a smile. "Are you worried about the recoupling?"
"No, no, not that," he said. "Just trying to understand."
"Eh, maybe she's just moody. Happens to the best of us." Priya stretched out. "You two seem like you're doing well, though."
"You think? Has she said anything about us?"
"She's said a few things. But honestly Bobby, you're boring me." She leaned over and looked at him intently. "Ask what you want to ask. I'll probably keep it to myself."
He sighed. "Does she fancy Lucas?"
Priya laughed. "Not that I'm aware of. Now ask the real question."
"Does she--" he frowned. "Does she still fancy me?"
"Oh my god, boys are so stupid." Priya shook her tawny hair back. "Yes! She fancies you!"
He sat up straighter. "Yeah?"
"Bobby, she practically has little cartoon hearts fluttering around her when she talks about you." She chuckled. "Earlier the girls were talking about making the perfect boy out of the ones here and she got all flustered about it and said it would basically be all your parts. Face, arms, chest, legs, hands. Though to be fair all the girls chose your hands. Even Hope."
He beamed. "They really are great, aren't they?"
"Yes, but my point is that she adores you. It's so disgusting."
He absorbed that. She didn't wish for any part of him to be different? Not Rahim's abs or Gary's beefy arms or Lucas's face?
Priya jabbed him in the shoulder with her finger. "I do have to ask, though. Don't you think you're moving fast? You're both getting awfully lovey-dovey for knowing each other less than two weeks."
"And you're not moving fast? I do believe you and Rahim were getting lovey-dovey last night."
Priya didn't look embarrassed. "We were both happy that he wasn't eliminated, so we celebrated. Not my fault the bed is noisy." She grinned "Anyway that's just having a good time. You don't have to catch feelings to do that." Her eyes narrowed. "Just...don't put all your eggs in one basket. That's all I'm saying."
"Priya." He gave her a slow smirk. "Are you hoping I'll leave an egg out for you?"
She looked him up and down. "I've never made it a secret. There's always a spot in my basket if you're interested." She shrugged. "But you're not. I can't compete with the paragon of virtue that is Lili."
"Paragon of virtue?" He shook his head. Even though he often thought of her as being an angel, he could still recall the feeling of her tongue when it had brushed his cock. Then there were her cheeky smirks and dirty jokes. "She's not as innocent as you make her sound."
"No I suppose not. It's more of an...what did Rocco call it? An aura. She's so good and sincere." Priya wrinkled her nose. "She's wonderful and honestly, it's exhausting being around someone who makes you feel bad for being a greedy, sexed up human. You know?" She got a mischievous glint in her eye. "Not as innocent, huh? Have you been making your bed noisy?"
"No! No! Not...like that."
"Liar! Look at those pink cheeks!" Priya howled with laughter. "Tell me something good! Is she one of those girls who doesn't make any noise? Just lays there politely thanking you for your service?"
"What? No. I mean we're not...completely there. I mean just...no."
"Lottie swore she heard a lot of noise out on the daybeds the other night, but I thought she was exaggerating."
"Just stop." He felt supremely uncomfortable with discussing the details of what he and Lili got up to, and more so, discussing it to feed Priya's amusement.
"We've all been taking bets on how long before you two bump tummies. Hope and Noah, of course, got there before anyone." She rolled her eyes. "But you two are always snogging. Lottie's sure you've already done it. I think it's just snogs and bits. But you two have definitely done some big bits, right?"
"I've got to clean the kitchen," Bobby said.
"Oh come on! Tell me something!"
"No, because you'll run around and tell everyone!"
"Of course I will! Some gossip is just too juicy for friend-code."
"Bye, Priya." He hopped off the bed and headed back to the kitchen.
"You're no fun!" she shouted.
"You take that back!" he hollered before rounding the corner.
He stopped and his chest filled with light. Lili had her head down, concentrating on the bowl she was washing. The entire kitchen was clean and tidy and she was piling dishes on a towel to dry.
"Aww, lass, you didn't have to clean up after me!"
She looked up at him and the softness in her eyes melted him like licked ice cream. "You baked me cookies, I cleaned the kitchen. That's a fair trade."
"I'd bake you cookies no matter what." He walked over. "Besides it's the girls' choice recoupling today. Shouldn't I be the one trying to impress you? Let me finish this."
"I'm not into those kinds of power games. You know how I feel about you. Anyway, I'm almost done. You can dry if you'd like."
Did he know? Sometimes he thought he knew. And he always hoped. He tucked away every sweet gesture and kind word like the best cards in his primary school Pokémon deck. One by one, he'd pull them out to battle the voice in his head that insisted he wasn't good enough for her. And every time he seemed to come up one card short.
He started wiping down the dishes with an annoyingly cheap dish cloth that didn't want to sop up the damp. She concentrated on the wooden spoon she was scrubbing. "Bobby?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry about last night."
He grabbed a different, fluffier towel and dried the mixing bowl. "I'm not entitled to bits or cuddles, Lil. You can always say no. I'll never be mad about that."
"I know. It's just..." She looked upward as if searching for the right words. "I worried you and I'm sorry for that."
"Ah, okay. So I worried you by worrying about you because you were worrying." He kissed her shoulder. "No worries."
She rolled her eyes and laughed. So he started humming "Hakuna Matata," and by the time they finished the dishes, they were singing a full blown--if slightly off-key--musical number.
Giggling, she hung up the wet towels. "There." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a smooch. "Aw, you look so knackered, babe."
"Yeah, I didn't sleep well again. I don't know what's going on with me." He pulled her tight against him and ran his hands up and down her back. "But I'm not too tired for some alone time with you."
"Mmmm, that does sound good. But I think you need to sleep more than you need to snog." She nuzzled his nose with hers. "Want to take a nap on the daybeds with me?"
The buzz he had gotten from cooking and feeding and making people happy had faded. He yawned widely. "That sounds fantastic."
She led him to the now abandoned daybeds and peeled the bedding back. "Get in there, pastry chef." They both climbed inside of the sun-warmed sheets and she wrapped her arms around him. He nuzzled his face into her t-shirted chest. "You smell so good," he muttered into her cleavage.
"What do I smell like?"
He breathed deeply. "Sunlight."
The last thing he heard was her laugh, carrying him into a peaceful dream of violet lights dancing like forest faeries around his head.
***
Bobby wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep but he awoke in a puddle of drool on Lili's chest.
He groaned and sat up. The sun was high in the sky. "What day is it? How has the world changed? Has Skynet become self-aware?"
Her smile cleared the bleariness from his eyes. "I've honestly got no idea what day it is, but it's the same one as when you fell asleep. The only change in the world right now is that you've stopped snoring. And depending on the timeline we're in, Skynet may already be self-aware."
He laughed. "Why are you so amazing?"
"A question for historians to answer, surely." She shuffled out of the day bed and stretched. "Come on. If we don't go and be sociable, like, for at least a little while we'll never hear the end of it."
"Or we could stay here." He gripped her around the waist and pulled her toward him, pressing his face to her tummy. God, he just loved touching her.
She stroked his locs and dropped her knees back to the bed so she could kiss him. "Why do I feel like you could talk me into walking off a cliff if you wanted to?"
He rolled her onto her side and kissed her. "Because I'm charming as fuck."
"As fook," she said, mimicking his accent.
They kissed for a little while longer. It wasn't heated or rushed. He ran his hands up and down her back and looked into her dark eyes, feeling himself both lost and found. Something had shifted between them and all his fear and worry from the night before seemed silly now. This girl cared for him. She didn't play games. She didn't lie. Why did he keep trying to convince himself otherwise?
Sure, nothing beautiful lasted. Especially for him. But no matter how long they made this work, it was special and he wanted to hold onto every lovely second.
But that meant letting go of this jealousy. It meant trusting and believing her. He breathed deeply through the fear of that and pressed his forehead to hers.
She sighed softly. "Seriously, we should get up now."
He nodded and climbed out of the bed, extending a hand to help her up.
The rest of the afternoon was a rush of sweet looks and gentle touches between them. He felt calm and comfortable. Confident. The same couldn't be said for the other boys. The recoupling had them scrambling to impress the girls, who were giddy with their sudden power. There had been so much posturing, posing, and calls for manly challenges that the air was near choked with anxiety-laced testosterone.
The push-up contest really shoved things over the edge.
"Seventy-eight!" everyone chanted. "Seventy-nine!"
Rahim had already won, but he was still going. Lucas, who'd collapsed at sixty-two, looked put out.
"Eighty!" Rahim flopped onto the grass, his body coated in sweat. The islanders cheered.
"Great job, Violet Man!" Bobby hollered. He was happily push-up free, in a beanbag chair, with Lili cuddled on his lap.
Priya rolled Rahim over. "My hero," she said fondly, helping him up. "Now you should probably get in the pool before you die."
"Poooool!" Gary yelled. Nearly everyone scrambled for the always-chilly water.
"Is it weird that I miss Henrik right now?" Bobby said. "It's so strange that he's gone. He'd have loved all that ridiculousness."
"It's not weird," Lili said. "He would have loved the energy of the whole day. He never let anything bother him so this would have all been for fun. No stress."
"And if Rocco were here, he would have had something fancy to say about the universe and how he's not driven by ego. Except he'd only say that to hide the fact that he couldn't even do as many push-ups as me and I can only do...forty." She gave him a look. "Thirty?" She shook her head. "Fine, I can do sixteen on a good day."
"There's the honesty." She kissed his cheek. "Oof, you're sweaty. Do you want to swim and cool off?"
"I do! Come with me?"
She shook her head. "I just don't feel like swimming today. But you go ahead."
He kissed her and then ran for the pool, pretending to trip and fall belly first in the water. She laughed and clapped her hands.
They had a good time splashing and shouting in the pool. Lottie climbed onto Bobby's shoulders and Hope onto Noah's and they played chicken fight. Hope was a vicious opponent and eventually sent Lottie flying into the water, taking Bobby down with her. After that, they played with a giant beach ball, tossing it back and forth and pretending that they didn't mean to hit each other in the head with it.
He swam to the edge of the pool to take a breather and noticed Lili sitting with her feet beneath her. Lucas sat in the beanbag beside hers and he was speaking intensely. She nodded dispassionately and he recognized that it was the same look she often had when talking to him.
"He doesn't give up, does he?" Lottie asked, swimming up beside him.
"Nope," he said. "He doesn't, but that's fine. Lili isn't interested."
"Still though. I'm gonna go be annoying." Before he could stop her, she climbed out of the pool and ran pell-mell at Lili, throwing herself into her lap and soaking her. "Ozzy hug!"
Laughing, Lili gave her a squeeze. Lottie started babbling. He couldn't hear over all the splashing and conversations in the water, but Lucas's mouth twisted with annoyance and he gave them both a wave before taking a graceful dive into the far end of the pool.
Bobby shook his head. For the first time, he managed to overpower those jealous vines trying to encircle him. He'd given Lucas enough of his energy. He was done acting like his mum, strangling his relationship in order to keep it. He was choosing to trust Lili.
And now he wanted to kiss her.
He hoisted himself out of the pool and caught her staring. Water sluiced down his body and she looked him over with heated eyes. Smirking, he ran his hands through his locs and flexed his arms. She bit her lip and laughed. Beside her, Lottie's eyes also drifted low on his body and she leaned over and whispered something to Lili who flushed.
Heat climbed up his neck and across his face. But his need to kiss Lili was stronger than his embarrassment that Lottie had likely commented on the appearance of his cock. He was nearly to them when a phone chimed. Everyone looked at each other. It sounded really far away.
"Oh, that's mine!" he said. "Must have left it in the kitchen." He turned to jog that direction, but suddenly Lottie raced past him. "What are you doing?" He rushed to catch up, but she'd already made it to the counter and snatched up his phone. She turned to race back. He spun and ran after her. She was holding his phone up, when he jogged back to the crowd of islanders surrounding the bean bag chairs.
"You're such a magpie, Lottie. Can I have it back?"
She held it out. He grabbed it and swiped to unlock it. "Ha!" She snatched it back. "Don't ever let your guard down!" She tapped the screen. "'Islanders, before tonight's recoupling the girls will have a chance to get to know the boys better. Each girl will take a boy of her choice out on a date this afternoon. #trybeforeyoubuy.'"
The girls cheered. The guys exchanged uneasy glances. Hope pumped her fist in the air. "It's date night, baby! Or date afternoon, at least!"
A phone beeped and Lili stood. "'Lili, you will go on the first date of the afternoon. Please choose a guy to go on a date with. And then get ready to leave the villa. #earlybird #pickofthepack.'" Her eyes sparked with mischief and she tapped her finger on her lip. "I wish there was a handsome and fantastic pastry chef here who made me laugh. I'd deffo take that guy on a date."
Bobby stepped forward grinning. "Would you settle for me?"
She looked him over and smiled. "You'll do. Wanna go on a date with me?"
"I'd love to! It's gonna be so nice for us to get alone time together." He swung around and held up his hands. "Not that I don't love you guys, of course."
They raced for the villa to change. He took his time choosing the right breeks to pair with his pink and black button down. He sprayed a tiny bit of cologne, smoothed his locs and moisturized his face. Day in and day out under the Mallorcan sun, everyone was starting to dry out like roasts on too-high heat.
When Lili met him at the front of the villa, his heart constricted. She kept his t-shirt on, but she'd knotted it high on her torso and paired it with a black leather skirt and some very sexy silver heels.
"Every time I think you can't get more beautiful, you prove me wrong," he said.
"Same for you." She smoothed the collar of his pink and black button down. "You look fantastic. I don't think I've told you how much I love your style. It's so bold and confident."
He preened at the compliment. "My friend Louis and I shop together. He's got great style and taste." He pointed at his pink pants. "I think sometimes he wishes I'd tone it down just a little on the color, but I am who I am."
"And I'm glad of it. I like who you are."
His heart thumped out a raucous beat. "You're so sweet." He kissed her on the temple and took her hand. "Come on, babe. Let's go drink wine in the daytime."
The date was designed for romance. They had decent wine and mediocre bread, seated in the middle of a gorgeous vineyard. It was nice just to be away from everyone, despite the cameras. No one was chasing after them or pulling them apart. And so they talked about nothing. It was one of those breezy conversations where it didn't matter precisely what was said, because you were too busy relishing the sight of every smile and the sound of every laugh to worry about something as ordinary as words.
All too soon, the wine was gone and Lili was picking at the last piece of slightly underproofed sourdough. He sat back in the tiny garden chair and took a deep breath. "Looks like it's time for me to pop the big question."
"Recoupling or more wine? It could go either way."
"I don't think the waitstaff is coming to bring us more wine. Haven't seen them once since we arrived."
"Terrible service in this vineyard," she said. "We should leave a nasty Yelp review."
He pulled out his phone and pretended to text. "'The bread was lackluster and the free wine wasn't unlimited. Bread emoji. Angry face emoji. Thumb down emoji. One star.'"
"It's hot when you go all hulk smash on the emoji keyboard, Karen."
He laughed and sat up straighter. "So...what are you thinking about the recoupling this evening?"
"Honestly?"
He folded his hands together to keep them from shaking. "Uh, yeah."
"Well, I've been having the best time getting to know you. You make me laugh like no one else ever has and you're beautiful in every way a person can be beautiful." She held up her phone and pretended to type. "Ten out of ten, would recouple. Cupcake emoji. Face blowing a kiss emoji. Baby otter with his paws on his tummy emoji."
Joy lit him up inside and the warmth of that light washed away his lingering fears. He tried to hide the intensity of his emotion with a smile. "I followed you until the baby otter."
"Have you ever looked at a baby otter? You get all soft and you put your hand over your heart and the world just seems brighter for you having experienced that amazing, lovely creature."
"So I'm like a...weasel?"
"More of an experience. An adorable weasel experience." She stood and started putting the wine glasses back in the basket.
The sun fell low in the sky, making a fiery halo around her and he couldn't stop himself from grabbing both of her hands and tugging her to his lap. "Come over here." She sat and he kissed the backs of her hands. "Seriously, I feel so lucky that we found each other."
"I feel the same," she said. "There's no one else I want." She kissed him tenderly. He stroked the sides of her neck with his fingers, and she held him tight, like she feared letting him go. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest and he lost track of the world around him. The kiss may have been slow, but still, everything spun, as if they were on a playground roundabout, pushed faster and faster. It was all he could do to hold on as the earth rushed by.
When they pulled apart, he was light-headed. He pressed kisses to her chin and cheeks and blew out a breath. "Well, that's it. You've ruined kissing for me."
"Have I?"
"Yes." He looked into her eyes. "Now anyone else will just be disappointing by comparison."
The world had just slowed down, but her smile made it spin again. "I guess you're stuck with me then."
The shadows of the vines stretched as the sun continued to descend. He kissed her a few more times before reluctantly letting go of her. They packed up the basket and held hands all the way back to the villa.
When they arrived everyone else was already back and changed for the evening. The whole group was huddled around the bar, where Lottie was peeling lemons and Gary was whistling and making lemonade. Bobby pulled one of the stools out for Lili to sit.
"There you two are!" Priya smiled over the rim of her glass. "First ones to go and last ones to come back! How was your date?"
Across the kitchen, Lucas sipped his lemonade, but his gaze was intensely focused on them. Bobby tried to ignore him and leaned forward to rest his forearms on the counter. "Well, we were both there so it was pure perfect," he said. "We went to a vineyard and just enjoyed being alone with each other. Good wine and good chat." He leaned over and kissed the side of her neck. "The bread was just okay."
"It was lovely," Lili said, giving Bobby a sweet look. "Pure perfect."
"Details!" Marisol said. "Were there bits amongst the manto negro vines? Lili, you're standing like you're hiding something."
"More importantly, did you bring us any wine?" Hope asked.
"Come on now," Noah said. "Give them a chance to get changed while they have five minutes of peace. The recoupling is happening soon."
Hope slid her lemonade aside and grabbed Lili by the hand. "I'll help you get ready. We need some girl talk!"
Gary's eyes brightened. "Oh! I'll take you for guy talk!" He clapped Bobby on the shoulder. "Let's get you ready for this thing."
Guy talk turned out to be nothing so much as Bobby getting dressed up again while Gary went on about how pretty and fun Lottie had been on their picnic date in a lemon grove. His excitement was all kinds of baby otter with its paws on its tummy.
"I mean she's hot, that helps," Gary said. "But she's so different, mate. We shouldn't have anything in common, but I just really like talking to her. Even when I don't understand what she's talking about with her tea leaves and her star chats."
"Charts?"
"Oh yeah, charts. Anyway, she didn't say if she would pick me but I think she will. I hope she will. What about you?"
Bobby buttoned his shirt. Usually he was drowning in anxiety during these kinds of events. But not now. He felt calm and collected. Assured. "Lili is choosing me," he said.
"Yeah, I'm not surprised. You two are like a luffing cable on a crawler crane."
Bobby checked himself over in the bathroom mirror. "What?"
"Built to last," Gary said. "Durable. I can tell. She's a special girl and you're a great lad. You two look at each other like..."
"If the end of that sentence has the word crane in it, I'm going to worry about you."
Gary laughed as his phone dinged. "Oh. It's time! Let's head out."
The girls were already seated on the bench, when the boys arrived at the fire pit. Nervous energy made them more playful, and they jostled each other like school yard mates.
His eyes found Lili and he grinned at her. She burned hotter than the fire in a gold mini dress. Her hair was down, something that usually only happened when she let Hope fuss with it. And judging by the tiny gold cuffs that pulled the front of her curls back, it was definitely Hope's handiwork.
The first phone beeped and Hope hopped up, looking excited. She chose Noah--no surprise there--and her speech was pure cringe as always. Bobby tried not to roll his eyes. She and Noah were both so extra. And that was saying something because Bobby pretty much thought of himself as being the Earl of Extra-shire.
Lili's phone beeped next and she stood up. Jesus. Sitting down that dress had been sexy but standing, holy hell. It was backless, snug, and short. Her bronze legs seemed to go on for kilometers in it and the halter left a dizzying expanse of her chest exposed. He mouthed the word 'wow' at her, and she smiled, looking pleased.
"I'm so excited to get to say this," she began. "The boy I'm choosing is driven, smart, and kind. He thinks about others. He has the best chat. But more than that, he accepts me just as I am. Emotional. Energetic. A touch dramatic. He never rolls his eyes when I go on about Taylor Swift, and he's just the best person. I think we make a great team and I can't wait to see where this could go. So, the boy I want to couple up with is...Bobby."
A smile spread across his face, stretching his cheeks to the point of pain, but he didn't care. She chose him. He knew she was going to. She said she would and he had believed her. But experiencing it, seeing the light in her eyes when she said his name, it destroyed a dam that he hadn't known was in his heart, and huge rolling waves of jubilance rushed through.
He high-fived all the guys and raced to her, taking her hand and giving excessive, squeaky, over-the-top kisses to her forearm and knuckles. She laughed and fanned herself.
"Hope you're taking notes gentlemen," he said. "This is how you woo a lady."
"What, by slobbering all over her arm?" Gary asked.
Bobby rolled his eyes. Gary really did have a beige aura sometimes. Lili also rolled her eyes. "Don't you listen to him babe. Your woo-ing skills are second to none."
He laughed and kissed her on the cheek. They sat down and his head buzzed with excitement. The rest of the recoupling passed in a blur. Lottie chose Gary. Priya chose Rahim, and despite her dismissal of "catching feelings" earlier, she gave quite a sweet speech about how special Rahim was.
Marisol went last and chose Lucas. Not that she had other options, but they actually seemed a decent match. In his rigid way, Lucas kissed Marisol's cheek. "Thank you for choosing me. You look beautiful tonight." He offered her his arm as they sat.
Smooth. Lucas was very smooth. But his eyes darted toward Lili, and for just a moment, they were naked with longing. Bobby almost felt bad for him. He'd been there, watching Lili with another guy, wishing it was him.
An icy chill worked its way up his spine. He'd gotten her. He got the girl. She was his to keep. But that meant she was his to lose.
"You're doing that thing you don't do again." Lili smoothed the space between his brows.
He relaxed his face and pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. "No I'm not."
Afterward, an air of excitement floated around the villa. Everyone went to change into their pyjamas. Bobby headed upstairs to change as well. When he exited the bathroom, he found Lili alone and fresh-faced, removing the tiny gold cuffs in her hair. He leaned in the doorway and enjoyed the graceful sweep of her hands as she pulled her hair into a poofy bun on top of her head.
She saw him in the mirror and turned. "Hey you."
"Hey." He looked her over. She'd taken off the sexy gold dress, but in its place was a short pink silk robe tied tight around the waist. "Pulling out all the hot stops with that outfit, babe."
She put her hands on her hips and struck a model pose.
"Mm, yeah, that's sexy. Now let's see what's under it."
She gave him a mischievous smile. "It's a mystery."
"I'm very good at solving mysteries." He crossed the room and pulled her close, but the cheeky joke he'd planned dissolved once she was in his arms. He leaned his head against hers. "You chose me," he whispered.
"Of course I did. There's no one else I'd choose but you."
"I know. But there's always a little worry in the back of your head, isn't there? What if she changes her mind? What if the sugar high has burned off and now she's thinking clearly and she picks someone else, out of nowhere?"
"Oh my god, and here I thought you were feeding me so many desserts because you cared. And also because you wanted more arse to grab hold of."
"Well, I mean, those things too." He kissed the side of her head. "Let's head down."
She wrapped an arm around his waist and they returned to the bedroom. It bubbled with chatter from the islanders who were carefully sizing up the new sleeping arrangements.
Priya swung around and gave Lili a Cheshire grin. "Aww, don't you look cute in your PJs! I just want to give you a cuddle." She pulled Lili down to the bed and wrapped herself around her.
God. Bobby wanted to pretend he was the kind of chill lad who didn't get all excited when two girls got handsy, because he didn't believe in fetishizing someone's sexuality. But his morals didn't always make their way to his cock, which had been neglected for much longer than was normal for it.
In order to escape his abject horniness, he looked away, over to Lottie and Gary who were flirting playfully. It really made him happy to see Lottie smiling.
After a minute, Lili escaped from the snuggle monster that was Priya, and flung herself onto the end of their bed.
Bobby's phone dinged. "That's ominous," he said. "Oh! 'Islanders, the Hideaway is open. Please pick one couple to spend the night there.'" Everyone gasped.
"Hope and Noah!" Lucas hollered.
Marisol rolled her eyes. "I reckon it should be Lili and Bobby!"
Lucas gave her a hard look, and then shrugged as if he didn't really care.
"Bobby and Lili!" Lottie said, punching the air with her fist.
Hope gave Lili a knowing look. "Do you want to go?"
Lili blushed, her cheeks turning a blazing magenta. She looked at Bobby and he did his best to seem chill, even though his entire body was screaming for her to say yes.
"I would like that," she said softly.
His heart pounded painfully and he couldn't restrain the massive grin on his face. "I would too."
Noah laughed. "Go on then! Get in there. Er..."
Priya pumped her fist in the air. "Lili and Bobby! Lili and Bobby!" Everyone joined in, except Lucas, who stared at the wall, his expression grim.
Lili covered her face and groaned. Bobby was too ecstatic to be embarrassed. He tugged her hands down, bent her backward and planted a dramatic kiss on her. She squealed in surprise and then melted in his arms. He leaned to her ear and dropped his voice low. "Let's go solve that mystery."
She laughed but her pupils dilated and he couldn't stop the tingles and ache in his body. The anticipation was suddenly too much. It had only been nine days, but it felt like one hundred. One thousand. One million lonely nights with no relief. And now they were going to be completely alone. For the whole night. It was likely the most privacy they'd get the entire summer. His body jittered with nervous excitement. He grabbed her hand and together, they made their way to the far end of the villa. They didn't speak the whole way. At the end of the long hall was a simple wooden door with a Do Not Disturb sign on it.
They stopped in front of it. He turned and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Are you ready?" He meant going in the room, but the question suddenly felt heavy.
She searched his eyes for a long moment and then nodded. "Yeah. I am."
With a slow breath, he swung the door open, and took her hand. Together, they entered the Hideaway.