The Sun in My Eyes

43 Been Burning For You Baby Since the Moment I Left

Lili was single.

A meteor of regret and relief slammed into Bobby with enough force to knock him off his feet. He stumbled backward, barely able to breathe through the crushing pain. It took everything in him to beam at her. "I guess I'm not the only one. Looking gorgeous as always, Lil."

"You stuck." Her glittering eyes searched his face. If he couldn't breathe before, the yearning in her gaze filled his lungs like burning soot after the collision. He didn't deserve the way she was looking at him. Like she missed him. Like she adored him.

"You know me," he said. "I couldn't be any stickier if you rolled me in jam." The sheer amount of shite in those words... Unable to take another second of the guilt battering him, he scanned the row of girls. Marisol was sitting beside the large, tattooed man she'd been kissing in the video. No surprises there. "Oh! Hello," he said.

"Alright, mate," the big fella said in a gravelly voice. "Sorry about all this."

"No, no hard feelings! Um, it's nice to meet you!" He winked at Marisol who grinned up at him, looking like she could burst from happiness. "I'm glad you found someone there, babe."

"Thanks! I feel bad for leaving you single though."

"Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out." He glanced anxiously at Lili. She sat up straighter and smiled and he quickly looked away.

"Any surprises you want to share, Bobby?" Lottie asked, casting a dark look at Rahim and Shannon.

"You can't ask him that," a man said, who sat next to Chelsea, with an arm slung casually over her shoulder. He looked like a model, and his teeth were so blindingly white they'd be illegal on the motorway. "Besides, there can't be many people left."

Bobby took stock of the group. Hope, Lili and Lottie came back alone. Chelsea and Marisol had switched. Priya had come back alone and looked absolutely gobsmacked that Jakub had as well.

"I can't believe you stuck," Priya said. Something in her tone suggested it wasn't the first time she'd said it since Jakub strutted out.

Jakub grinned. "Of course I did, babe. There wasn't any of those new girls that stood up to you."

There was a moment of silence as all the guys tried to hide their shocked expressions. Rahim coughed loudly. "Oh, excuse me. I didn't mean to interrupt. It sounded like you were saying you only had eyes for Priya."

"That is what I'm saying." Jakub glared at Rahim. "Looks like we trusted each other, and it worked out."

Wow. Somewhere in Mallorca Amber just smashed something against a wall, he was sure of it.

He cleared his throat. "It's a total mix-up in here, eh? I'm not sure I can handle the excitement."

The door banged and the soft scrape of shoes announced that someone else was coming. Hope gripped Lili's hand. "That's Lucas. I know it. He's switched."

"I don't believe that," Lili said. "He's not the same person he was when you met him. The man he is right now? He's gonna stick."

Lucas sauntered up and stood before the group. His gaze locked onto Hope. He stared at the empty space beside her, and a smile, vibrant and warm, started to unfurl. He seemed to catch himself and gave a careless smirk instead.

Hope stood up and blinked rapidly at him. "You--you stuck?"

"I did."

Hope didn't seem to know what to do with herself. She took a few tentative steps toward him. Lucas met her in the middle and swept her into his arms. She sniffled against his shoulder, and he tilted her face up to his and gave her a gentle kiss. "I'm not going to hurt you twice, love."