This time, I'm serious

Birds of a feather

Bruno waited as patiently as he could in the lounge. He wanted to catch up with Jas. See where her head was at. Realistically, he was pretty sure he was only interested in her. Lexi was undeniably hot... but scary, and far, far too shrill.

But Jas... wow. Jasmine . Like the princess. Like the flower. Like the... tea? Beautiful things. He couldn't believe she hadn't told him to fuck off almost immediately. Their kiss had been spectacular. She'd hugged him in the kitchen. They'd joked together. She'd laughed at his awful story.

Why did I tell everyone about Jamie?

He cringed, internally and externally. He knew it would have come out sooner or later, the producers had been very interested when he'd mentioned it in passing. At least this way he was able to control the story, not have it come out in a kissing challenge or some kind of big reveal. And at least Jas had laughed. His family all thought it was hilarious. Ever since his sister Gab had made the GIF they'd been dropping it in the group chat almost daily. But it was funny. It was funny, right? Yeah, it was funny. It hurt at the time, but he'd realised pretty quickly afterwards that marrying Jamie would have been a bad mistake. Once again, he'd just fallen into a decision, without thinking it through whatsoever. Very on-brand, Bruno, he thought.

He couldn't help but worry about what Jas had really thought about it. He didn't want her to think that he was, like, in love with Jamie... because he wasn't. He knew he wasn't at the time. The way he'd told the story made it sound like he'd come on Love Island for a rebound... but that wasn't the case at all. 50,000 pounds would give him the excuse he needed to quit his job and go full-time in comedy. Plus, the rise in his profile wouldn't hurt either. But... Jas. He knew he'd like her, she was a firecracker. But he hadn't expected to like her as much as he did.

But Jas was with Kobi. Almost immediately after they got the text about the recoupling, Kobi had pulled Jas away for a chat, and now, he was absolutely bricking it. She was in a couple already, and with Kobi. Like damn. Bruno thought. The guy's hot. He regretted not putting more effort into a few more situps before coming into the villa. Maybe a little more definition, and he wouldn't have felt like such a damn loser next to the hulks that the show seemed to attract. Even quiet, bookish James had more definition in his arms than Bruno.

Angie flopped down on the couch next to him.

"I thought you'd be off cracking on with your future wife by now".

"Gotta wait until her divorce goes through" He winked at her.

They chatted aimlessly for a bit, discussing work outside the villa.

"What's the worst injury you've ever seen on the job, Ange?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. Maybe a degloving, or a compound femoral fracture. Those are never pretty."

"I do not want to know what either of those things are. Please do not tell me."

"You asked"

"I ask a lot of things"

"Yeah, like a four-year-old"

"And like a four-year-old, if you put something scary in my head I'll end up having nightmares and wetting the bed"

Angie laughed loudly. Kobi looked over, looking like a deer in the headlights, then dipped his head and slinked past the doorway. Angie furrowed her brow at him, then shook her head.

"Anyway, maybe leave that one out of your set, I'm not sure it'll pull that many chicks".

"I'm keeping it, and there's nothing you can do to stop me".

His stomach did a small flip as Jas rounded the corner

"Oh look, it's Jas!" he said, like an idiot . "Here to save me from the scary lady!"

He patted the sofa next to him.

Angie looked between the two of them. "Bruno gets nightmares and wets the bed".

He gasped at her, dramatically.

"I told you that in confidence!" They laughed.

Bruno saw the amused look on Jas's face. He continued, nervously. "I'm just kidding, by the way, I definitely don't wet the bed. At least, not anymore."

Jas shifted closer. "Well then, that makes one of us."

He and Angie both laughed, loudly.

Jas's laugh was a little more subdued. He shifted his leg, lightly tapping Jas's foot with his.

"You okay? Kobi came through here before looking a little..."

"...Shaken up" finished Angie.

"Yeah well... he broke up with me," she said, with a sigh.

"Oh... Mate" Angie leaned over Bruno, patting Jas awkwardly on the shoulder. "There there"

Bruno looked over at Angie and raised an eyebrow. "You're rubbish at being comforting. No offense, don't step on me."

Angie crinkled her nose at him. "Honestly, babes, don't worry about it."

"I'm not, really" Jas replied. "Like, he told me he just wanted to be mates yesterday and I was pretty relieved. I already wasn't going to pick him. But the fact that he asked me not to just makes me go like... ' um, rude?' Is that weird? "

She already wasn't going to pick him. Holy shit. Holy shit. Then who was she picking? his heart started racing a million miles a minute.

Angie laughed. "Nup. It's the rejection. Been there."

Bruno shuffled a little closer to Jas. "Angie's right though. There are a lot of gorgeous people in the Villa who you could couple up with. Like, oh, for example, an incredibly athletic and charming creative hunk who's not so far away right now..."

"It's true" Angie mused. "James is very creative".

Bruno placed his palm to his chest, dramatically. "You wound me, Angie, my dear". He shook his head sadly. "So underappreciated"

"Mmm... I don't know" Angie continued. "Sounds like Jas appreciated you just fine in the hot tub".

Bruno flushed about sixteen shades of magenta. He looked down at Jas and noticed she'd done the same. "What goes on in the hot tub stays in the hot tub" he mumbled. "Plus, you can't blame me for taking a shot. Have you seen her?"

He squeezed Jas's arm, and was filled with relief when she blushed.

"That's your problem, Bruno. You don't think things through." Angie poked.

He raised an eyebrow at her, playing her off, but secretly stinging. You have no idea, Ange .

"I thought it was fun. I hope you never think again" Jas teased.

He felt his eyes light up with his smile.

"Thank you, Jas. I will never forget this moment. Time to bring out my most powerful move".

He yawned, loudly, and dramatically, stretching his arms up high, and dropping one back behind Jas's shoulders. His hand on her arm, he pulled her in closer to him, and she scooted up.

Angie snorted, and he glared at her playfully.

"That's your best move? Your actual best move?"

"Yeah, and? It works in the wild"

"In the wild ?" It was Jas who snorted this time.

"Yeah" Bruno smirked. "That's where you find the best birds"

Angie and Jas groaned loudly, and he covered his face with his arms as they beat him relentlessly with neon cushions.