This time, I'm serious

Caught in a lie

Jas awoke from a quick kip with Bruno on the daybeds. She still felt a little tense after the previous night. Bruno had been a bit off ever since he got back from his date with Valentina. She felt guilty about losing her mind a little the night before, still feeling quite nervous and raw about having exposed her insecurity and anxiety to someone she'd really only known for about a week.

But Bruno had handled it like a pro. He knew exactly what to do, when to hug her, when to reassure her, when to make a joke... it almost made her feel worse. Of course Valentina could see it. She wasn't sure how he'd managed to slip under the radar of most of the other girls thus far.

But still... something felt off. She didn't know if it was because of the conversation they'd had, or if something had happened on the date.

She remembered how it had felt to watch Bruno in the challenge yesterday. How sexy he'd looked with his blindfold on. How much he'd enjoyed her touching him when she'd kissed him. And how breathy he'd gotten after Valentina kissed him. He'd enjoyed it so much . She felt awkward, almost like she was getting in the way of them enjoying each other. They clearly had chemistry. She was clearly interested. It wouldn't be that bad if they'd had a little kiss on the date... right? But he said nothing happened. But if nothing happened, why was he being weird?

She gazed up at him, the sun in her eyes, resting her head on his chest, as he stroked her shoulder, clearly lost in thought.

She lifted her head to shield her eyes from the sun, and he brushed an eyelash from her face.

He looked down at her, smiling gently. "You're so cute in the morning"

"I am?"

"Yeah. When you're still kind of sleepy. And all warm. You get so snuggly and cuddly."

She blew air out of her nose in protest.

"Is that weird?" He asked "That I like it?"

"What? No! I think you're cute in the mornings too. You smell good."

"You think I smell good when I've just woken up? Are there like, glasses for your nose? You need them." He curled his fingers back and forth, wringing them.

Jas laughed softly. "And also, when you're sleepy, you're not relentlessly throwing jokes at me. Actually, scratch that, I like you best when you're asleep."

"I'll learn how to sleep talk, just for you. You'll never be without a joke for more than... oh.. let's say eight seconds." He laughed again, nervously.

She cast her eyes over his face, studying him. He looked nervous. He sounded nervous. He was hiding something from her. She had to ask him about it. If nothing else, just to clear the weirdness from between them.

"Bruno... what's... Oooh!"

She recoiled in surprise as his phone vibrated in his pocket, which she'd been pressing directly against.

He reached for it. "Sorry! Oh, I got a text"

"Should I get everyone else?"

"No... looks like this one's just for us!"

Bruno and Jas, please make your way to the Beach Hut! #chamberofsecrets #speakyourmind

Jas noticed a panic flicker over Bruno's face.

Hmmm.

Something had happened, for sure. And he'd lied to her. She was a little annoyed at the text interruption, because now she had to wait to ask him about it. She wondered how bad it would be. How far they had gone. Her heart fell into her stomach when she thought back to the previous seasons of Love Island.