The Sun in My Eyes

5 The Night was Sultry

The air was so thick with cologne and aftershave that Bobby worried he'd never be able to taste anything else again. Ibrahim was wrapped in a towel as he steamed an expensive-looking white polo shirt. Rocco studied a handful of beaded necklaces before slipping all of them over his head. Noah was tugging at a pair of tan bawbag-hugging designer jeans that proved just how accurate the shoe size thing truly was.

Gary held a pair of black eyeglasses up to his face in the mirror and grimaced. "What do you think, Bobs?" He stared down at them. "I'm not used to wearing these bloody contacts and my eyes hurt, but this looks..." He frowned. "Do I look like a swot?"

Bobby looked him over. "Nah. With the ripped jeans you look like..."

"Like one of those guys who builds stuff with his hands and drinks home brew and only gets coffee fresh-ground from the local shop on the corner," Ibrahim cut in.

"A hipster," Noah said.

"I don't know if that's better or worse than looking like a swot. But if it seems intentional, I'll go with it," Gary said, sliding on the glasses. "Better this than bloodshot eyes."

Bobby looked at his purple tropical shirt in the mirror. He buttoned it all the way up but it looked naff. He started unbuttoning it. Exactly how many undone buttons were too many? He looked over at Rocco's low-cut shirt. Clearly, there was a thin line between confidence and looking like a complete wank. He undid three. There. Not too try-hard. But the memory of Lili's nails tickling along his stomach crept into his head and he wondered how many undone buttons she'd like. He released one more.

"Text!" Rocco announced. "We need to head down to the lawn and wait for the girls."

The villa was beautiful in the daytime, but at night, it really sparkled. The hanging lights gave it a soft bit of romance. The guys nervously blethered until the girls emerged from wherever the producers had hidden them.

Hope led the charge, which was no surprise. Marisol came out behind her and made her way to Bobby. She wore a classy white dress that shared a generous amount of bouncy cleavage.

"You look an absolute masterpiece," he said. Which wasn't a lie. She was gorgeous and sexy. It was just that she was completely wrong for him.

"Thank you, you look...festive," she said, staring at his shirt. Apparently she was a two-undone-buttons kind of girl. She kissed his cheek in greeting. Not a spark to be found.

Lili followed behind her, and Bobby's heart nearly stopped beating. She wore some kind of low-cut sheer pantsuit with roses all over it. The flowers were the only things keeping her breasts from being completely exposed. Fek. Didn't she say earlier that sexy wasn't her thing? It certainly seemed to be now. He liked a full on bird, but which version was authentic Lili?

"Holy..." Ibrahim's jaw nearly landed on the ground as Lili jiggled over. He immediately wrapped his arm around her. "How are you finding the villa?"

"I haven't had a chance to look around yet," she said. "The dressing room situation is intense though."

"Did you have a chance to look at the roof terrace yet?" Rocco asked, his eyes roaming over Lili like sticky, dirty fingers. "It's gonna be such a beautiful spot to sit out and look at the stars." He ran a hand through his unruly curls and held her eye. "I hope I'll get a chance to do that one evening with someone."

Lottie, wearing a shiny black dress and a done-with-his-shit expression, cleared her throat. Rocco looked her way, his charm on full blast. "I meant with you, of course."

Lili's eyes narrowed. It seemed as if she might call Rocco out, but decided against it, choosing instead to link hands with Lottie and go in search of an ice bucket, sparing everyone what was sure to be an argument. Such a sweet girl.

As the night wore on it was clear that nerves had gotten the best of everyone. The conversation jumped all over the place. They were all a little too loud, a little too full on. Until it derailed spectacularly when they discussed cheesy pickup lines and everyone shared their favorites.

Ibrahim, who'd been silently glued to Lili's side, raised a hand. "Okay, uh, how about..." He turned to Lili. "Hey girl, are you a dam?" She shook her head in confusion. "Because you got me saying beaver!" Panic shot in his eyes. "Uh. Wait...I mean..."

Then silence. Awkward silence. Until Lili burst into laughter.

Ibrahim smiled at her. "At least someone liked it."

Hope, ever the leader, put her hands on her hips. "Why don't you give us your best one, Lili?"

"Um, okay." She turned to Ibrahim. "Babes, if you were a Transformer, you'd be Optimus Fine."

Ibrahim laughed. "I love it! It's better than anything I've got. I'm going to need to work on my game for you aren't I?"

"Nah," Lili said. "You're game works just fine for me as is."

Bobby took a drink of champagne to hide his scowl.

Things were most grim when Gary decided to try his hand at comedy and gave them five painful minutes of dad jokes. "Ha! You'll love this next one! So a bishop walks into a nunnery—"

"Oh!" Hannah cried out. "I got a text!" The sigh of relief that swept the group was strong enough to knock Bobby's dreads sideways. "'Islanders, please go to the fire pit and get ready to meet your new arrival.'"

The relief blew away as swiftly as it had arrived. Marisol and Bobby walked in silence to the fire pit. Over by the kitchen, he could see Ibrahim pull Lili aside. The conversation looked a little serious. Lili put her hand on Ibrahim's muscled arm and nodded. He seemed content with whatever it was she said, and they made their way to the bench.

Everyone had nervously crowded in and the only spot left was next to him. Lili hesitated a moment before taking that seat, leaving Ibrahim to squeeze in on the end. He could feel the heat of her body pressing against him and between that and the fire, he began to sweat. He hoped he didn't look as damp as he felt. Lili fanned herself with her hands, so maybe it wasn't just him.

He leaned near her ear. "Girl, I wish I had an oven glove," he whispered.

She crinkled up her nose and giggled softly. "Why?"

"Because I wanna pick you up, but you're just too hot."

She closed her eyes and snorted an adorably inelegant laugh. Marisol and Ibrahim both gave them questioning looks but before either could ask what was said, the doors to the villa swept open.

The eleventh islander had arrived.