This time, I'm serious

Badgering Honey: part 2

Jas watched Valentina walk off. Bruno watched Jas watch Valentina walk off. He could barely take his eyes off her.

Cora pulled on his arm as she went to speak to Will and Thabi. The momentary distraction made him lose sight of Jas. He assumed she'd gone up to get ready for bed.

Oh god, bed .

He'd only ever had one night in the villa away from her, and it was his first one. He'd already kissed her, and had already known that she was too far away.

And that was before he knew what sleeping with her was like. What she smelled like in the mornings. What it felt like to drape his arm across her waist as she slept. How soft and perfect she looked as she was just waking up. How she pressed against him when she got cold, or kicked her legs out when she got too warm, but always let a hand linger on his chest.

And now she'd be sleeping with Tom. He felt the lump in his throat growing. Cora, Will, and Thabi started making their way back to the Villa, but he stayed behind, absentmindedly collecting empty glasses. He had never been so glad for a distraction in his life.

He saw her from a mile away. Furrowing her brow, deep in thought, washing dishes. Which he had his hands full of. He had a perfect excuse to talk to her.

"Need a hand?"

Her concentration immediately broke. Her face glowed with relief when she looked at him. It sent him over the moon and back. She tossed a sponge at him.

"Get ready to watch some masterful scrubbing" he joked.

She laughed.

They effortlessly and wordlessly washed and dried all of the dishes by hand. They knew they could have used the dishwasher, but neither of them wanted to be the one to suggest the faster way.

Once they'd already washed most of the glasses twice. They had no choice but to stop.

"Thanks for helping" she said. He could feel the pain in her voice.

They stood in the kitchen, both leaning on the counter.

The silence lingered.

Neither of them knew exactly what to say.

This was going to be so hard. They both already knew that. They didn't need to say that there were feelings there. They both already knew that, too.

So why did he feel like he desperately needed to tell her something?

"Intense night."

"Yeah" she responded.

"You're with...Tom now."

"And you're with Cora."

Silence.

He shook his head.

"You're too lovely for your own good. I can't believe you weren't stolen away sooner."

She chuckled. "You're one to talk, Mr. Every-single-girl-in-the-villa-picked-me-for-their-threesome"

He laughed, louder than he'd intended.

The silence returned.

"Looks like we'll both have to stop being so nice to people."

Bruno drank from his water bottle. His hand was shaking slightly.

"Well, we should probably think about heading to..."

He couldn't even say it. Knowing he'd have to go up there and watch her sleep with someone else made him feel sick.

He knew from the prickling in his skin that she was looking at him.