Ch. 3 & 4

Chapter Three: 

Nic

It was clear that Olandria needed some space and would probably be awhile so Nic decided to change in the main room. He grabbed the first pair of swim trunks he found in his suitcase, threw them on, then headed to the hot tub. Every instinct he had told him to go check on her, to knock gently and ask if she was okay. But he knew better. She needed this time alone, and he needed to respect that. Still, the thought of her spiraling behind a closed door made his chest ache. He swallowed the urge to reach out and instead decided to focus on getting the hot tub set up.

In addition to the two pre-filled glasses of wine, there was also a charcuterie board waiting for them. Nic grabbed a grape and popped it in his mouth, chewing slowly, as he stared into the steaming water rushing into the tub. His eyes drifted back to the bathroom. What was she doing in there? If he had to guess, she was pacing back and forth, muttering under her breath, and replaying every word from dinner in her head. She hadn't said a word to him since, not because she was angry but because she was deep in her own thoughts. Processing. And with Chelley at Casa Amor and him clearly not an option, she was left to try to make sense of this on her own.

Nick sat on the edge of the hot tub, letting the steam wrap around him. He ran his hand through his hair listening to the hum of the jets as the warm summer night breeze blew across his damp, sweat-soaked skin. He was really nervous but not in the usual kind of way. This was the kind of nervousness that came with anticipation, the kind he liked, the kind that only showed up when something important was about to happen. Once the hot tub was finally full Nic submerged himself, embracing the sting of the hot water. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he heard Olandria sliding open the door. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. He'd seen her in that bathing suit before, he picked it because he knew how well it fit her, and yet he still was taken aback by how sexy she looked. He scanned her face and noticed that she looked a bit more settled, more like her usual confident self.

"How does it feel?" She asked as she walked over to him. It took him a moment to respond because he couldn't stop staring at her. Her legs were toned and glistening like she'd put some sort of lotion or oil on them. An image of her legs on his shoulders as he pounded into her flashed in his mind and he quickly pushed it away. He couldn't get hard right now.

Nic shook his head to clear his thoughts. He stood and reached his hand toward her, "Get in and feel for yourself," he teased. She grabbed his hand and started to step into the water but as soon as she felt the temperature she yelped and jumped into his arms. Nic hadn't expected that but he quickly caught her and hoisted her up his body so she wasn't touching the water. He laughed and she buried her face in the side of his neck and giggled.

"Sorry but that water is hot as hell," she said, still giggling.

"Oh, come on! It's not that bad," Nic moved to put her down but she clung tighter to him. This wasn't the first time he'd been this close to her and it wasn't the first time he'd held her like this but for some reason it felt like it. He looked at her and she was staring at him. Her eyes dropped to his lips and he was pretty sure she felt what he was feeling too. He leaned in and could feel her breath against his lips. He titled his head slightly and was just about to close the distance when she suddenly pulled back and dropped her legs from his waist to the steaming water.

She winced a little but forced a smile, "you're right it's not that bad." He decided not to call her out on the obvious lie and sat back down. He watched in amusement as she pretended to be unbothered by the temperature. Eventually, with a lot of wincing and silent curses, she was fully submerged in the water. He passed her a glass of wine and watched her raise it to her lips and drink. When she absentmindedly licked her lips to capture a few wine droplets, he had to look away. Why was everything she did turning him on?

Nic needed to get a grip. He couldn't spend this entire 48 hours lusting after her. One, he knew without a shadow of doubt that even though she was attracted to him she wasn't ready for that yet. Two, he wanted to spend this time getting to know her more. Physical attraction had never been a question for the two of them but it was unclear if there was anything else besides that and he wanted to find out.

"Are you hungry? There's fruit, cheese, crackers..." Nic pushed the charcuterie board closer to her side of the hot tub.

Olandria grabbed a piece of cheese and placed it on top of a cracker. "I think we should play a game," she suggested, popping the cracker into her mouth.

Nic grabbed a grape, intrigued. "What game are you thinking of?"

Olandria shrugged, "I don't know, some type of get-to-know you game. This is awkward and we aren't usually awkward. We need something to help loosen us up."

Nic chewed on another grape as he thought about what game would be good for them to break the ice. "Oh I got it! Two truths and a lie." It was a classic get-to-know you game and it'd be fun to assess how well they knew each other.

Olandria beamed, "Yesss, I love it! Okay, let me think."

They sat in comfortable silence, chewing on crackers and grapes, as they came up with their two truths and one lie. "You ready?" Nic asked after some time and passed and he'd landed on what he was going to say. Olandria nodded eagerly. "Okay, I'll go first."

Olandria

Had she and Nic almost kissed—outside of a challenge? She was pretty sure if she hadn't pulled away that's exactly what would have happened which is why she decided they needed a distraction. A game felt like the perfect solution; it would give them something to do besides kiss each other AND she'd get to learn more about him. She knew Nicky Pooh, one of her best friends in the villa, but she didn't know Nic and she wanted to.

On their date earlier he'd said he wanted to show her a different side of him and that's exactly what he was doing. The playful Nic was still there but she could tell that he was making a concerted effort to show her how serious, intentional, and thoughtful he could be. She liked playful Nic a lot but she liked this side too.

"Okay, let's see," Nic held up three fingers and counted off his statements. "One, I've modeled for Prada. Two, I've visited 50 countries. Three, my last relationship was an open one."

"Oh?" Olandria raised an eyebrow in curiosity at his last statement. She and Nic had never talked about past relationships so this was news to her.

"Which one is the lie?" Nic asked, purposefully ignoring her questioning look.

She glared at him and he had the audacity to laugh. She rolled her eyes and let it go for now. They were definitely coming back to that though. She thought about all of the conversations they'd had. He was a model and he'd done a few international campaigns so Prada was possible. He traveled a lot and he'd told her the exact number of countries...what was it? She tried to replay all of their previous conversations in her head. She wasn't 100% sure but she thought he'd told her he'd been to forty-something countries.

She chewed over the last statement. An open relationship. She thought about Nic's eagerness to get to know multiple women in the villa. His hesitancy to close things off with Cierra. He was definitely the type of guy that would be in an open relationship.

Olandria decided not to second guess her decision and said, "you haven't been to fifty countries. Not yet at least."

"You seem really confident in that answer," Nic joked. "You think you know me or something?"

There was a playful glint in his eyes and Olandria couldn't help but laugh. "You tell me. Am I right?"

Instead of answering, Nic grabbed a grape and chewed on it so slowly it was almost theatrical. "Really, Nic?" Olandria tried to sound upset and exasperated but she couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice.

He continued taking his time chewing and made a big show out of swallowing before nodding, "yeah you're right."

"Yesss, I knew it!" Olandria did a little dance and mentally gave herself a point. They'd never said they were competing against each other but she loved winning.

She felt Nic staring at her and when she looked at him she caught a flicker of something in his eyes. It looked almost like adoration but he'd blinked it away too quickly for her to be sure.

"Okay, it's your turn," he said quickly and she knew he was trying to move on before she could interrogate him about that last statement.

"Nope, not so fast! Let's talk about this open relationship of yours," there was no way she was allowing him to just brush past this.

"There's not much to say, really. My ex and I both agreed we'd keep our relationship open. We established some ground rules and saw other people," Nic was looking everywhere but at Olandria. She wasn't sure why; she wasn't judging him. He was a grown man who'd been in a consensual open relationship. Who was she to judge? She was more curious than anything.

"Are you interested in exclusive relationships or do you prefer open ones?" Olandria asked, making sure there was no hint of judgement in her voice. Finally, Nic looked at her and the look on her face must have reassured him because he visibly relaxed. He ran his fingers through his hair and she could tell that he was thinking about his response.

"I think I was drawn to the show initially because you get to do the whole open relationship thing," Nic started. "Like, the whole purpose is to explore connections even if you find someone but I don't know anymore. Being dumped off the island has me rethinking a lot of things. I sort of want to only focus on one person, you know? Build with them." Nic stared at her and Olandria couldn't tell if he was talking about her or Cierra. He had to be talking about Cierra, right? There was no way he was talking about her. But the way he was staring at her...Olandria wasn't so sure. And that terrified her.

Chapter 4: Nic

Nic hadn't realized how much meant what he'd just told Olandria until the words were out of his mouth. In the past, he'd definitely been the type of guy that liked having the freedom to explore multiple connections with women. But as he stared at Olandria, the overwhelming urge to belong to her and only her washed over him.

He had to look away from her before he said something she wasn't ready to hear and ruined any shot of this going further. He wasn't sure if Olandria realized he was talking about her. Maybe she assumed he was referring to Cierra. That would make the most sense considering he'd been coupled up with her and going strong before Casa Amor. Why, then, did the thought of her believing he was talking about anyone other than her not sit well with him?

He was fucked. Seeing Olandria's smile through the window of the jeep had brought up all the feelings for her that he'd kept buried. Getting dumped had felt like he'd lost but when she swung that door open and smiled like she had at him, it was like the prize was right there in front of him. 

Yeah, he liked Cierra but what he felt for Olandria was different, deeper. It sort of terrified him because he'd never felt this way about anyone. And of course, the one time a woman made him feel things he'd never felt before, she was in love with his best friend. Fuck.

Nic cleared his throat, "your turn!" he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He needed to get them back into the game.

Olandria seemed almost relieved. The worry that had once creased her forehead disappeared and she sat up a little straighter and held up three fingers. "Okay, here we go. One, I graduated from the University of Alabama. Two, I have two siblings. Three, I am the oldest child."

Nic shook his head, "You know this is supposed to be hard, right?"

Olandria frowned slightly. "I thought that was hard.."

Nic laughed, "wow you must think I don't know you at all. The first one is a lie. You graduated from Tuskegee with a degree in supply chain management. And even if I didn't know that the first one was a lie, the last two are obvious. It's clear you have siblings and that you're the oldest. You have big eldest daughter energy."

Olandria was staring at Nic with her mouth slightly opened. "How...how do you know all of that?"

"Because I listen when you speak," Nic said matter-of-factly. He took a sip of his wine as Olandria continued to stare at him in shock.

"But I never told you where I went to school or what I majored in." This was true. Nic and Olandria had talked a lot about their siblings; they were both the eldest child and had really close relationships with their younger siblings. But school had never come up in the conversations they'd had with each other.

"I know but I remember you and Chelley freaking out over the fact that you both went to Tuskegee."

Olandria nodded slowly, "okay but that doesn't explain how you know my major."

This one was less obvious but still, "well I knew you work in the elevator industry so I just did some deductive reasoning skills and figured you would have had to major in something like supply chain management to do your job."

Olandria was once again staring at him with her mouth slightly open. He popped a grape in his mouth and stared back at her.

"I-you're unbelievable, you know that right?" from her tone Nic could tell she meant this as a compliment so he beamed at her and pretended to take a bow.

"Thank you, thank you," he laughed and she splashed water at him.

"You're ridiculous," there was a small smile on her face as she shook her head and grabbed a grape.

She was trying to hide it but Nic could see that she was taken aback by how much he paid attention to her and that pissed him off. Why was this gorgeous vision of a woman shocked that a man was paying attention to her? The only things Nic knew about her connection with Taylor was what he had told him and Taylor had always made it seem like things were progressing really well. Nic had no reason to doubt him because it was clear to everyone in the villa that she really liked him but Nic was now starting to question how much of the progression was due to Taylor's efforts and how much of it was due to Olandria's. There was no way Taylor was doing what he should've been if she was this thrown off by the fact that he cared enough to listen and remember the things she said even if she didn't say them to him.

Olandria tapped his leg with her foot and he realized he'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard her calling his name. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, "sorry, uhm, let's see." He'd been too busy questioning if his friend deserved the queen sitting across from him that he hadn't come up with anything. It wasn't helping that Olandria had left her foot in his lap and it was sitting right on top of his dick. "Okay," he decided he'd just come up with something as he went. Anything to distract him from getting a hard-on right now. "One, my sister's name is Eleanor. Two, I had an obsession with hippos. Three-"

Nic was cut off by the sound of Olandria's melodic laughter. She had her head thrown back, neck exposed, and was laughing harder than Nic had ever seen her laugh. "Hippos?" she wheezed, barely able to get the word out.

"Yes, hippos! Are you judging me?" he flicked her foot which caused her to laugh harder. She was shaking her head and waving her hand in front of her face trying to catch her breath.

"I would never" she exclaimed. She fanned her face and wiped the tears that had fallen off of her cheeks. "Sorry," she apologized, remnants of laughter lingering in her voice. "That just caught me off guard. Continue."

"Where was I? Oh, number three, I donated my sperm to a lesbian couple so they could have a child."

"Really?" Olandria asked, a huge grin plastered on her face.

Her smile disarmed him and he almost confirmed he was telling the truth but then he remembered they were playing a game, "you have to guess the lie!"

"Obviously the first one is a lie. Your sister's name is Ella," Olandria reached out and grabbed his hand. She rubbed her finger over the umbrella tattoo on his wrist, "this is for her."

There was so much fondness in her voice that he couldn't help bringing her hand up to his lips and planting a soft kiss there. She surprised him by affectionately stroking his cheek before dropping her hand back into the water. Before he had time to process her touch, she was asking him about being a sperm donor.

"There's this lesbian couple I know. They wanted a child but they were having trouble conceiving so I donated my sperm to help them out." It had been an obvious choice for Nic; two people he cared about were struggling and he knew he could help them so he did.

"What did your family think about it?" Olandria asked. He wasn't sure if she realized that she had both feet in his lap now but he gently grabbed them and started to massage her soles. She let out a contented sigh and leaned her head back, getting more comfortable as she waited for his response.

"They were shocked at first but eventually they came around. They knew I cared deeply about the couple and that this was a one-time thing for people I loved so..." Olandria was looking at him in awe again and it was making his chest ache. "What do you think about it?" he asked in an attempt to distract himself from the realization that he was so fucking gone for her.

"I think that you're amazing, Nic. To do something like that...wow. What a gift. I'm not surprised though," she sat up and grabbed a handful of grapes. "I can tell you're the type of person who'd do anything for the people you love." She popped a grape in her mouth and then held out her hand for him to grab one.

Instead, Nic opened his mouth. He saw the moment she realized what he was doing because she blushed and gave him a shy smile. She leaned forward and her eyes roamed across his face. Nic leaned closer and she slowly placed the grape on his tongue. His teeth grazed her fingers as they left his mouth and she let out a breathy gasp. Their eyes bore into each other; Nic could see the desire all over Olandria's face. He wanted her just as badly and he made sure to let her know it. His eyes dropped to her mouth and he bit his bottom lip. He was imagining all the filthy things he wanted to do to her mouth when she abruptly stood up.

She turned around and he was met with a view of her unreal ass. That fucking ass. An image of it moving like water during the twerk challenge flashed in his mind. He let out an audible moan and was pretty sure he heard chuckle under her breath. She looked back at him, "well, are you coming? I'm pruning. Let's finish the game inside."

Nic stood up so fast he almost slipped. He stepped out of the hot tub and grabbed one of the towels that had been left for them. "Come here," he said softly. Olandria stepped into his arms and he wrapped the towel around her body. He didn't want to let her go yet so he held her for a moment. She lay her head on his chest and they stood there for a moment, eyes closed, embraced in each other's arms. The only thing that got him to move was the desire to get Olandria out of her wet swimsuit and into something warm. He stepped back and wrapped the other towel around himself before grabbing Olandria's hand and leading her inside.