Lynan could think of several places he would rather be right now than a limo filled with over dressed and over enthusiastic people.
It’s not like he had even signed up for this.
His sister was the one to blame for this entire affair.
The country had been taken by storm by a reality TV show. It had been all over the media, newspapers, magazines and the internet.
Why?
Because it was the world’s first ever openly Bi Bachelor.
The whole country was torn apart by the news. On one side, people were applauding equality and the production company for going ahead with it while on the other hand, people were claiming it was all just a disgusting publicity stunt.
Lynan had been keen to keep out of the debate, to be honest.
Something that had proven to be exceedingly difficult because every single person seemed to have an opinion on it.
The models he took photos of for fashion shoots were the worst- they had been going on about it for months. It seemed like everyone he knew was putting forward a damn application to get in.
All for someone who was supposedly the ‘Most Sought After Bachelor’ in the country.
A reclusive billionaire that swung both ways. He had to admit that the man was attractive, with the chiselled body and confident red eyes staring out from the advertisements.
But it was none of Lynan’s business.
Except that his dear sister had decided to catch her recently ‘come out gay’ older brother the biggest fish of them all.
You can imagine his surprise when he got the call. Worse still, the producers wouldn’t listen to his protests and told him in no uncertain terms that he would be on the show.
His sister was thrilled.
Lynan had contemplated faking some horrific illness to get out of it but he knew he would never live it down. Because his sister had blabbed to every single person she knew that he was going to be on the show.
His friends were certain that Lynan would be the one ‘normal’ person there, most likely chosen just to highlight the crazy.
This was only emphasized by the ride in one of two limos that chaperoned twenty participants to the mansion where they would spend the next two months.
Ten males, ten females.
Apparently, the producers had changed the way some of the show worked and now, they would all be living in the same mansion as Mr. Big Hotshot Bachelor for two whole months.
Worst still, the entire place had been rigged with cameras for live streaming as well as the cameras that will no doubt be stalking them everywhere.
No communication with the outside world except for once a week with one hour of computer time under supervision. Something about avoiding accidentally leaking information.
No vote offs, just two months of dating hell.
Group dates, solo dates. Bitch about other people’s dates.
It was going to be hell.
At least he could sit in the corner and ogle at the man in question for some of it.
The man was eye candy.
He also couldn’t remember the man’s name.
What a great start this was shaping up to be.
His aversion to the whole thing was not helped by the people sharing his ride.
A woman sat with a freaking chicken in her lap; it was cute but it had already did his shitty business on the limo floor once.
Another one was downing all the champagne she could get her hands on and exclaiming about how she would sweep this man off his feet while sneering at the men in the limo.
Another blond man wailed on about unrequited love. Apparently, he was a manager at one of the bachelor’s establishments, and Lynan was sure he had heard the man’s entire life story by now.
A famous idol sat next to Lynan, Amulet, who seemed sweet, if a little air headed.
The limo pulled to a stop, idling for what felt like an age before it moved again and a vibrant voice came over the intercom.
“Are you all ready to meet Yael Kalis?”
Yael- that was his name.
Lynan winced as everyone screamed their enthusiasm.
A laugh sounded over the intercom as they pulled to a stop and they were told to wait their turn until they were called to exit the limo.
Then they would be formally introduced to Mr. Bachelor.
Theirs was the second of the two limos and Lynan was one of the last to be called forward.
He was oddly nervous.
It’s not like he expected anything out of this, other than what would probably be the most stressful all expenses holiday he had ever had. Still, he was meeting a rather intimidating man, the one he was supposedly dating for the next two months.
Finally, he was called forward.
Taking a deep breath, Lynan gathered his nerves and carefully stepped out of the limo.
He nearly tripped over his own feet on the exit, barely catching himself on the door, and he walked unsteadily toward the dark figure standing near a garden with decidedly warm cheeks.
He hoped that the man hadn’t seen him but no doubt the camera that followed him had caught everything.
Perfect, first view on national TV was him barely saving himself from falling flat on his face.
Lynan stopped in front of this Yael person and looked up.
And up.
Damn he was tall.
And muscular.
And holy shit was he good looking.
Those photos really didn’t do him justice.
Lynan had never felt so out of place as he did in his ill-fitting suit while standing next to this perfectly put together man. He didn’t even realize he had been standing there wordlessly staring until an eyebrow rose.
Lynan cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment before holding out his hand and finally introducing himself.
Ugh, he wanted to sink through the floor right then and there.
Soon enough, he was heading into the mansion proper and he honestly did not remember a thing he said or even what Yael had said in return.
All he could remember was that the man’s voice was deep and smooth.
They really did pick the perfect man for this.
His thoughts were interrupted when he walked into a large room filled with chattering people and immediately felt most of them dismiss him out of hand.
Well, that made it easier for him, he supposed.
It would give him a way to carry out his plan to ogle Yael from the corner of the room and not get drawn into cat fights.
Accepting another glass of champagne, he felt like he would need a few to get through the night.
Lynan moved to the side of the room only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a pretty white pony.
What the hell.
Turned out one of the women had brought her in to make a play on the whole white knight princess thing.
Lynan didn’t entirely get it but took a few minutes to pet the mild mannered pony. The others reminded him that there was some first impression guaranteed a solo date thing he had completely forgotten about.
Well, that was out for him.
Unless him tripping on his own feet counted as something memorable to Yael.
Which Lynan sincerely hoped wasn’t the case.
Lynan soon found himself back at the bubbly idol’s side and gratefully let her lead their conversation.He began to feel rather shabby the more he looked around; glittering evening dresses and flashy suits adorned everyone else.The only person who wasn’t dressed so was a good looking man who wore an awesome traditional outfit that Lynan couldn’t remember the name of, but wow.He was so screwed.He didn’t stand a chance.All conversations ceased abruptly, and he looked up to find Yael striding into the room behind another tall, light brown haired man. This one was dressed in a light blue fitting suit and walked with a calm, happy attitude very at odds with Yael’s sombre appearance.Lynan recognized him as being a very popular TV show host.“Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. You may remember me from our phone conversations but I am Kosh Solace. I am helping to run this show and will be providing commentary to yourselves and the viewers at home. As you may remember, there are no cell pho
It was day three and Lynan was already nearing the end of his tether.Yesterday had been exactly what Kosh had said, settling into the mansion and getting to know the people he would live with for the next few months.Lynan was getting more depressed by the hour.There was a creepy set of female twins that would just randomly finish each other’s sentences and tossed thinly veiled suggestions of a threesome with Yael around as though that might help convince him to pick them.The pony had been sent back home but the chicken, who he learned was called Sato, was still around and their owner was rarely seen without it in tow.It was surprisingly docile and a little bit cute… for a chicken.There was the club manager that Lynan had been forced to listen to for an hour, ranting about his soon to be requited love, the good looking elegant man, the bubbly idol, a mechanic, an artist. A woman claiming to be a professional housewife even.The list went on.Only Lynan seemed to care less about a
After listening to Taylor wail and screech about a damn peck on the hand all night, Lynan woke up far too early once again.Unfortunately, his nerves were no less frayed now than they were last night.Great.On the plus side, the petty man was thrilled with the chance of winning a solo date today but now, he had holed up in one of the few big bathrooms refusing to let anyone else in.Lynan decided to avoid the entire fiasco by trailing down to the kitchen in his pajamas and getting a coffee. He could just throw something on before they had to leave.By some act of God, no one else had the same idea, and the kitchen was mercifully quiet.He shuffled in still sleepy, rubbing his eyes and yawning before sluggishly moving to boil the jug and loading up a mug with copious amounts of coffee and sugar.He wondered if anyone would notice if he stole cream instead of milk. The extra sugar sounded amazing right now.He poured the water in, stirred in the milk, and then leaned back against the c
The limo ride back to the mansion proved to be a pleasant affair.It was just the three of them together and Yael’s limo was equipped with a mini drinks bar. So they sat and chatted and drank as the time and scenery flew by.Yael turned out to have a decent sense of humor and with both Stelle and Lynan there, the conversation never really lulled.Lynan felt a little bad about raining on Stelle’s parade and getting dragged along but at the same time, he was relieved that he got to avoid the cramp and drama on one of the other limos.Yael had come out by himself in his own limo so he could use the travel time to catch up on work and Lynan almost felt bad that they were impeding on that.Not bad enough to request a limo switch though.He felt a little less awkward in the man’s presence after that.He apologized to Stelle for stealing away her alone time with Yael but she waved him off with a grin.“It’s fine. It made it less awkward with you there actually. I didn’t know what to talk abo
Taylor won the next solo date and Lynan was about ready to punch the smugness and arrogance right off of his face.The white pony lady beat him to it and slugged Taylor in the stomach after a nasty comment to Eve.“Let’s be honest, who wants a fucking virgin,” Taylor had carelessly and rudely threw out in to the room towards Eve which earned him more than one glare and the said slug to the stomach.Lynan made the woman a cocktail and raised a toast in her honor that evening.This place was causing him to drink far too much. But it shut Taylor up to the point that he left to sulk with Liev and Caleb in the bedroom.Ah, the sweet sound of peace.He spent the entire next day having one massive cooking lesson with a few of the other contestants.Several others declined the lesson but were more than happy to sample and judge the dishes.It was going well until Yui set fire to a pot on the stove top and the head of the mansion security, now impromptu firefighter, had to come and scold them
Lynan didn’t redeem himself.The only good thing was that he didn’t look like even more of an idiot. The last group date was ‘fashion’ themed and it didn’t seem to suit Yael at all.Sure, he always looked good and presumably had a decent dress sense outside of the suits but Lynan was secretly of the opinion that it was chosen for the more fashion inclined of the group.Which was everyone barring about five people. The twins won that little competition and decided that they would share the date, rendering the term ‘solo date’ void.His sister had scolded him for not being more forward in his advances but if Yael didn’t like him for being himself, then quite frankly, the businessman can fuck off.Self respect had always been one of the important principles in life that he had made sure to abide.Still, they had been here three weeks and the toll was starting to show.Cat fights were becoming common place and Lynan’s quiet nap time was often interrupted just so someone could groan and ra
Yael had to go back to work after lunch so Lynan made use of his freedom to grab his camera and head off into the gardens that surrounded the mansion to snap off some photos.He even ventured off to the edge of the property and into the slightly forested area much to Jasper’s obvious annoyance.The man wasn’t allowed to speak while the cameras were rolling but the glares made his opinion known just as well.Still, it had been a refreshing little adventure and Lynan was feeling a lot more energetic than before.Almost enough to be able to deal with Taylor’s whining. Almost.He groaned aloud at the memory of earlier in the day and ran his hands over his face. Jasper gave him an odd look from behind the camera and he explained in despair.“If Taylor finds out about today, then I’ll never hear the end of it. I hope he’s too wrapped up in whatever he did today that he doesn’t check the day’s highlights.”Jasper’s smirk suggested that the cameraman actually wanted Taylor to find out. Of cou
An obstacle course!It was made up of planks of wood and ropes, partially on the ground and partially suspended between trees.This one was wonderful. Finally a cardio challenge in this weeks of inactivity and stress!The only problem was waiting until the rest of the grouptocatchup. It wasn’t long before the front of the group caught up but they had to wait ages before those lagging behind appeared.There was more than one groan of apprehension at the challenge laid out before them as people arrived.“Physical fitness is an important part of a healthy, active lifestyle,” Koshgrinned at the gathered group.“And how you take on challenges out of your comfort zone is very telling of your character. Today’s challenge is the obstacle course behind me.”The light brown haired man gestured to the course with his typical grand flourish. “You will have thirty minute