lilies.

49

Kabanata 49

"What is it then?"

"Chismoso ka pala..." Bigla na lang lumabas sa bibig ko ang nasa isip ko. Maski ako ay nagulat sa sinabi.

Agad na kumatyaw si Kai kay Ian dahil sa sinabi ko. Hagalpak siya sa tawa dahil nagulat si Ian na sinabi ko iyon. Siguro ito ang unang beses na masabihan siya ng ganon.

"Acosta lang ang kayang makapagsabi niyan sa'yo! Ano, rebut, Ian?" Asar na naman ni Kai kay Ian.

Ian looked pissed, though he always looked like that. Kaya hindi ako sigurado kung na-ooffend ba siya o ano.

Ngiting-ngiti si Rai at nakatanaw sa rear view mirror. He's like a proud father or what.

"Seatbelts, Lily, please."

He's a good driver. He's very careful. Sa ilang beses ko na nakasakay sa sasakyan niya ay iyon ang napansin ko. He never try to overtake even when it's free and there's no traffic. He slows down and don't go too fast.

Pinababa niya ang dalawang kaibigan sa may High Street. Ayaw pa nga nilang pumayag pero hindi naman kami nakapark, naka-hazard lang siya sa gilid ng kalsada kaya napilitan na ang dalawa.

He parked in an establishment and he asked me to move to the passenger seat. Bumaba ako at sumakay gaya ng sabi niya. He helped me with my seatbelt.

When his face was near me, I cupped it with both of my palms and kissed him. I smiled after. He doesn't look surprised though. He smirked. My heart leaped and my stomach churned. I'm nervous but also excited and teasing too. I bit my lower lip while grinning. Dinilaan niya ang labi niya.

Hinaplos niya ang pisngi ko at bumalik na sa pagkakaayos ng upo para mag-reverse na at umalis sa parking.

"I tried to search for quiet and less crowded places near here but most of them are in Antipolo and some are located in the South. Do you want to go there?"

"Hmm, too far," I genuinely voice out my thoughts. A thing that I only do with Gab or when I'm really comfortable with the person. We're on that level now.

"Okay, where do you wanna go then?"

An idea popped in my head. I'm not sure if he's okay with it though. Ayaw niya siguro.

"Sa condo mo? It fits the criteria; no crowd, no one will see us and not far. I wanna take a nap too. I'm so tired today. Though, I still wanna hang out with you."

"Hmm, okay. Let's find other places to go to afterwards. For the meantime, let's hang out there."

Lumapad ang ngiti ko. I moved to face him. Nakatuon ang mata niya sa daan, "Yes, you want to visit places in Marikina some time? Like the places I used to hang out way back elementary and high school?"

"Hmm, we can do that. I'm curious too about your life before college."

"Same! I wanna visit your hometown, too. Saria, right? Where is it?"

"4 hrs away from the Metro. We can visit sometime. We'll have to set a date that both works for us as it is quite far."

I smiled, kind of looking forward to it. I'm really curious about what kind of life he has there. I've never been to any province before. Even though my Daddy is from Bicol, I never really got to visit. What is it like to live there?

We never really get to talk about what we are. Hindi ko rin naman gustong itanong. I don't want to assume. He never asked me to be his girlfriend. I am utterly sure, he won't ask me that because as Gab said Rai doesn't do girlfriends.

However, we're nothing like flings. I am sure of that. He never treat me as one. Minsan natanong ko iyon kay Wendy kung paano ba ang setup ng friends with benefits o ng fling. Nagawa kong itanong iyon ng hindi nabubuko dahil narinig ko na may ganoon si Patricia.