Hello, irys! Thank you so much for supporting the second installment of the Strawberries and Cigarettes Series, which I started around the 27th of June—Pride Month, and now Over the Horizon is finally completed. Again, this timeline will continue in the next third installment, an extension of their stories, and this series will evolve around them, including the other characters that were slowly revealed in each book.
And yes, I am planning to write GL in this series, but with no definite order yet.
Thank you for supporting Rade Archiel Tejano and Maverick Evander's wild love! See you in the third installment of the SAC Series!
You can also follow my Spotify Julienne Mari for their playlist!
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Trigger Warning: Homophobic remarks, R-18 and violence.
Warm
"Ang oa niya! Pwe!" My sister overreacted dramatically as soon as she found out I'd been visiting him in Batangas lately.
I sighed. She was invested. Though I'm thankful now that she has already calmed down, hearing her rant about how she finds Mavric's action overreacting bothers me.
"It's valid, Chloe," sabi ko habang nasa apartment siya, bumisita at nagdala ng fruits.
Namaywang siya habang nagluluto ako. She was in her puff sleeve dress while her hair was in a half ponytail, and her thick brows were knitting furiously.
"Maarte kamo siya. Bakit ka niya iniiwasan? What for? Hindi ba siya aware na mas matagal kang nagtiis sa nangyari?" she ranted more, her expression getting annoyed with each second.
I arched my brow. Mavric takes things lightly. Since day one. Or he's always unbothered. Cool. Smooth. Kung hangin pa, malamig lang at presko. But to see the calm wind turning into a typhoon, I knew it hurt him.
"You know that would happen. He would distance," sabi ko habang nililipat na sa strainer ang mga hiniwang manok na lulutuin.
She sighed defeatedly and leaned against the sink; her eyes calmed down a bit. Ngayong lumayo nga sa akin, galit naman siya.
"Gano'n naman kasi 'yan siya, kuya. Noon pa. He doesn't like complicated things. Kaya nga hindi kami nag work-out because I am complicated," banayad niyang sabi.
Hindi ako tumingin sa kanya, tahimik lamang siyang pinakinggan. Somehow, she had memorized his facade. But I memorized what's behind it. It's depth. His flaws. And his...scar.
"You two might have worked out if one of you had the courage to lower your pride," sabi ko.
She leered at me. "What? I'll bend for him? When you taught me to never lower my standard..."
I glanced and smirked at her because I find it adorable. She leered even more.
"And you...bent?!"
I licked my lips and chuckled a bit. She groaned frustratingly.
"You lower your standard! You bent! You...out of all people, fell in love with someone you told me to be careful! He's a total red flag!"
I shrugged. Well, I underestimated that Evander. I took him lightly. I didn't know fresh air could turn into a sudden tornado. He caught me.
"He reminds us of daddy!" giit niya, medyo agresibo na naman ang tinig.
My shoulder loosened. "He's not, Chloe."
"He has plenty of girls!" she whined.
Umiling ako. "Misunderstood. Friendly. And..." I arched my brow meaningfully.
