Seducing Mr. Antisocial |WARNING: R-18|

Chapter 25 Part 2

It was stupid, but hearing Calvin's proposal made her feel dirty. Calvin was like a slap from the past. A reminder of her world. She was not ashamed of who she was, but somehow, after two weeks with Evan, being around someone like Calvin felt like she was tainting something clean inside her.

Tumunog ang phone niya at muntikan na siyang mapatalon. Napamura siya at dinukot iyon sa bag.

Bumilis lalo ang tibok ng puso niya nang makita kung kanino galing ang text message. Binuksan niya iyon.

Hey, I tried using the speech to text function, and it worked. Cool. Tulog ka na?

Nannginig ang mga daliri niya. Goddamn it. Text message lang nanginginig na siya?

Huminga siya nang malalim at sinagot ang text-message ni Evan. Not yet. I'm out with Carmi.

Pinadala niya iyon sa binata at tumitig siya sa dalampasigan. Nag-ring ang phone niya at muntikan na naman siyang mapatalon. Muli naman siya napamura at marahas ang paghinga na tinitigan niya iyon.

Evan calling.

Heart in her throat, she answered the call. "Evan?"

"Hey." May ngiti sa tono nito.

Her heart hammered like crazy. "Hey," usal din niya.

"I'm sorry, it's not a good time? Sige, mamaya na lang–"

"No, no. It's okay."

Niyakap niya ang sarili at naglakad siya sa gilid ng club. Sandali siyang pumikit ulit at hinayaan ang sariling isipin ang mukha ng binata–ang aristokrato nitong mukha, ang bughaw na mga mata, ang matamis na ngiti.

She found herself calming down. The fear, the anxiety, they melted away.

"It...it's okay. It's okay now."

"What's wrong?" rinig niya ang tensyon sa boses nito. "You don't sound good. What happened?"

Kumislot ang dibdib niya. He noticed that, didn't he? Pero wala nang bago roon. Ganoon talaga ito. Sweet and thoughtful.

And we can't even get the nice guys. Para sa mga ganoong lalaki, experience rin lang tayo. We're a f*cking chapter in their lives, Lavinia. An interesting, colorful, dirty chapter. We're not included in the happy ever after. Never in the happy ever after.

She shook her head. God, parang devil sa kanyang balikat si Carmi.

"I'm okay," usal niya. "Just tired."

Hindi ito agad umimik. Tapos, "Okay. So uh...uhm...I was just wondering if you've eaten already, and uh..."

Evan's stuttering just pulled something raw in her heartstrings. Genuine. He was just so genuine. Walang macho bullshit pagdating kay Evan. Walang mga kasinungalingan. Walang pagpanggap. He stuttered when he felt inadequate and awkward. He blushed when he's embarrassed. He smiled and laughed when he's happy and amused.

Napuno ng mainit na damdamin ang kanyang dibdib, at tumaas ang sulok ng kanyang mga labi. "How was your day, Evan?"

"Boring." Maikli itong tumawa. "No, hindi naman. I just painted all day. Oh, lola and Manang love the bags. Si Kat-kat din dumaan at kinuha 'yung kanya. Salamat daw."

"That's good."

"Nagluto si Manang ng bibingka, I think you'll like it. Gustong ipakita ni Manang na mas masarap siyang gumawa ng bibingka sa binilihan natin."

Tumawa ito, at haplos sa kanyang puso ang tunog noon. She wished she could bottle his laughter, and let it out to make her bad days better.

"Yeah?" usal niya. "I'm sure it's good."