No One Will Know (PUBLISHED)

IX. A Story Worth Telling

IX. A Story Worth Telling

It felt like I was cheating on Nathan even though I wasn't really dating him. I mean, not really. But with the rate things were going, with Thomas constantly texting me, yeah... it kinda felt like cheating.

"Surprise, surprise," Thomas said when I finally arrived. He invited me to a few parties, but I respectfully declined them all. Of course, I didn't want his friends to think that I was just playing Nathan. I still needed them to believe that I had no other ulterior motive, and I was just here because I sincerely like their friend.

Naupo ako sa bakanteng couch. We were in The Loft, and it was still pretty early kaya wala pang masyadong tao. Pinili ko na rin na pumunta dahil alam ko na dito madalas tumambay si Blake at Andres.

"What changed?" Thomas asked as he gave me a drink.

I shrugged. "Just a petty fight," I replied.

I was still unsure about my game plan with Thomas. I mean, it was obvious that he had a thing for me, but I didn't know if I was ready to ditch Nathan—who was safer and more comfortable.

But undoubtedly, without a spine.

With Thomas, it seemed more likely that he'd slip because he's too playful.

"What do you even see in him?" Thomas asked, gazing at me again.

I cocked my head to the side. "Well, isn't he your friend?" I asked, the side of my lips raising.

"He is..." he trailed, his eyes never leaving my face. "But bad girls like you? You'll get bored of him."

I raised the glass to my lips, and gently tapped Thomas' cheek. "You're a bad friend, Thomas," sabi ko habang naiiling.

"You're not so good yourself, Ary," he replied, not breaking the contact between our eyes. Hindi ko alam kung gaano ako katagal naka-tingin sa kanya. Ang alam ko lang, hindi ako pwedeng magpatalo. I needed to keep Thomas by my side for as long as I could.

I believed that one day, I'd need him to be on my side.

After a few seconds, I slowly laughed. "Where are your other friends?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Who?"

"Harvey? And the two silent dudes," I said, even shrugging my shoulders.

"Harvey's attending a charity auction," Thomas said.

"Sounds fun," I commented.

"Well, free money's fun," he shot back. My eyebrow automatically arched when he made the comment. It seemed like that Melendrez family wasn't as clean as the public perceived them to be. I mean, Thomas wouldn't make that comment out of nothing.

As they say, when there's smoke, there's fire.

I better ask Pamela to dig deeper about this. I couldn't risk showing too much interest. Masyadong magtataka si Thomas.

"How about the other two?" I asked. I reached for another glass of whisky. Good thing that my alcohol tolerance was high. Kailangan kong sabayan si Thomas tuwing umiinom niya. Hindi kagaya kay Nathan na puro kape lang.

"They'll come, they'll go, I really don't know," Thomas answered as if he was reciting a really bad poetry. "Pierce keeps on texting," he said, diverting the topic when he saw my phone who kept on showing Pierce's name.

"Should I invite him here?" I asked Thomas.

He shrugged. "I see no reason why not," maka-hulugan niyang sagot.