Dare Me To Love You (ITL Series #1) |COMPLETE

Dare 20

CHAPTER 22
GABRIEL
“DELETED.” Iyon ang bungad ng tawag ni Retz sa akin. Nakahinga naman ako ng maluwag. Retz did a good job. “Good. Thanks.” Ibinaba ko ang tawag at nakahinga ng maluwag. Minasahe ko ang sintido at napatingin kay Logan, my loyal driver.

It has been a hellish week and I don’t think I can even drive.

Napahilamos ako ng mukha gamit ang dalawang kamay habang iniisip ang mga nangyari. Aron had crossed my limit.

“Woman?” tanong ni Logan at mahinang natawa. Logan is a long-time friend. He’s 29 years old and it's been 4 years since he worked for our family, but I really trust him.

“Oo na lang.” sabay tawa ng mahina. I remained stoic while I think about what I’d do for Aron to stay away from our lives. Hindi lang si Monica ang pineperwisyo niya.

Nandamay pa ng ibang tao ang gag*.

“Okay lang iyan, marami ka namang babae.” Pabiro niyang sabi. If only he knows that I’m into only one girl. I have always thought of being loyal, but not this early. Well, what can I do? She just took my old self away.

But I don’t want to tell the world about her yet. Maybe because I don’t want them to see her, I just want her to be behind. I’ll hide her in every f*cking way. And this is why I can’t tell the world about how her scent drives me crazy, how she bites her lips when she’s shy, and how she can make my world upside down. It’s because, she’s not mine… yet.

But I’m sure to myself that I’m hers. She can own every part of me, she owns me the day she made my fingers quiver by the warmth of her hands. She makes me fall even harder in small things.

“You look stupidly in love.” Napatingin ako kay Logan na sumusulyap sa akin sa rear view mirror. I chuckled and shook my head. Damn. But then the thought of protecting her suddenly popped in my mind. She’s so fragile, I can’t let a single tear run from her eyes again.

“Is Dad home?” Dad was the first person that came inside my head. He can help me. Dad is good at giving advises.

“Wala siya sa mansion. Ilang araw na siyang hindi umuuwi.” Saad ni Logan at tumingin sa side mirror. And why is that? Maybe I’ll ask Mommy later.

PAGKA-BABA KO SA SASAKYAN ay dumeretso ako sa loob ng bahay at hinanap si Mommy pero hindi ko siya makita sa loob.

“Mommy?” tawag ko pero walang sumagot. Nagsimula na akong kabahan pero nakahinga din ng maluwag ng makarinig ng tawa mula sa garden

Nakita ko siya sa Garden kasama si Monica. Napa-aga naman ata ang dating niya? “Gab! You’re home! Kanina pa kami nagwe-wait ni Monica.” Ngumuso si Mom at tumayo para yakapin at halikan sa pisngi.

“May inasikaso lang sa school, Mommy.” I smiled at her. Inabala ko pa kasi si Retz na madaliin na ang proseso.

“Sige change ka na ng clothes mo para makapag-umpisa na kayo ng practice. Magko-cook pa ako ng dinner.” Akmang papasok na si Mommy ng magsalita ako.

“Mommy, ilang araw nang hindi umuuwi si Daddy?” she stopped from walking midway with what I said. I wasn’t always at home, I usually stay in my studio, so I don’t really know what’s happening.

“Uhh—“ Humarap si Mom sa akin, smiling. She looked tensed, trying to hide something from me. I somewhat puckered my brows while looking at my Mom suspiciously.

“M-may emergency lang sa branch natin sa London.” Agad siyang nag-iwas ng tingin. Hindi nakatakas sa akin ang pag-alon ng lalamunan niya. Are they hiding something?

“S-sige practice na kayo.” oh. I totally forgot about Monica for a second. I shrugged my shoulders and faced Monica who is now sitting on one of the chairs in the garden.

“Hoy, tara na practice na tayo.” Monica sipped on her cup and when our eyes met, she swiftly looked away.

Humarap ako sa kanya at tinignan siya sa mata, kahit na hindi siya nakatingin sa akin. Her eyes were puffy. She cried. I bit my inside cheeks and calmed myself down.

Umupo ako sa swing at tumabi sa kanya. “You’ve been crying.” She tucked the lose strand of hairs covering her face. “It’s nothing,” pumiyok ang boses niya sabay singhot.

I know that this is not the right time to open about her not being present yesterday and our milk tea date.

I swallowed hard, avoiding myself from killing Aron more inside my head. I closed my eyes shut and sighed.

“I’ve seen it.” Sabi ko na ang tinutukoy ay ang post ni Aron. I didn’t believe it of course. Sinong tanga ang maniniwala sa post niya?

“It’s not true—" she tried to explain and looked at me.

“I know. An idiot would believe that. And I’m not an idiot.”

“Do you… believe me then?” she asked with her broken voice and looked at me with those eyes. I tried myself not to smile but failed. She’s just too cute.

I carefully held her cheeks. “As I’ve said, I’m not an idiot.” pinunasan ko ang pisngi niya gamit ang hinlalaki ko. I smiled to assure her that everything is fine. She has nothing to worry about.

I slowly leaned closer to her, so that she still have some time to stop me from what I’ll do. But she automatically closed her eyes, giving me the access. I placed a soft kiss on her forehead, down to her cute nose, and down to her lips.

It was a soft one, no movements, just straight and soft. It was not intimate. This is not me. well, I’m not myself when I’m with her. We stayed like that for a while, lips locked, and just making our own rhythm.

I broke the kiss and intently looked at her teary eyes, “I will never ever give up on you,” I placed another kiss on her cheeks. “I chose to believe you,” she held my hands placed on her cheeks. I planted a kiss on the other side of her cheeks.

Nakapikit lang siya habang ginawa ko iyon, “And when I say I choose you, I will always choose you…” and I brought mine to hers again. I can’t stop owning her lips, not in a sensual way… but in a way my heart beats recklessly. F*ck.

OUR PRACTICE went smoothly, but Monica can’t join us for dinner. Maaga siyang pinauwi ng parents niya and I walk her home again. We had a few chats, like we rescheduled our milk tea date and other stuff.

It’s dinner. Umupo ako sa usual seat ko sa dining room at hinintay si Mommy na umupo rin. Dad can’t make it again because of some company matters. I did not believe it of course. I know something was up.

Mommy placed a bowl of chicken curry and rice on the table. “Dig in!” sinubukang pagaanin ni Mommy ang dining table na parang buo kami sa hapag-kainan kasi alam kong ramdam niya rin ang mabigat na hangin sa pagaitan naming dalawa.

“Mommy, where is Daddy?” I asked and started eating. Tumikhim siya at huminga ng malalim. Maya’t maya ang pagsulyap ko sa kaniya.

Matagal siyang hindi nagsalita, “H-he’s in London.” She’s lying. I called Tito Nico earlier. He’s Luis’ dad and he owns an airport and airlines. Nasa airport niya ang private airplane namin, and he said it’s still there. Hindi naman nakikisalamuha si Dad sa ibang pasahero, especially when it comes to travelling. Tito Nico also said na Dad did not book a flight to any countries. Imposible namang sa ibang airline ‘yun pumunta.

“Okay.” For the sake of keeping my Mom’s sanity, because I can see her trembling. She and dad are trying so hard to hide something from me. Too bad I grew up watching detective Conan.

W A N D E R

Nakatulog ako kagabi paxenxa na🤕💔