Not a Coincidence | Juan GDL

Chapter 13: Let's play a game

  Juan’s brows met and he looked at me questioningly. It was the look he gives when he needs to have assurance over what he hears. He looked like he cannot believe it.

I bit my lip and tried to stop myself from laughing over his expression. I could live everyday looking at this face. I found it cute and satisfying.

“Weh?” That was the first thing that came out from him after a minute of silence. “You and I – you mean, we’re now…” he wasn’t able to complete his question because he was still looking at me with his quizzical eyes.

“Ano ba ang narinig mo, Juan?” I tried to ask gentler so he won’t notice how entertained I was with his reaction.

He raised his eyebrow, as if trying to remember clearly what he heard. “You called me boyfriend!” he exclaimed as if it was a surprising thing for him.

“Congrats, you heard it right!” I mimicked his tone and laughed.

He was still furrowing his eyebrows like he wasn’t getting any of it. After a few seconds, his lips parted in shock and a bright smile quickly emerged from his lips.

“Belle, tayo na?!” he raised his voice and that made me quickly scan the surroundings to check if there were other people. Thank God we were alone on this side!

“Ano ba?! Don’t shout!” I hissed.

“Say it again, please, Belle, please,” he pleaded and looked at me with puppy eyes.

I chuckled before reiterating what I said. “This is the reality, boyfriend.”

“Is it…” he asked and caressed my cheek with his soft hand. “Is it really? Daaamn, you’re too good to be true.”

“Arte mo,” I yanked away from his hand because he really looked like he was daydreaming and I wanted to end it.

“Cute mo, girlfriend,” he shot back with an amused smile. “Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend…”

Juan just continued to make me call him ‘boyfriend’ until we decided to go back home. I was looking at him and he was really happy. I was happy too. I’ve never been this happy. We were holding hands.

Juan’s the first boyfriend. First love. First man. I took a deep breath and made a move.

“Baby…” I bit my lip as I muttered the word. I was holding my breath while waiting for his response and reaction.

“Yes, baby? What’s wrong – what the?!” Juan was looking at me with wide eyes.

I smiled at him. Juan was normally the more composed person between us. I wondered what happened to that calm and composed Juan now? He seemed shocked to almost everything I did tonight!

“You called me…what?” he asked again.

I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing.

“Yeah, baby, keep surprising me and I’ll pretty much end up having arrhythmia,” he calmly said. “And yes, keep laughing at me,” he added in quite an irritated tone. He rolled his eyes and that made me raise an eyebrow at him.

Wow, the audacity?

“Just kidding,” he took back and pulled my hand to envelope me into a hug. I wrapped my hands around his waist and his arms were around my shoulders. “Call me ‘baby’ again, Belle,” he whispered.

“Baby,” I softly whispered and I heard him chuckle at the side of my head. “I love you, baby,” I added and closed my eyes. I was kind of afraid for his response, nervous rather.