Settle the Score / Hustle Play

Chapter Five | One-on-One

Charles wouldn’t stop feeling sorry about not being able to drive me to the magazine shoot as he promised, owing to what he curtly described as “a family thing.” Just so he’d feel better, I let him talk me into an impromptu barbecue date at their house the next day. So here we were, lounging by the pool in beachwear as if tomorrow weren’t a school day.

“So... how was your shoot?”

I had my phone camera aimed to snap a photo of his squinty, pouty expression while turning the kebabs over the grill. Okay, maybe I took a shot of his nice, friendly abs too. For posterity.

“A little awkward at first, but it turned out great, I guess. I had fun.”

“Yeah? I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy—did they say when it’ll come out?”

“Middle of next month, I think.”

I snapped a few more photos but saved the social media sharing for later and put my phone away. I wasn’t sure what sort of lame excuse he told his parents for them to allow him to stay in Manila when they were all spending their weekend in Tagaytay.

“How was it working with your crush?”

“Who, Chris?”

He held a can of beer in his free hand, from which he took a swig before asking, “Anyone else I should know about?”

It was difficult to hold back a smile, hearing him say that. “Are you being jealous right now?”

“Whaaat. No!” The fact that Charles looked away and chugged some more beer confirmed my insinuation, and I couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh. So this was how it felt like, having someone you like get jealous of someone else. I probably shouldn’t feel kilig, but I did.

“You are being very cute right now,” I told him. “Seloso.”

He opened his mouth to protest. I stuck my tongue out at him. And like the kids we were, we started running around the pool area until he caught up with me and pulled me into the water with him.

We fell into the shallow end of the pool, and I splashed his face with water as soon as I surfaced. Laughing, Charles inched closer and held on to my wrists firmly so I’d stop with the water assault. “Fine,” he said, breathless. “Fine. Maybe I am jealous.”

“Aww, Charlie...”

He loosened his grip on my wrists and gave them a tug, then placed my hands on his shoulders. “I know. I’m not entitled to feel that way.”

“It’s not that, silly. You have nothing to be jealous about.” My voice was as calm as I needed it to be, but my heart was being a rebel, thumping hard against my rib cage. The water felt cool against my skin, but heat slowly crept up from my waist to my neck when he rested his strong hands on my hips. The way Charles looked at me didn’t help, either.

He pressed his forehead against mine and whispered, “I really, really want to kiss you right now.”

“Charlie, we talked about this.” My hands on his shoulders began to create a safe distance between us. His hands let go of my hips. “Not yet.”

“I know.” He held me by the arms this time and left a kiss on each of my wrists before letting go. “Would you get up there and put the fire out before the kebabs burn?” he asked, nodding his head toward the grill.

“I thought you said you were going to spoil me today?” I shot back.

He cleared his throat and looked away, as if embarrassed of what he was about to say next. “I, uh... need a time out.”