CHAPTER FIVE

JELLY'S POV

"Will she be okay?" I heard Ceyx ask when we left the cabin after putting Grace on her bed.

I nodded and smiled. "Winslet will take care of her." Tumingin naman ako sa harap saka napailing. "But that guy, the one who punched the jerk until he lost his consciousness. Who is he anyway?"

"I don't know. But based on the way he acted, it's either he's great at pretending to be concerned or he likes your friend," he pointed out, which made me raise an eyebrow.

I even let out a humorless laugh. "As if he'll reach Grace's standards. Unless he's a gentleman, has humor, smart enough, has a cute smile, and can cook, he won't get Grace's attention."

Narinig ko naman ang mahinang tawa niya. Napalingon ako sa kanya saka nakita siyang nailing. "Women and their dream guys."

I rolled my eyes. "Ganoon din naman kayong mga lalake. Lahat naman ay may standards. It only shows that we know our worth."

Ceyx playfully grinned and raised both of his hands as a sign of surrender. "Okay, okay. Calm down, my fair maiden."

Napaikot na naman ako ng mga mata saka natigilan. "Oh, wait. There's one more thing." Napabungisngis naman ako. "Grace said that she'll only take the person seriously if he makes her hiccup." Napailing naman ako. "But that's nonsense. How would another person trigger hiccups?" Mahina na naman akong natawa. Hindi naman na umimik ang nasa tabi ko kaya nilingon ko na siya. "Why are you staring at me?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing. You look pretty when you laugh and smile, you should do it more often."

I frowned at his compliments before rolling my eyes again. "I know I'm pretty." Mas nauna na akong naglakad sa kanya.

Binilisan tuloy ni Ceyx ang paglalakad para makahabol sa akin. "So, how about you?"

"What about me?"

He shrugged. "Do you have standards?"

I flatly looked at him and slowed down a bit. "Of course, I do. As I said, everyone has." Interisadong nakatingin naman siya sa akin. "Why are you looking like that?"

Ngumiti naman siya. "I'm curious about your standards, my fair maiden."

I looked at the beach on my right as we continued walking back to my cabin. "Stay curious. You don't have to know, anyway."

I was focused on the beach when I suddenly felt a hand brushing against mine as if wanting to hold my hand. Agad naman akong napalingon sa katabi kong nakatingin pala sa akin. "Can I hold your hand?"

Ilang beses akong napakurap bago nagtatanong na tiningnan siya. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I'm curious."

My heart began beating fast again. It's just holding hands, Jelly. Don't think too much. I took a deep breath before looking back at the beach. "Suit yourself."

I felt my body still when his hand smoothly and slowly intertwined with mine. Hindi ko pinahalata sa kanyang apektado ako kaya naman nanatili akong nakatingin sa malayo habang tahimik kaming dalawang naglalakad.

Never in my life have I ever thought of walking hand in hand beside the beach, in the middle of the night, with comfortable silence, is... actually pretty nice.

Pareho kaming nanatiling tahimik hanggang sa makarating kami sa cabin ko. I expected Ceyx to let go of my hand once we reached the door but he wanted me to open it while we remained like that.

Don't overthink. Never assume. He's just curious and you are bored. This is why there's something like this that's between you two. Nothing more, Jelly. Nothing more.

"Let's do the SPG dinner, next time, hmm?" Ceyx opened up after we finished dinner inside my cabin.

Napatango naman ako. I do need to sleep and rest my mind after thinking this hard. "Sure. That's fine. You can roam around and find your midnight snack maybe in a bar," I joked while washing the dishes, facing the sink.

I suddenly felt arms wrapping around my waist. "I was actually thinking of something else," he softly whispered in my ear.

Hindi ko naman mapigilang mapaangat ng kilay. "What are you doing, Ceyx?" Medyo naguguluhan na kasi ako sa meron sa amin. His thumbs started doing circles on my waist. If this was in a different situation, I would've found it sweet. But this? This is confusing.

"I don't know, Jelly. All I know is that I want to do this... to you," he sounded puzzled.

Hindi ko na napigilang huminto muna sa paghuhugas ng pinggan saka huminga nang malalim. "Ceyx, let me be clear about what we have here." I heard no words from him so I continued, "We're nothing more than strangers fvcking each other, okay?"

I did not want to be so blunt, but I have to clear this one out, or else I'll have a bigger problem even though this vacation should be stress-free.

Naramdaman ko siyang natigilan at hindi ko maalis sa sarili ko ang pag-iisip na baka nasaktan ko siya. But that's the truth. I had to tell him the truth.

"Jelly..." he whispered, making me somehow regret that I said that. "I want to know more about you." Ako naman ang natigilan. "I want to be more than strangers."

I finally faced him and stared into his eyes. Our faces were so close to each other. "Ceyx, uuwi na kami sa susunod na araw. This is just a very short vacation. You don't plan on—"

"I don't know, Jelly. All I know is that... I want something from you, but not just the s*x. I mean I love the s*x but... something else too." Napayuko naman siya na para bang hirap na hirap siyang magpaliwanag. He then let out a heavy sigh before looking back at me. "I want to ask you on a date. Just a date, Jelly. And if you don't like it, then I'll let you be. I promise I won't bother you anymore."

Hindi ako nakahinga simula na nang sabihin niya ang salitang date. Fear crept into my mind. I was trying to fight it, thinking it was Ceyx who asked me out. "I-I... I don't go out t-to dates." I cleared my throat, stopping myself from stuttering. "I umm... I don't feel comfortable with it."

Sadness was visible in his eyes but he managed to erase it and forced himself to smile. "That's okay. Uhm... Are you... are you going to push me away now?"

I took a deep breath before smiling. "No, silly." I wrapped my arms around his neck. "We could still do this but... just don't mention dates. I ahm... we could still do whatever we've been doing until my time here runs out."

I knew he was opposed to my idea but he didn't say a word about it. "Okay, then. I'll take what you could offer, my fair maiden. Then I would provide you my best, and let you decide if you would want to take me as your servant."

Hindi ko na napigilan pa ang ngiting kumawala sa labi ko. "You and your poetic words."

"You like them," he confidently said before capturing my lips and devouring my mouth. Well then, the SPG dessert might still actually continue.

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