--: Jay-Jay's POV: --
My eyes flew wide open. The sleepy fog that had been clouding my brain evaporated instantly, replaced by a scorching wave of panic that felt like it was frying my brain cells one by one. I could feel the vibration of the phone against my ear, and more importantly, I could feel Keifer's teeth grazing the sensitive skin of my neck again.
"Keifer, stop it! He's going to believe you!" I tried to whisper-yell, but it came out as a breathless, choked sound that probably only made things ten times worse.
"Jay? Jay-Jay?!" Aries' voice was reaching a pitch only dogs could hear. "What is that? Why is the bed squeaking? Why is he—is he growling? Keifer, you animal! Let her go!"
--: Keifer's POV: --
The sheer, unfiltered horror in Aries' voice was better than any cup of coffee I'd had in years. I couldn't stop myself.
The opportunity to play the villain in Aries' mental drama was just too perfect to pass up. I shifted my weight deliberately, making the mattress groan under us, and leaned my mouth right against the speaker of the phone Jay-Jay was still white-knuckling.
"Ohh... Jay..." I breathed, my voice dropping into a dark, gravelly register that sounded illicitly satisfied. "Don't stop... you're so good at that... it feels so warm right there... right where I like it..."
"KEIFER WATSON, I AM CALLING THE POLICE! I AM CALLING THE CHURCH! I AM CALLING EVERYONE!" Aries shrieked, and I could practically hear him tripping over his own feet on the other end. "I CAN'T UNHEAR THIS! MY EARS ARE BLEEDING! JAY-JAY, REGAIN YOUR DIGNITY!"
I felt Jay-Jay vibrate with a mixture of a sob and a giggle. She was trying to bury her face in the massive hoodie to hide her embarrassment, which only made her muffled, shaky sounds seem even more suspicious to the idiot on the other end. I decided to really turn the heat up.
"Wait, baby... right there..." I whispered loudly enough for the mic to catch, followed by a low, vibrating hum of pleasure. "Yeah... just like that. You always know exactly how to make me feel better after a long trip."
"STOP IT! STOP DOING WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING!" Aries roared. "JAY-JAY, SAY SOMETHING! TELL ME HE HASN'T TURNED YOU INTO A WANTON WOMAN! I'M TELLING KUYA ANGELO! I'M CALLING HIM RIGHT NOW! HE WILL BRING THE REVOLVER!"
"She's a little occupied right now, Aries," I drawled, trailing my fingers slowly and agonizingly up Jay's side, making her squirm and let out a tiny, involuntary 'eep'. "In fact, she's so busy I don't think she'll be able to talk for the next... three hours. Minimum. Actually, make it four. Don't call back. Ever."
"THREE HOURS?! YOU DEVIANT! YOU VAMPIRE!" Aries wailed. "Let her go! I'm going to tell Kuya Angelo you're holding her hostage! I'm going to tell him you're—you're doing the 'devil's work'! I don't care what day of the week it is, Keifer Watson, you are NOT allowed to do anything with her! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday—I don't care! You are banned from her vicinity! I will put a reinforced titanium lock on her door! I will sleep on a cot between your beds!"
I let out a soft, dark chuckle, leaning in to nip Jay's earlobe, relishing the way she gasped. "Good luck with that, Aries. Your locks won't stop me. Uhh.. Actually.. ahh.. Jay, move a little to the left... ahh, yes. Perfect. Right there. Move more fast.. ahh.. you are soo good babyy.."
"THAT'S IT! I'M DISOWNING HER! I'M DISOWNING YOU! I'M GOING TO TELL THE WHOLE WORLD THAT YOU HAVE FINALLY LOST HIS REMAINING MARBLES!" Aries was hyperventilating now. "I CAN HEAR THE RUSTLING! STOP THE RUSTLING! MY INNOCENCE IS DYING!"
--: Jay-Jay's POV: --
"Aries, wait! Keifer.. Shut up for a second!" I finally managed to wrestle the phone into my own grip, though Keifer stayed latched onto my neck like a giant, stubborn shadow, his shoulders shaking with silent, wicked laughter. "He's just teasing you! We were literally just sleeping! He's just being a jerk because you woke him up and he's in a mood!"
"Teasing?!" Aries gasped, sounding completely traumatized and personally offended. "Jay, I heard things. I heard intent. My intuition is screaming that you are currently being corrupted by that man! It's scandalous! It's unholy!"
"I said stop it! It's nothing like what you are thinking" I yelled, my face feeling like it was about to reach the boiling point. I took a deep breath, trying to regain some shred of dignity while Keifer continued to nuzzle my shoulder. "Anyway, why did you even call? You better have a life-or-death reason for calling us at this hour and ruining the only peace I've had all day."
The line went quiet for a split second, the frantic, high-pitched energy shifting into something heavier and more serious.
"Actually," Aries said, his voice dropping an octave, sounding uncharacteristically grounded. "I'm at our home, and... and there's someone here searching for you. He's been waiting in the hall for a while."
I frowned, my brow furrowing in confusion. "Searching for me? At the mansion?"
"He says he's your childhood friend," Aries replied, and I could hear him pacing on the marble floors of our home. "Big guy. He's got this annoying 'I-know-everything' smirk that I really want to punch. He wouldn't give me his name, he just said that you know him very well and that he's been waiting for years for you to come back to see him. He's just sitting there, alone in the hall, looking way too comfortable."
"Is Kuya Angelo there?" I asked, my heart starting to pace.
"No, Kuya's still at Fernandez Corp dealing with some emergency meeting. It's just me, the maids, and this guy who looks like he's about to inherit the world," Aries grumbled. "Hurry up and get over here. It's getting weird. He keeps looking at the family photos and smiling."
Click
--: Keifer's POV: --
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. The playful, mischievous air was sucked out as if someone had opened a vacuum, replaced by a cold, sharp tension that sat in the pit of my stomach like a block of lead.
He. Childhood friend. Knows her very well.
My jaw tightened so hard I heard it click in the silence of the room. The fury didn't simmer; it boiled over in a heartbeat, turning from a prank into a cold, possessive rage. I didn't say a word, but I let go of Jay's neck and sat up abruptly. The shared hoodie, which had felt like a cozy sanctuary seconds ago, now felt like a cage. I pulled it off over my head, the sudden movement causing the bed to shake. My eyes were narrowed into slits, fixed on the dark curtains across the room as I played back Aries' words over and over again.
Waiting for years for you to come back to him.
"I don't know who that could be," Jay-Jay said, her voice small and laced with genuine confusion. She was looking at the phone as if it had betrayed her. "Aries must be mistaken. I don't remember having any childhood friends like that..."
I didn't answer. I couldn't. If I opened my mouth, I was afraid I'd start breaking things. I stood up, the mattress springing back, and walked over to the dresser. Every movement I made was jerky, fueled by a jealousy so sharp it felt like a physical blade.
--: Jay-Jay's POV: --
I stared at the phone as the line went dead. The silence in the room was now heavy, suffocating, and charged with an energy that made the hair on my arms stand up. I didn't even have to look at Keifer to know he was fuming. The heat coming off him wasn't the warm, cozy heat from ten minutes ago—it was the scorching, territorial heat of a wildfire.
I stole a glance at him. He was standing by the dresser, his back to me, but his shoulders were hunched and tense. He looked like a storm cloud had taken human form.
"Keifer?" I whispered, tentatively reaching out a hand toward him.
No answer. Not even a glance.
I sighed, the weight of the situation crashing down on me. My playful, teasing boyfriend had vanished, replaced by the cold, silent, and terrifyingly jealous leader of Section E. I knew that tone. I knew that posture. He was in machine mode, but this time, the target wasn't an enemy—it was a memory he didn't even know I had.
Realizing I wasn't going to get a word out of him until he'd processed his anger, I slowly began the awkward process of untangling myself from the oversized black hoodie. I slipped out of it, the cool air of the AC hitting my skin, and headed straight for the bathroom. I needed to get ready, and I needed to do it fast.
I showered in record time, the hot water doing nothing to soothe the knot in my stomach. Childhood friend? Who on earth is that? I ran through every face from my past, every boy I'd ever played with or known before my life turned upside down, but nothing fit Aries' description of a "big guy."
When I walked back into the bedroom, I found Keifer already dressed. He'd swapped his loungewear for dark jeans and a crisp black button-down, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his tensed forearms. He was standing by the window, checking his watch with a lethal focus. The silence was deafening.
"Are... are you coming too?" I asked softly, picking up my comb and trying to tame my messy hair.
"Of course I'm coming," he snapped, his voice tight and dangerously low. He finally turned to face me, and for a second, the pure, unadulterated jealousy in his eyes was almost overwhelming. It wasn't just anger; it was a fear of the unknown—a part of my life he didn't own.
I stopped combing my hair and walked over to him. He tried to look away, his jaw set in a hard line, but I stepped right into his personal space, forcing him to look down at me. I reached up, cupping his face with my hands. His skin felt hot under my palms. I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a quick, firm, lingering peck on the lips.
"Stop it," I said firmly, my eyes locking onto his stormy ones. "There is nothing to be jealous of. You are my boyfriend. You are my love. I don't even know who that person is, Keifer. Whoever is sitting in that hall, they aren't you. They aren't the one I chose."
I felt his muscles relax just a tiny fraction, the iron grip he had on his own composure softening for a heartbeat. But his eyes were still dark, still skeptical. He didn't say he wasn't jealous. He didn't say it was okay. He just reached down, grabbed his car keys from the nightstand, and walked toward the door without waiting for me.
"Let's go," he rumbled, his voice like rolling thunder. "I want to see exactly who this 'friend' thinks he is. And I want to see why he thinks he's been waiting for my girl."
I followed him out of the room, my heart sinking. This wasn't going to be a simple "hello." This was going to be a collision.