“Ate naman, I would really appreciate it if you didn’t try to parent me in the middle of dinner,” Kira narrowed her eyes at her sister. Thankfully the noodles were perfectly al dente, enough that it was satisfying to bite down on them a little. “I’m doingfine.”
“Are you sure, because the board meeting next month—”
“How are we enjoying our meal so far?” a voice interrupted, and it was like the fight just whooshed out of Kira in a rush, so quickly she nearly staggered.
All because Santi was standing right in front of her holding a bouquet of deep, crimson red roses. And he was smiling like he knew something she absolutely didn’t. Not even the Grim Reaper had ever looked as devious as him, standing in front of her family. Yes, her heart was flip-flopping in her chest, around the same time as the butterflies in her stomach decided to drink fuzzy lifting drinks and were now trying to get her to float on cloud kilig.
And where haveyoubeen?she wanted to ask him.What the hell was “we’ll talk” supposed to mean? Do you know how many times I’ve thought about kissing you again, you jerk?
“Oh Santi! We werejusttalking about you,” Alice exclaimed, her cheeks already flushed pink from her alcohol consumption. Kira wanted to slide under the table. “I never tried making mozzarella with our milk.”
“I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t the best, Tita.” Santi nodded, very pointedly not looking at Kira as he did so. “I’m glad you like it.”
“How very interesting that you’re here.” Kamilla narrowed her eyes and seemed to be studying Santi from head to toe. She was looking at his artfully tossed hair, at the way he was just casually wearing a suit jacket in the Philippines that Kira was 100% sure was purchased from Uniqlo. “I’ve been told several times this evening that you weren’t around.”
“Oh my god,Ate!” Kira hissed, but both Santi and Kamilla ignored her.
“I was supposed to be in Manila. But I realized,” Santi explained, then he looked up at her like there was nobody else in the room, “there were other, more important things here.”
San Sebastian,Kira thought, because if she was going to pass blame around, she might as well involve Lipa’s patron saint.Please don’t let me die of embarrassment and kilig at the same time, amen.
“What pasta shape is this?” Raymond asked, holding up a bit of the trofie pasta with his fork, looking very unimpressed. “It looks like libag.”
How could you,Kira thought immediately, wanting to glare up at the patron saint Ate Nessie-style, if she could. Both Kira and Jake coughed, and Kiko had to rub both their backs to support them.
“It’s trofie pasta, Tito, a Liguirian specialty.” Santi didn’t look fussed at all as he slowly turned his gaze on Kira.
She didn’t know how he did it; had anyone else seen him, they would think, “ah yes, that’s Anton Santillan and his usual expression.” But there was a heat in his gaze that she absolutely felt, like someone had poured thick chocolate ganache down her throat and it was now pooling and settling in her stomach, between her legs.Bakit. Ang lagkit. Ng tingin niya.
“Kira, may I speak with you privately?” he asked her, in front of her entire family, and honestly, just take her away now. Even Alfred and Mikaela had looked up, and god, how many more people would have to witness what was clearly the weirdest moment in Kira’s life?
“Bakit?” Kiko asked suddenly, and Kira spotted Jake patting his boyfriend’s arm and whispering something about not being such a “toxic tito.”
“Yes! Talk!” Kira exclaimed a little suddenly, needing this moment to happen somewhere else. “We should! Okay!”
Was that too much?She was sure she saw her mother try not to laugh. Kira shot up out of her seat and left her phone on the table, telling Cassie to watch her phone.
“Roger, 007.” Cassie winked conspiratorially at her.
“Um, over and out.” Kira nodded once, and now it was her father’s turn to chuckle as Kamilla sighed wistfully, while Cassie was left completely confused.
But Kira didn’t see the reactions of the rest because she was already walking away from the table with Santi, and she felt she couldn’t release her held breath until they reached the bar near the kitchen. How far were they from the table? Could she speak now?
“Breathe,” Santi soothed. “They can’t hear.”
“But are they watching?” Kira asked, not daring to turn her head.
“Yes,” Santi said, pulling a rose from the bouquet and holding it up to her. “Let them.”
“You realize they’re going to ask me about this later.” Kira accepted the rose. Her heart was beating erratically. God, she was going to get hypertension in a year, she knew it.
“Just one?” she teased him, waving the rose around, so perfectly fresh that Youko Kurama could have easily made a rose whip out of it. Ugh, she used to love Yu Yu Hakusho. “Tsani.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It’s...” Kira began, but decided against it. “Secret.”
“I’m going to Google that. Also, I would give these to you,” he explained holding up the others. “But these are not for me. I picked them up from Hope’s Garden for tonight’s debutante at the Azotea ballroom. I didn’t think she needed more than eighteen.”
