Chapter 76 Chapter 38 (ii)
FAE
The three went crazy. My cheeks were alarmingly hot and he lowered his head to kiss me on my naked shoulder. I turned my head a little towards him and his arms tightened around me. I felt his kiss at the top of my head.
“I know this seemed so graphic and detailed but I want you all to know I felt incredibly humbled being the first man your friend trusted in her most vulnerable moment. That I valued it so much and I was going to take care of her all our lives. You don’t have to worry. I love this woman so much.”
Pam sighed deeply and loudly. “Can you give a tutorial to other guys on how to do that? Make a woman really cum? We’ll pay you, promise, just teach anyone we might date how to do it.”
I giggled. Jigo’s shoulders shook as he tried to laugh as quietly as possible, shaking his head. I turned to him again, and found his cheeks still scarlet from his inebriated confession to our inebriated friends. His eyelids low, our eyes met. And there was that connection. We shared a slow and tender kiss, and I sighed as I leaned further. And even wriggled a little to burrow in his embrace more comfortably.
“Hey, what?” Joanna squirmed, blushing. Her lips formed ‘what-the-fuck’ at Pam.
“What? One in five guys I’ve been with—nothing. Clueless! Nada! If you moan a little louder, they think that’s it. That’s not healthy for a relationship, you know? Faking it.”
“You’re a doctor. Can’t you explain to them that?”
Pam glared at Joanna. “I’m an ENT. Are you kidding me? Next thing you’ll accuse me of meddling with a Gynecologist’s job—”
“It’s not an OB-Gyne’s job—”
“We know. Guys don’t. All they know is since vagina is the business of the Gyne, they also knew how vaginas work. Men!”
“Men you date, you mean,” Joana huffed under her breath.
“Children, you’re all so noisy,” complained Kacey. “Jigo, will you please continue?” She batted her eyelashes at him, her chin leaning on the back of one hand as she hugged a throw pillow. “What else have you done to our friend to turn her into that gooey marshmallow in your arms right now? Inquiring minds like to know.”
The other two immediately quieted down, and Jigo obliged as if he wasn’t interrupted. I was amazed that this man, whom virtually had zipped lips all the years I’d known him, could lose his tongue like this. It was the power of happiness, a little bit of alcohol, and trusted friends, I guess.
And then I heard what he was saying.
“I swear I was ready to do anything for her that day. Still am. It’s like there was an internal quake in my brain and I was just her slave or something like that from that moment on.”
“What?!” I interjected. “You’re kidding, right?”
He took my right hand and kissed me where the rings were. “And when she woke up, I had to act cool because she might get overwhelmed by me. I was feeling so much that even I was a bit scared of what was happening to me.”
“You mean, you were still holding back then? For real?” I huffed.
He pinched my chin. “I was holding back a lot then. That’s why you managed to escape.”
My friends already knew that I ran away instead of completing that weekend with Jigo and then stayed alone in Manila until I moved to a condo without asking for their help. And for them, I committed a wrongdoing graver than my complicity in the ‘wrong door’ event.
“So we became unknowing accessories when we opened the door for you that morning and then kind of shooed you away because we were there? To think we were all giddy because there was a drop-dead gorgeous at the door!” Joanna said, snorting at me.
I faced Jigo and lightly pinched his nipple while covering it with my body so my friends would not see what I was doing. He wore capris over his boyleg but didn’t put on a top. “See, now you’re their friend. You stole them from me. Don’t act like a victim here!”
He laughed, biting his lower lip, eyes looking at me with a soft, lazy gaze.
“Why did you hide from your family?” Pam asked in surprise. “Your grandma likes her.”
Jigo answered. “If I’d exposed us to Grandma, all her friends and amigas would know, too. You know they’re so cute—but are all bored to death. They’d be all over us so I had to wait until your friend could breathe and were on board with what we wanted to happen with our lives. Then the grannies can meddle all they want.”
I pouted. “Always me.”
He gently kissed my hand again. “Don’t be upset. We’re together and that’s all I want.” He intertwined our fingers. Then, it became clear why he took my hand because of what he said next. “So now… when we do tell my lola, we’ll both have to say ‘Yes, lola!’ when she tells us to give her a dozen grandkids.”
“What? No!”
Our audience laughed while I turned my upper body to Jigo so I could do something like smack him on that loud mouth. But he held my hand more tightly so I couldn’t hit him. He bent down and kissed my lips, which were still parted in protest. “Umm. I’m just kidding about the children.” He kissed me again. “Of course, you’ll decide if and when you want to start having babies, my general and my commander.” Then he continued the kiss.
Abruptly, the ongoing sounds of merriment stopped, so Jigo lifted his head and we looked at our friends. Then he turned to follow their gazes to a spot almost to our backs where the smoking barbecue grill was. I had a harder time because his body was blocking me from whatever it was that sobered everyone up.
Well… new arrivals.
By the pond, Carl and Sarah were both still, frozen in their tracts towards us.
And Carl… he looked so stunned as he stared at us. And I knew it was those multiple kisses that he undoubtedly saw that did that.