The Case of Falling For You

Chapter 38

The cold air inside the hotel room greeted me like a sudden pop quiz in Ethics—unexpected, brutal, and making my knees shake. Mahigpit ang hawak ni André sa kamay ko habang naglalakad kami sa carpeted na sahig, para kaming mga ninong at ninang sa kasal ng kabado. Or maybe ako lang ‘yun?

Pero bago kami umabot sa kama na parang throne of sin and overthinking, huminto si André at tumingin sa akin. As in, deep stare. Yung tipong pang-Biblia.

"Are you sure? Kasi we can just sleep, you know," he said, serious na parang Dean ng College of Law.

I blinked. "Ayaw mo ba?"

He raised both eyebrows. "What? Of course I want to!" sabay hubad ng coat at pabato sa sofa na parang dramatic move ng bida sa teleserye. Kulang na lang may electric fan.

"Then bakit ka tanong nang tanong?"

Lumapit siya and cupped my face with both hands. "Because..." mwah (he kissed me) "...once we do this, wala nang CTRL+Z, Maricon Santiago. Permanent record na 'to sa Book of Life. So, I need to make sure 110% ka talaga."

"One hundred eleven percent," I said proudly. “With recit and written explanation.”

"Okay," he grinned.

Pero ayan na. Now what? I froze. Literal. Hindi ko alam kung aalisin ko ba agad 'yung dress or hug him or... mag-exam muna sa sarili ko ng readiness. André just stood there. Watching me. Like actually watching. Parang may scorecard siya at hinihintay ang performance ko.

"Love you," I said, half to fill the silence, half para ma-divert 'yung kaba ko.

"Love you too," he replied, calm na calm habang nakatingin sa mata ko na parang lie detector. Hayop.

“’Di mo naman ako iiwan, 'no? Like after this, hindi ka lalagpas lang sa corridor at mag-aapply sa pagiging monk?”

"Nope," he said, kissing my forehead. "You're stuck with me forever. Now go take a shower. I’ll just do something."

Napatigil ako. "San ka pupunta?"

"Babalik ako. Promise."

Hinila ko kamay niya. "Ayaw mo ba talaga? Bakit mo nilalayuan ang breaking dawn moment natin?!"

Tumawa siya, hawak pa rin ang kamay ko. "Maricon... I'm just going to buy a condom."

Nanlaki ang mata ko na parang sinita ako ng prof sa maling provision.

Tumawa siya nang malakas. "Anong iniisip mo, ha?! Doon ako pupunta! Mabilisan lang ‘to. Take a shower na habang wala pa akong sins of the flesh!"

I tightened my hold. "Ayoko nang may ganun. May implant na ako."

Pause.

As in, full system shutdown si André. Parang naglag si kuya. "Wait, what?"

"Nagpa-implant ako. Sa OB. Protected na."

Tumitig siya. Mukha siyang nanalo sa bar exam at sabay natalo sa online chess match.

“D-Damn it, Maricon.”

"Ha? Mali ba? Ayaw mo ba ng ganun?"

I could see the neurons in his brain scrambling like may surprise quiz siya na hindi niya binasa. “Hindi, I mean... DAMN IT, MARICON. YOU PLANNED THIS.”

"Pwede ka pa rin mag-condom!" I blurted out. “Kung gusto mo! Kahit bubble wrap pa!”

Pero bago ko pa matapos ang word salad ko, hinalikan na niya ako. As in hinalikan niya ako na parang hindi kami nasa hotel—parang kami nasa pelikula na ‘yung score ay piano at ‘yung genre ay romcom na rated SPG.

Napaupo ako sa kama—actually, napa-lapat. Pero hindi pa rin siya tumigil. Grabe ‘tong lalaking ‘to. Kung may subject sa kissing, magna c*m laude siya. Di na ako makahinga pero willing akong mamatay in that moment.

"Lights on or off?" he whispered habang nagla-land trip papunta sa leeg ko.

"On. I wanna see you."

"Cheesy ka," he smirked. "But okay. Ako naman, I wanna hear you say my name—"

"Talaga ba, André?" I rolled my eyes. "Ang dami mong condition. May NDA pa ba next?"

Pero na-distract siya bigla. Kasi hinila niya pababa 'yung neckline ng dress ko at napamura siya nung nakita niya 'yung suot kong black lace bra. Alam ko na weakness niya ‘yon. Prelim pa lang ‘to, hindi pa Midterms.

"That's your prize," I whispered, "for surviving Oblicon, Crim, and me."

Napanganga siya. As in jaw-drop. “I f*****g love everything about you, Maricon Santiago.”

In fairness, for once, inayos niya pagbukas ng bra ko. Usually kasi parang action star na pinupunit. Sabi ko na nga ba, may favoritism sa lacy lingerie.

"Babe," he murmured habang naka-dive sa cleavage ko, "they're getting bigger."

"Because you treat them like fidget toys."

Tumawa siya habang literal na nilalaro sila. "I'll give you your own stress balls later. Fair’s fair."

Habang busy siya sa paglagay ng mga kiss marks na strategically hidden—underboob, stomach, side—nag-raise ako ng white flag internally. Walang laban ang self-control ko sa lalaking 'to.

"Baby..." he whispered again.

"Hmm?"

"I'm clean. I got tested when we started dating. Kasi nga… I was... you know... a certified Andrè."

"Maraming salamat sa honesty mo, Mr. Ladezma."

"Hindi, seryoso. Gusto ko lang you feel safe, okay?"

I nodded.

Pero—ayun na naman siya! Ang kamay niya pa-slide na naman papasok sa...

"Always practice safe s*x, baby."

I glared. "Lintek na timing mo. Nag-aaral ka ba ng Public Health on the side?"

He grinned. “Law student ‘yan. Always citing best practices.”

I gasped.

Napangisi siya. “Oh, Maricon. The things I’d do to you.”

And let me just say... lahat ng stress ng sem na 'to? Na-burnout. Literally and figuratively.

"They're getting bigger, baby," he said as his face was literally in between my boobs.

"Because you treat them like they're stress balls, you idiot."

He laughed. "I'll give you your own stress balls later, Maricon. Just wait," he said before he continued to kiss my boobs. Agad na napapikit na naman ang mga mata ko dahil sa ginagawa niya. Focus, Maricon! Focus hanggang naka-suot pa iyong dress mo!

Andrè stayed on my boobs and stomach. He kept on sucking and leaving marks. Being the great law student that he was, he managed to find a loophole on my protest against hickeys. Ayoko na may nakakakita... so he always put it on my underboob and stomach. Asshole.

"Baby," he called.

"What?" I replied, my eyes still closed as I felt him going up to my neck to my cheek to my lips again.

"I'm clean," he said. "l had myself checked the week we started dating. I just want you to know since you know about how I was before. You calling me Andrè hoe and all that."

I opened my eyes. "Is that why you wanna wear condom?"

"Yeah," he said. Naramdaman ko iyong kamay niya na papasok na sa underwear ko. Aha! He's distracting me with this! Mga technique niya talaga! "Always practice safe s*x, you know?"

My lips parted when I felt him touching me. He grinned at my reaction.

"Oh, Maricon... The things I'd do to you."

Nagsisimula nang lumalim ang paghinga ko. f**k you, Andrè. f**k you.

"Does this feel good?" he asked as he flickered his finger against me, making me part my lips and gasp. He grinned and used his free hand to part the stray hair on my face. "Tell me what you want so that I can make you happy."

I bit my lower lip. s**t. Punyeta. 'Di ko alam sasabihin ko.

"I'm not used to you being this quiet, Maricon," the asshole said as I felt him inserting his finger inside me. "You're usually opinionated," he said, slowly adding another. Holy s**t! What—

He was watching every reaction, every gasp from me. Sobrang lalim ng paghinga ko. I didn't know what to feel anymore—all my attention was on his fingers inside me. f**k.

"Does this hurt?" he asked.

"Stop asking me questions. 'Di 'to recit. Just please f**k me," I begged.

An amused smile appeared on his face—like he was so proud of me and couldn't believe that I was real.

"Okay, Ma'am," he said as he began to quicken the pace of his fingers still inside me. "I'm just gonna finish this and I 'll begin. '

Naka-tingin kami sa isa't-isa. He was thrusting his fingers as his other hand was already removing his tie. Damn this multitasking—finger-f*****g me while undressing!

He was already on the last two buttons of his polo when—s**t, so this was how it felt!

I was still reeling from the high that he made me feel that I almost forgot that Andrè was undressing before me. And when I finally got my vision back—

"Final decision with no condom, baby?" he asked. I couldn't remove my eyes from his thing. Oh, my god.

I'd felt that for a couple of times over the last year! Every time I would wake up with Andrè hugging me, I could always feel that poking my back... and now, we've finally met.

"No," I breathed as I stared at the thing that would wreck me. I began to remind myself to not shout 'Oh god, Andrè or whatever reason it may be. No shouting of 'Destroy me, Andrè' either.

Not a second later, Andrè joined me in the bed and began to kiss me again. I could feel him pushing my dress down until he kicked it off of me, my underwear included. He kept on kissing me and kissing me and I kept on waiting and waiting. Ramdam ko ang bawat pagtulo ng pawis. The room was cold, but Andrè made me feel so hot. He made me feel like I was burning.

We were both staring at each other, panting as I sat on his legs.

"This is gonna hurt," he said.

I nodded. "Dito talaga ako?"

He nodded, and tucked the damp hair behind my ear. "Yeah. This way, you can pause when it's hurting," he said, looking really worried. "But you'll be able to handle it. I know you will."

Huminga ako nang malalim. Andrè kept on whispering that he loves me. I could clearly remember him telling me how much he loves me and me crying because it hurt so badly. He kept on wiping my tears and kissing them away.

And then it got better, but it still hurt! I didn't know how his girls enjoyed this! He's just too big and it's hurting me!

"Maricon, I don't wanna do this anymore if you're just gonna cry."

I wiped my tears. "Ang sakit, e!"

"Masakit pa rin?"

I nodded and another batch of tears fell. "Dapat ikaw nasasaktan, e!"

He laughed and kissed my lips. He began to kiss me that for a moment, I forgot how much this hurt. Andrè switched our position while he was still kissing me.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked while he was hovering over me.

I bit my lower lip. "l just realized that..." I said and he creased his forehead. "l just realized that you literally bought me dinner and made me your dinner."

His lips parted before he laughed.

"You remembered that?"

I nodded. "Of course. Naaalala ko lahat ng kalandian mo dati."

He was shaking his head and bit his lower lip.

"You're literally the only person who made me laugh during s*x. You're a legend, Maricon," he said before he began to thrust and took me higher than he ever took me before.