JAY'S POV —
The second the meeting ended, Keifer didn't even give me a full breath before he grabbed my waist, lifted me effortlessly, and placed me on the table like I weighed nothing.
"Keifer—"
He kissed me.
Not soft.
Not teasing.
Hungry.
Possessive.
The kind of kiss that made my brain short-circuit and my legs swing uselessly against the table edge.
His hands slid up my thighs and he murmured against my lips:
"You have no idea how long I waited to get you alone again."
I tried to speak.
Failed.
Tried again.
"Keifer—my—laptop—"
He kissed me harder.
"Work is over."
I tried pushing him away, but he caught both my wrists and pinned them above my head on the table, lowering his mouth to my neck.
My breath stumbled out of my body.
Holy. Hell.
Then—
RING. RING. RING.
My phone lit up on the counter.
I ignored it.
Keifer definitely ignored it.
His mouth trailed lower.
RING. RING. RING.
I groaned. "Ignore it."
"I am."
He kissed down my collarbone.
RING. RING. RING.
I snapped, "WHO IS CALLING ME LIKE THEY PAY MY BILLS—"
Keifer growled, grabbed the phone with one hand while still holding me with the other, clicked answer, and practically barked into the microphone:
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM HER?"
A pause.
Then—
"KEIFER WATSON" a voice said dryly, "you're yelling at the wrong person."
I froze.
He froze.
Oh no.
OH. NO.
"Stella?" he said, instantly clearing his throat like he hadn't just answered the phone like an attack dog.
"Uh-huh," Stella replied. "Put Jay on the phone before you two traumatize me further."
He looked down at me.
I looked up at him.
We both knew I was in absolutely no condition to answer politely.
But before I could even take the phone, Stella said loudly:
"Anyway, I called to warn you— Jay needs to leave your mansion ASAP."
My heart dropped. "What? Why?"
Stella lowered her voice like she was relaying classified information:
"Angelo is coming to my apartment."
Keifer straightened. "What?"
Stella continued, "He's apparently in the area. He said he wants to 'drop off something' and maybe 'check if Jay is doing okay.'"
My soul left my body.
"STELLA," I whisper-yelled. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME EARLIER?!"
"Because I didn't expect you to be—"
A pause.
A sigh.
"—BUSY."
Keifer smirked.
I glared at him.
Stella continued, "If he gets there and you're NOT there, he's going to panic, freak out, call Aries, then David, then Dad— and then we are ALL dead."
Keifer muttered under his breath, "I'll deal with him."
"NO YOU WILL NOT," Stella snapped. "Jay, get your ass home. It's almost 5 p.m."
My heart dropped to the floor.
5 p.m.
FIVE. PM.
I shot up—well, tried. Keifer caught me before I slid off the table.
Stella added, "I'm stalling him. HURRY."
She hung up.
Silence.
Total silence.
I stared at Keifer.
Keifer stared at me.
Then he said calmly, like we didn't just nearly get caught red-handed:
"I'll drive."
I jumped off the table (almost), grabbed clothes, half-brushed my hair, shoved files into my bag, and—
He pulled me back by the waist.
"K-Keifer— we don't have time—"
He kissed me quick, deep, dizzying.
"We'll finish later."
I nearly passed out.
He grabbed his keys.
I grabbed my dignity (barely).
And we ran out the door like two criminals fleeing a crime scene...
JAY'S POV — Entering the House of Doom
Keifer stopped the car in front of my house, leaned over, and kissed me like he was trying to steal the last bit of oxygen from my lungs.
A sharp, short, totally illegal kiss.
"Text me when you're safe," he murmured.
Safe?
Sir, I am walking into a house with Angelo Fernandez the demon inside.
I am NOT safe.
I stumbled out of the car (literally stumbled—my legs still hated me), tried to stand straight, failed, tried again, failed again, and Keifer smirked as he drove away.
Traitor.
I opened the door to the house—
"Jay?" Aries' voice floated from the living room. "Where were you—"
Then—
"JASPER. JEAN. FERNANDEZ. MARIANO."
My entire soul evaporated.
I turned around like a malfunctioning robot.
Angelo stood there.
Arms crossed.
Eyebrow raised.
Stella beside him, smiling like she was attending my funeral.
"Hi…" I said weakly.
He looked me up and down.
Then down.
Then—
his eyes narrowed.
"…Why are you limping?"
OH. MY. GOD.
My brain shut down. My mouth started lying on instinct.
"I—uh—I tripped."
Aries stepped into the hallway.
"Oh yeah? On what?"
Stella coughed violently. "A—uh—a rock?"
"In the living room?" Aries deadpanned.
I glared at her. She avoided eye contact so hard her soul left her body.
Angelo took a step closer.
"Stella said you left her apartment an hour ago."
My smile twitched. "Yep!"
"So why," Angelo said slowly, "did it take you an hour to get home?"
Stella turned around to face the wall so he wouldn't see her laughing.
My heart was beating like a rat on a drum set.
"I—traffic?"
Angelo raised one eyebrow higher.
"Jay. We live TEN minutes away."
"Um—construction!"
"In our area?"
"…yes?"
Aries crossed his arms. "Which road?"
"THE… road… with the… cars."
Stella choked on her own spit behind me.
Angelo's eyes dropped to my legs again.
"Why. Are. You. Limping."
Before I could speak, Stella cut in too quickly:
"She did yoga!"
Angelo blinked. "…Yoga makes you limp?"
"Very advanced yoga!" Stella nodded aggressively. "Elite. Professional. Olympic-level yoga."
Aries looked at her like she had lost all chromosomes.
Angelo stared at me, suspicious as hell.
Then he said the most terrifying sentence:
"Jay… did you run?"
RUN?
OH HECK NO.
"Yes!" I blurted. "I ran! Exercise! Health! Cardio!"
Angelo frowned. "You ran in jeans?"
Damn it.
Damn it all.
"I—love—running… fashionably?"
Stella slapped her own forehead.
Aries whispered, "Dear God…"
Angelo exhaled, rubbed his temples, and said:
"Something is WRONG. I know it. Tell me."
Nope.
Not today.
Not in this lifetime.
I straightened, ignored the pain, ignored the memory of being pinned to a table moments ago, and forced the fakest smile ever created.
"I'm perfectly fine. See?"
I took a step.
My leg buckled.
I caught myself on the wall like a drunk penguin.
Stella's laugh EXPLODED out of her like a grenade.
Angelo's eyes widened like he solved the murder.
"JAY. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
I panicked.
Full panic.
So I pointed at Stella and yelled the first thing that came to mind:
"SHE PUSHED ME!"
Stella screamed, "WHAT—NO I DID NOT!"
Aries sat down on the couch because he couldn't breathe from laughing.
Angelo looked between us, completely done with life.
"I swear," he muttered, "I'm surrounded by idiots."
Angelo was giving me that look.
The look that said:
"I will not sleep until I expose your sins."
I was running out of lies.
Stella was already crying from laughing.
Aries was wheezing into a pillow.
And Angelo?
He was two seconds away from calling a full investigation team.
"Jay," he said again, voice flat, "tell me what's actually wrong."
I inhaled.
Exhaled.
Prepared myself for the biggest, dirtiest, most last-resort lie in woman history.
"Okay fine, kuya…"
I clutched my stomach dramatically.
"I'm in pain. You know—I'm on my period."
Immediate silence.
Angelo's soul LEFT his body.
He blinked at me.
Blink.
Blink.
One more blink.
Then he turned slowly… painfully slowly… to stare at Stella.
Stella froze like a thief caught with stolen diamonds.
"…Is she?" Angelo asked.
Stella gulped. "Uh—yes?"
Aries choked on his drink. "What—SHE IS NOT—"
Stella grabbed a throw pillow and THREW it at him.
"YES SHE IS," she yelled.
Aries shut up instantly, clutching his face.
Angelo covered his ears like a traumatized child.
"OKAY—OKAY—STOP—ENOUGH. I don't need to know details."
He backed up.
"As long as she's fine. I—I'm going in my roo."
And he literally escaped.
Like a soldier who survived a battlefield.
Muttering prayers.
The moment he disappeared around the corner—
Stella grabbed my wrist.
"Room. NOW."
She dragged me upstairs like a criminal being hauled to interrogation.
The second the door closed behind us—
She turned around so fast her hair flew.
"OKAY."
She pointed at me like she was about to cast a spell.
"START. TALKING."
I flopped onto the bed, face burning.
She sat beside me, eyes gleaming with unholy curiosity.
"I swear," she whispered, "if you say what I think you're gonna say—"
I covered my face with a pillow.
She squealed.
"JAY MARIANO," she whisper-shouted, shaking my arm,
"YOU DID RIGHT?"
I groaned into the pillow.
She gasped even louder.
"OH MY GOD YOU WERE. YOU SO DID. YOU CAN'T LIE—YOUR WALK IS SCREAMING."
"STELLA PLEASE—"
"NO. NOPE."
She pointed at my legs.
"Your knees are literally wobbling like cooked noodles. What did he DO?!"
"STELLA—"
She collapsed on the bed, kicking her feet like a teenager at a sleepover.
"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! THAT MAN LOOKS AT YOU LIKE YOU'RE A SNACK GOD SENT FROM HEAVEN. I CAN'T BELIEVE—actually yes I can—BUT STILL—"
I threw the pillow at her face.
She hugged it, still giggling like a maniac.
"Tell me EVERYTHING," she said, eyes sparkling.
I groaned.
And she smirked.
"Oh, we're gonna be here awhile."
STELLA'S POV — The Interrogation of the Century
The moment Jay groaned and buried herself in the blanket like a dying burrito, I knew—
KNEW—
this was about to be the highlight of my entire week.
I crossed my legs on the bed, cracked my knuckles like a detective about to solve a homicide, and stared at her wiggling, embarrassed corpse.
"Jay," I said calmly.
Very calmly.
Terrifyingly calmly.
"Move the pillow."
She didn't.
So I yanked it off her face.
She squeaked like a guinea pig.
I grinned.
"Confess."
Jay covered her red face with both hands.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh you will talk."
I leaned closer.
"Because you didn't just look flustered. You came home looking like a badly disguised criminal."
She groaned again.
"And," I added, pointing downward, "you're sitting like a grandma who fell off a rooftop. So—start talking."
Her voice came out muffled.
"It's embarrassing."
"EMBARRASSING?" I shrieked.
"JAY. YOU LIMPED THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR LIKE YOU GOT HIT BY A TRUCK MADE OF… WATSON."
She grabbed a blanket and tried covering herself again.
I snatched it.
"Girl. I am your best friend. I deserve this story."
She finally peeked at me with mortified eyes.
"…We kissed."
I threw both hands in the air.
"YES I KNOW THAT PART, I'M NOT BLIND—KEEP GOING."
"It was— intense."
"INTENSE?" I clapped like an excited seal.
"On a scale of 1 to 'I need a wheelchair,' where are we?"
Jay slapped my arm.
"STELLA!"
I shrieked.
"OH MY GOD YOU'RE AT THE WHEELCHAIR LEVEL?!"
"No—well—maybe—I DON'T KNOW—STELLA STOP."
I fell backward onto the bed, kicking my feet like a chaotic toddler.
"I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. HE LOOKS AT YOU LIKE HE'D EAT YOU ALIVE."
Jay covered her face again.
"He grabbed me—"
I SAT UP SO FAST I GOT WHIPLASH.
"WHERE."
"Stella—"
"WHERE DID HE GRAB YOU, JAY."
She gave me that look.
My jaw DROPPED.
I slapped a hand over my mouth.
"NO. STOP. DO NOT TELL ME HE—"
Jay threw a pillow at my face.
"SLEEP. WE ARE SLEEPING. THIS CONVERSATION IS OVER."
I clutched the pillow.
"OH, IT'S NOT OVER. I'm just letting you rest for now because you look like you fought God."
She groaned and rolled under the blanket.
I lay beside her, still grinning like a lunatic.
"Oh my god," I whispered into the darkness,
"you're SO in love."
Jay kicked me weakly from under the blanket.
I giggled, tucked us both in, and stared at the ceiling.
This is insane.
Wild.
Absolutely hilarious.
But also?
My girl is happy.
And Keifer—
for the first time ever—
actually looks like he cares.
I sighed and closed my eyes.
Tomorrow, I was definitely interrogating her again.
In detail.
With diagrams.
Maybe charts.
---
THE NEXT MORNING — Jay's POV
I woke up to sunlight.
Warm. Peaceful.
Until—
"SO,Dreaming about him" Stella whispered in my ear.
I screamed into the pillow.
Stella cackled.
FULL. VILLAIN. LAUGHTER.
"OH MY GOD YOU WERE DREAMING ABOUT HIM!" she shouted. "LOOK AT YOU—YOUR FACE IS SMILING LIKE YOU WON THE LOTTERY."
I kicked her half-heartedly under the blanket.
"Stella, stop—"
"Nope. Not stopping. Never stopping."
She rolled onto her stomach, chin in her hands.
"SO. Did he lift you again? Did you dream about the table? Did—"
"STELLA."
She blinked innocently.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
I threw the pillow at her.
She dodged it like she's been training for this moment her entire life.
"I swear—" I groaned.
"You SWEAR you're in love?" she said sweetly.
I groaned louder.
Stella flopped on top of me like a dramatic toddler.
"Jay. BESTIE. If you don't tell me the dream right now, I will go downstairs and tell Angelo you lied about your period."
I froze.
"You wouldn't."
Her smirk turned demonic.
"Try me."
I let out a suffering sigh.
"Fine. FINE. I dreamed… about the elevator."
Stella squealed so loud I'm pretty sure the windows shook.
"THE ELEVATOR SCENE? AGAIN?!"
My soul exited my body.
She rolled around the bed kicking her legs like she was possessed.
Then she sat up.
"Okay. Time to get ready. Angelo and Aries are already up."
I bolted upright.
"WHAT—"
Stella shrugged. "Aries is making coffee. Angelo is threatening people in the group chat. Normal stuff."
I dove out of bed so fast I nearly slipped.
My legs—
…yeah, they still hated me.
Stella noticed.
Her grin returned with full evil power.
"Wow. STILL wobbling. Jay, babe—what did he DO—"
"STELLA I'M GOING TO KILL YOU."
She only laughed harder.
We got dressed quickly, and as we walked downstairs—
I prayed for safety.
I was not granted it.
---
DOWNSTAIRS — The House of Interrogation (Again)
The second I stepped into the living room—
Angelo eyed me.
Eyed my walk.
Eyed my soul.
Then he sipped his coffee like a judgmental grandma.
"Morning," he said.
"Morning…" I answered.
Aries waved lazily. "You good?"
"…yes."
Angelo raised a brow.
Stella elbowed me hard.
I straightened my back, tried to walk normally—
Failed.
Miserably.
Angelo's eyes narrowed.
Here we go AGAIN.
He crossed his arms.
"Jay."
I swallowed air.
"Yes?"
He tilted his head.
"So… the period."
Stella choked on her own saliva.
Angelo continued, "You're still… walking weird."
My soul left my body.
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
Stella jumped in.
"She—she did more yoga!"
Angelo glared at both of us.
"You two think I'm stupid?"
Aries sipped his coffee, enjoying the chaos like popcorn.
Angelo pointed at me.
"You're hiding something. I know it."
Nope.Not today.Not again.