Before I could comprehend what their secret look meant, I realized they thought that I wanted the bag. Damian was already asking the SA to wrap it, and Rai was ready to pay for it.
“Damian, Rai, no. Oh my God. I was just joking. Please don’t buy it for me. Thank you, but you really mustn’t.” I told them hurriedly.“Are you sure, Kat?” Damian asked me again, making sure of what I’d said.“Yes, Damian. As I’ve said, I’ll buy it myself if I want it. Thank you, though. And you guys shouldn’t be that easy on spending money for girls you have just met. There are many gold diggers, you know.” I looked at Damian, then Rai, somehow advising them on the basic information they should have known. They seemed like easy targets for gold diggers, and I pitied them.I noticed Rai was staring at me with a stunned expression. I went to him and asked, “Something in your mind, Rai?” to him. Something about me? I continued in my thought.“Ah.. no. I’m sorry, it’s just that you are the first.” He smiled his slow smile and extended his hand to tuck my hair behind my ear. Then he went to Damian before I could ask anything back.I touched my hair that was tucked by Rai. I was the first? The first of what? I thought to myself, looking at Rai. But I didn’t have a chance to ask him at all.We went for our dinner, and just like every other date, Damian made me laugh a lot, while Rai was mainly quiet. There was a moment when Rai whispered some stuff to Damian, I couldn't hear what he said, but I saw Rai slip Damian something under the table. Damian then nodded, took whatever it was that Rai had slipped him, stood up, told me that he would come back soon, and left.“Where is Damian going?” I asked Rai.“He needs to buy something,” was all Rai said.“More?” I asked out of curiosity. They had been spending a lot just today, and Damian was still going to buy another thing?“Just one more.” He smiled softly.I didn’t press on the matter. It was their own money; who was I to ask about how they were spending it?We spent the time without Damian in comfortable silence. We sat there, eating our dinner, Rai smiling softly every time he looked at me. This time with something in his eyes, his gaze was warm. Was Rai finally warming up to me? Well, at least there was progress, I thought to myself.I was going to ask him about what he had told me - that I was the first - when I saw Damian approaching us. He had an Hermes paper bag, a big one. Did he buy another bag? I shook my head in disbelief. He sat down, and we joked around till we finished our dinner. It was Rai’s turn to pay, so Damian accompanied me to wait for my driver.Now is my chance to ask him about Rai, I thought.“Damian, can I ask you something?” I started asking him.“Sure, Kat. Ask me anything,” he said with that wicked smile of his.I caught my breath, and my heart skipped a beat as my eyes locked with his; that whatever question I had wanted to ask seemed to leave my mind.It was like looking at two glinting orbs of swirling molten gold veiled by thick and long lashes. I was entranced by his eyes.“Beautiful..” I couldn’t help myself from breathing out the word.“Kat?” I could hear him ask.I blushed when I realized that I had been looking at him shamelessly and quickly cleared my throat.“I’m sorry. You are just so beautiful,” I told him as I looked down toward the floor.“I’m beautiful?” I heard him ask.My eyes snapped up to see his face. Did I just tell him that he was beautiful? I felt my face heating up again, looking at how his lips curled up into another one of his flirtatious smiles.“Your eyes.. I meant your eyes are beautiful,” I corrected myself hurriedly. I was so embarrassed at myself for being so bold.“Well.. You are beautiful yourself, Kat.” He told me, still with a smile on his face and his golden eyes seemed to glint even brighter. He looked so breathtakingly wicked that I blushed even harder.I’m beautiful? I’ve heard many people telling me that I’m pretty, cute, or even attractive, but no one has ever told me that I’m beautiful. He must’ve said that out of politeness since I know I’m nowhere near beautiful.“Thank you,” I managed to thank him for his compliment despite my shyness.“Do you still want to ask me questions? Or.. you just wanted to tell me that I’m beautiful?” He asked me as he smirked.He was teasing me! I punched him on his arm, and he laughed out loud.“Stop teasing me,” I told him. If he teased me again, my head would explode in no time from the way it kept heating up.“So.. your question?” He asked me again after catching my wrist to stop me from punching him more.My question? What was I about to ask him? My mind seemed to muddle after looking into his golden orbs.Ohh.. Rai. I wanted to ask him about Rai.“Why is Rai so distant? He seems to close himself up if you know what I mean. What’s his secret?” I asked after my mind cleared out.“Hmm.. Rai does have a secret, but it isn’t my secret to tell, Kat. But don’t worry, he’s a nice guy; he’s a gentleman.” Damian told me.What could Rai’s secret be? I tried not to be too curious about it, so I continued chatting with Damian while waiting for my driver to keep my mind off Rai.“What about your secret, Damian?” I asked him after a while, looking straight into his breathtaking liquid gold orbs. Yes, even with his outgoing persona, I could see a haunting in his eyes. Those golden orbs conveyed nothing yet everything to me.For a split second, he looked taken aback by my question, but he managed to mask it with his smile - a pained and forced smile.“What do you mean, Kat? I don’t have a secret.” He looked as though he was genuinely confused. He was one fine actor, I thought to myself.“Don’t worry, Damian. The demons won’t haunt us forever.” I smiled, assuring him. Or was I reassuring myself? I had a demon myself. It wasn’t something I wanted everyone to know, and I was sure it was the same thing with him. I wouldn’t pressure him into telling me about it, so I just let it slide.He rolled his eyes at me. I was sure he was telling me that I was wrong in thinking that he had a deep, dark secret too. I just smiled softly at him.At that moment, Rai joined us. When my driver reached the lobby, Rai opened the car’s door and offered his hand to help me so I could get into the car. I looked at his hand and at him; he just smiled softly while offering his hand. I took it and whispered my thanks to him, smiling softly back at him, trying hard not to show what I was feeling inside as our hands touched.Inside the car, I looked at my hand. This wasn’t the first time I touched a man’s hand, but why did it affect me so much? Just a simple touch made me want to know more about him. It had never happened before. I shook my head to clear all thoughts about Rai, not wanting him to affect me so much.***After that day, the three of us spent much time together. I hadn’t had this much fun for so long that it felt refreshing.Even though we spent most days together, Rai was still quiet. He really guarded himself up. It was like he had built up walls around him so people wouldn't see the real Rai.I wished he would open up to me. I wanted to know everything about him; I wanted to be his confidant, his strength, and everything else he wanted me to be.Gosh, I felt like he was a devilish angel trying to manipulate me into wanting him by intentionally being mysterious. I knew he wasn’t that type of man, but how could I reason out these strong feelings I had for him if he wasn’t the one manipulating me?Around two weeks after our first date, something changed. We had just finished having lunch, and Damian was paying the bill, when suddenly Rai talked to me or at least tried to talk to me at first, awkwardly. He wasn’t the calm, collected Rai that I’d known for the last two weeks. He was even more awkward than when he had asked me to choose his belt at the Hermes store.“Ummm.. Kat?” He asked.“Yes, Rai?” I looked at him.“Umm..” He looked so awkward that I thought something was wrong with him.“Are you okay, Rai? Do you need something? Do you want me to call the waiter?” I asked, worrying about him.“No, it’s not that. I just.. Can I have your phone number?” He gave me his phone, and I could see that he was blushing.He looked so adorable, being awkward and blushing just to ask for my number that I couldn’t stop the enormous grin that appeared on my face.“Of course, Rai. But now that you have my number, I expect you to call me daily.” I told him as I put my number on his phone, teasi
One day, Damian asked me to hang out at his place. I went to his house, and the first thing I noticed was how huge his house was. I knew that he lived in an elite part of the city, but I didn’t realize it would be this massive. There was a swimming pool, a jacuzzi, a grand piano and all. I wasn’t the type to be easily impressed by wealth, but his house was quite impressive. A maid ushered me to the living room but told me that Damian wasn’t there. So, I sat down in the living room and chatted him up. Damian apologized for not being here, his business affair took longer than he anticipated, but he told me that he would come back as soon as possible. He asked me to wait if I wanted to. I sat there, contemplating whether to stay or go home when I heard quick footsteps approaching me, and Rai appeared. From what I could see, he had just finished showering. His hair was wet, and his shirt was unbuttoned. Oh, and he wore glasses, adding to his sexiness. I was a sucker for guys wearing glas
I still remember our first kiss and the first time we made love. It was around two months after we met. As usual, Damian wasn’t home, so I spent my time in Rai’s room, watching tv. Rai loved to hold me. He told me we were like two pieces of puzzles that fitted perfectly together, and he loved to caress my face. He also loved to tuck my hair behind my ear - that was his signature move. I loved being spoiled with affection by Rai. That was when he asked me, “Princess, can I kiss you?” I was stunned by his question. No one had ever asked my permission to kiss me. He was the first. I somehow managed to look into his eyes and whispered, “Yes”. Gone was the Rai that was gentle. He pulled my head back suddenly and kissed me deeply like there was no tomorrow. It was raw, passionate. I couldn’t breathe due to his kiss. He groaned and said, “Gosh, I’ve been wanting to kiss you for as long as I can remember, Princess.” His lips left mine just to utter those words before possessing mine again
“Rai?” Damian’s voice asked from behind the door. I held my breath, not knowing what to do. Should I answer? Should I open the door? Should I keep quiet? Did he know? Did he hear us? Would Rai want Damian to know about us? “Rai?” Damian’s voice sounded again, accompanied by another knock on the door. I decided to stay quiet, hoping that he would go away. It would be embarrassing to be caught by Damian. I sighed with relief as I heard his footsteps receding away from the door. “Oh, no,” I mumbled as I exhaled. I wanted to stay with Rai, but I was parched from all the moaning, and there were no water bottles in the room. What should I do? I groaned at the thought of having to face Damian after having sex with Rai. I quickly kissed Rai, and tried to find my dress, and groaned again as I remembered that Rai had ripped it off. I searched for something to wear and ended up wearing one of Rai’s shirts. I didn’t bother searching for a bottom since the shirt was long enough to cover my na
Since then, I spent every night at Damian's place, sleeping in Rai's room. Our relationship became deeper. It wasn't always about making love. Oh, trust me, our lovemaking was always intense. True, we did it every night, morning, and sometimes afternoon too, but it was beyond that. We spent many nights talking about deep stuff; it bonded us in ways beyond any relationships I'd ever had. We really gave our souls to each other. *** One night, after one of our many lovemaking, Rai asked me to go downstairs with him. He led me to the grand piano and sat me down beside him. "Rai, you can play the piano?" I asked, though not surprised at the thought. "He was the best in his class." I could hear Damian's voice from behind us. I turned around and realized that Damian was sitting on the sofa, watching tv, his back toward us. "That good, huh?" I teased Rai. He smiled softly and started playing a song that I recognized. It was 'I Do' by 98 Degrees. He was pretty good; I thought to myself un
But nothing would always be lovey-dovey, wouldn't it? I remember that it was around ten days before the party. I wanted to surprise Rai by giving him a present. As a girl, I needed advice from a guy on what to give Rai. So, I decided to entrust the task to my cousin, Frank, since Damian was unavailable. Frank was younger than me, just like Rai and Damian. He had that boyish charm, drawing everyone to his friendliness. Some would say that he was handsome but never compared his handsomeness to Rai or Damian. They were all attractive, just different types of handsomeness. I was very close to Frank; he was like a younger brother to me. Although, since he was way taller than me, and seeing how close we were, some people who didn’t know we were cousins might think that he was my boyfriend. Frank liked to put his arm around me whenever we walked together, and he always made me laugh, just like Damian. So on that day, we were w
I looked at my wrist. It was bruised. I didn’t know that my wrist was bruised, but since Damian mentioned it, I could feel that my wrist was tender. I didn’t want to say anything, afraid that it would somehow strain their relationship. “That bastard!I will punch him for hurting you. That’s not a way to treat a lady.” He said angrily, standing up so fast to go to Rai. I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him down, preventing him from going to Rai. “Don’t. Just let it be. Please stay here with me for a while longer. I don’t want to be alone right now.” I pleaded. Damian asked if I was sure. I told him yes. After some time, Damian told me it was time to leave the room. “You’ve been here for four hours, Kat. And Rai should have calmed down by now. I actually brought Frank to meet Rai to clear the misunderstanding. He should’ve known the truth by now. F
One night while tending to my wrists, Damian asked about my bipolar. I told him that one of my ex-boyfriends was abusive, but I didn’t tell him that I was, well, gang-raped. I had only told Rai about it. I didn’t want others to know, not even my family. Damian froze when he heard that I had been abused for months by my ex-boyfriend. “That bastard.” Anger filled his voice. He was so angry that he unconsciously squeezed my injured wrist. “Umm.. Damian. You are squeezing my wrist.” I winced. He snapped back to reality and apologized. “Kat, it’s been more than a week. Don’t you think that it’s time for you guys to talk? Rai is even more of a wreck than you. It’s unsettling to see him like that, and you like this.” He said while finishing the bandage on my wrist. “Do you think I should, Damian?” I asked quietly. “Kat, you guys love each other so much. So, yeah, I think you should.” Damian put his arm around me.