Page 13 of Under The Twilight Rainfall
There’s a man a few years younger than me, probably even a year or two younger than Dex, who I am all too familiar with thanks to Lola’s ‘Meddle-in-Valen’s-Love-Life’ plans. He has long, dark hair that has to be braided back, and an easy smile that makes me feel a little guilty about ghosting him after our most recent forced meet-up last summer.
AKA Lola asked me to walk with her down to the local park only to find Jonah waiting for us and Lola claiming she needed to get back for Pop-Pop.
“Magandag gabi.” As Jonah and I shake hands, I catch Dex watching us with a curious expression, pink lips parted and stealing my attention long enough that they close in a frown.
I shake my head and try not to be completely distracted by Dex’s presence.
“Jonah,” I say, switching back to English and being greeted by a dazzling smile in response. “This is uh, Dex, my…”
“Just Dex,” he buts in, offering his hand to Jonah. “How do you two know each other?”
Jonah chuckles, giving Dex a thorough once-over before looking back at me, as earnest and kind as always.
“What would be… occasional hookups?”
Okay, maybe I took advantage of those dates Lola set me up on, and maybe we had a little fun before I blocked his number, went home, and pretended that my summer flings never happened.
It’s only been… three times? Maybe. Three summers. Definitely more hookups.
And yet every time I see this man, he smiles like I have never once promised to call him back only to disappear for an entire year before falling back into each other’s orbits.
Dex’s eyebrows fly up, and he crosses his arms, taking his turn to scrutinize Jonah, who doesn’t seem to mind. Before I can break the awkward stare-off, Jonah holds up a finger and starts working on something with the equipment. As soon as his back is turned, Dex bumps my shoulder, and I’m almost more surprised by the intentional contact than I am by the words that come out of his mouth.
“He’s got a nice ass.”
“Dex,” I hiss, actually drawing alaughout of him. “No hitting on the stall workers.”
“If anyone’s getting hit on here, it’s you. That man had hearts in his eyes like cupid came down and stabbed him right in the chest as soon as you walked up.”
I groan, because it sounds an awful lot like what Lola says when she talks about Jonah.
“No, he doesn’t. There are no hearts. No feelings. Just a fun romp here and there. That’s all it is.”
Dex looks away, not an ounce of belief on his face, and watches Jonah come back over with two smoothies in hand. He holds an orange one out to me and a yellow one out to Dex.
“Oh,” Dex says, “we didn’t—”
“On me. Don’t worry about it.” Jonah’s smile dips a fraction at Dex’s frown but picks back up when I take a sip of the tarty sweetness that makes me grin. “Mango, right? I think it came up a time or two that it’s your favorite dessert flavor.”
I open my mouth to respond, but Dex cuts me off.
“Yup,” he says with a heavy pop on the ‘p.’ “What was it you used to ask your Ma to make every night? Mango and sticky rice? Was there a name for that?”
“Khau Neeo Mamuang. It’s a Thai dessert. One Valen’s Lola makes every time he comes to visit.”
Dex nods along, looking like he’s got industrial-sized wheels spinning in his head, all while nonchalantly sucking on his smoothie in a way that is one hundred percent non-sexual but still catches my interest in the most distracting way.
“I’m gonna wander. You two catch up.”
He only makes it a few feet before the surprise wears off and I grab his arm. “You’re not getting out of this that easy.”
His smile is soft, eyes holding an edge of humor in their gentle ocean hue. “I’m not going far. Relax.”
I’m still as a statue as he leans in, lips brushing only the corner of mine and sliding to my ear. “But if you need to run off, I’ll be fine.”
And then he’s stepping away, throwing a wink at Jonah, and I think my system might need a hard reset.
Did Dex just kiss me? Well, not a kiss kiss, but that was definitely pretty damn close. And run off? What does he…?
