Sunday

JAY-JAY POV

Sunday morning. The house smelled like cinnamon and smugness. Mostly Keifer's smugness.

"Keif, did you see the look on Lila and Eric's face?" I asked, grinning as I poured cereal into a chipped mug.

He didn't look up from his laptop. "After what?"

"After finding out we're engaged," I said, wiggling my fingers like I had a diamond the size of a planet.

Keifer blinked. "Yes."

Okay. So I wasn't being dramatic. He saw it too—the way Eric's jaw clenched, the way Lila's smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

Maybe I was imagining it. Maybe—

"But I don't like the way Eric looks at you," Keifer said suddenly, voice low.

I blinked. "What?"

He finally looked up. "Just... try to stay away from Keifer."

I stared. "Babe," I said slowly, "you are Keifer."

He blinked again. Then groaned. "I meant Eric. I meant stay away from Eric. I'm too jealous to speak properly."

I walked over, grabbed the laptop off his lap, and plopped down right where it had been—on him.

Keifer blinked. "Jay—"

"So you admit you're jealous," I said, arms around his neck, smug.

He leaned back, hands settling on my waist. "Jay, you're in the mood today."

I grinned. "I'm always in the mood to expose your possessiveness."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not possessive."

"You told me to stay away from you."

"I meant Eric."

"You said Keifer."

"I panicked."

I laughed. "You're ridiculous."

He kissed my cheek. "I'm in love. It's a medical condition."

"Can I get a kiss?" he asked, voice low, eyes soft.

I nodded.

We kissed—slow, warm, and way too long for a living room.

His hands on my waist. My fingers in his hair. Time didn't exist.

Until—

"Get a room!" Keigan shouted, covering Kerian's eyes like he was shielding him from a horror movie.

We froze. Looked up like criminals caught mid-heist.

"Kuya," Kerian whined, trying to pry Keigan's hands off, "I want to see what's happening!"

I scrambled off Keifer's lap. We both looked like we'd been hit with a guilt stick.

Keigan smirked. "You two are disgusting."

Keifer cleared his throat. "We were... emotionally bonding."

"Your bonding looks like a PG-13 trailer," Keigan muttered.

I grabbed a pillow and launched it at him. He dodged. Kerian giggled.

And just like that, the moment was gone—replaced by chaos, cinnamon toast, and Keifer whispering, "We'll finish that later."

I was halfway through my cereal-mug breakfast when my phone buzzed.

Lila.

I expected a meme. Or a group project reminder. Something normal.

Instead:

LILA: "Do you ever wonder if Keifer's really the one?"

I blinked. Chewed. Stopped chewing.

What kind of question was that?

I stared at the screen. Then reread it. Then again.

Keifer walked in, hair damp, hoodie half-zipped, looking like he'd just hacked into NASA for fun.

"Jay?" he asked, noticing my face.

I turned the phone toward him.

He read the message. Raised an eyebrow. Then smirked.

That slow, dangerous kind of smirk that meant he was already five steps ahead.

"Well," he said, "that escalated."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, cereal mug still in hand, heart already racing.

"Oh right," Keifer said, like he was commenting on the weather, "I forgot to tell you—Lila and Eric want to break us up."

I choked. "WHAT."

He winced. "Jay, stop yelling. My ears are bleeding."

"How do you know?"

He reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out his phone, and tapped the screen like he was revealing state secrets.

"Well," he said, "the idiots were talking about their plan to break us up in front of our gate. Where the gates are. Where I installed motion-triggered audio surveillance last month."

I stared. "You what?"

"Security," he said. "Also paranoia. But mostly security."

He hit play.

Lila's voice crackled through the speaker: "We just need to make Jay doubt him. She's already flinching when he kisses her."

Eric: "And Keifer doesn't even notice. He's too smug."

Lila: "Exactly. We plant the seed. Let it grow."

I stared at the phone.

Then at Keifer.

Then back at the phone.

"Oh my god," I said. "And these people want to become lawyers."

Keifer shrugged. "They're gonna need a better strategy than plotting breakup schemes in front of a hacker's gate."

I took the phone, replayed the clip, then looked at him.

"We're going to destroy them," I said.

He grinned. "With love and excessive PDA."

"You know," Keifer said, eyes dark and amused, "I just fell harder when you have that look. The one that says, 'I'm dangerous.'"

I smirked, stepping closer. "Maybe that was my plan."

He leaned back slightly, watching me like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve and kiss at the same time. "I think I've influenced you too much," he said. "You're flirting like me."

I tilted my head. "I think so too."

He grinned. "You're terrifying."

I slid my arms around his neck. "You're welcome."

"Don't tempt me," he said, voice low and smug. "If I lose control, you might not walk for a full week."

I froze. Then blushed so hard my whole face went tomato red. Like, cherry-on-fire red. Like, Kerian-would-point-and-laugh red.

I smacked his chest. "Idiot!"

He laughed, catching my wrist and kissing the back of my hand like he hadn't just short-circuited my brain.

"You love me," he said.

"I tolerate you," I muttered, still blushing.

"You tolerate me on your lap," he said, smug.

I rolled my eyes. "You're lucky you're cute."

He leaned in, voice soft. "I'm lucky you're mine."

"Kuya!" Keigan called from the hallway.

Keifer didn't even look up. "What do you want?"

"We're going to our friend's house for a sleepover," Kerian said, already halfway into his backpack.

"Yeah," Keigan added, "we can't tolerate your romance anymore. It's like living in a K-drama with bad lighting."

I blinked. "You have school tomorrow."

"We'll go to school with our friends," Keigan said, waving it off like logistics were someone else's problem.

Kerian grinned. "Bye! Try not to create my niece or nephew too soon!"

My entire face combusted.

I grabbed the nearest pillow and launched it at Keigan's head. "IDIOT!"

He ducked, laughing all the way out the door.

Kerian followed, giggling like he hadn't just dropped a nuclear bomb on my dignity.

Keifer, of course, was no help.

He leaned back on the couch, arms behind his head, smirking like the villain he was.

"So..." he said, "about that niece or nephew—"

I threw the second pillow at him.

Harder.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As I'm writing a new book I want to skim through the college years and get into the good stuff.

Go check out my new book its called The Quit between us *Jayfer*