Forbidden

Chapter 36

"Can we just stay away from each other?" I asked him.

"Why?" His eyes were full of sadness.

"Kasi lumalalim na eh. Hindi nawala," sabi ko sa kanya ay nag-iwas ng tingin.

Hindi tumalab iyung plano namin ni Jared. Hindi nawala iyung nararamdaman ko para sa kanya. In fact, lumalim pa nga.

"Red...," I trailed off.

"Skylar, I am sorry," sabi niya.

"Kasalanan ko rin naman eh. Well, we could overcome this feeling but we failed," sabi ko.

"I lied to you," sabi niya.

"Ano?" Nagulat ako sa binitawan niyang kataga.

"I want you to fall for me more. Not to overcome your feelings for me," sabi niya. "I don't want you to leave. I love you, Sky."

Shit! Sobrang kaba ang ibinibigay ng lalakeng ito sa akin. Magkaka-heart attack ako nito eh!

"What, Jared?" I asked.

"I love you and I thought that making you fall for me even more would make you not leave me. Do you understand?" Jared said.

"But, we are cousins, Jared!" Nanikip ang dibdib ko at lumabo na ang paningin ko dahil sa luha. "Hindi pwede."

"Hindi naman talaga tayo magpinsan. Walang Arcella sa dugo mo. Besides, I never treated you as a cousin," sabi niya.

This is damn complicated!

I don't exactly know what to do!

He gently caressed my cheek. "I love you. You love me. We can be together."

"Mali ito--" I said but I was cut off by his kiss.

Kumalabog ang dibdib ko at pakiramdam ko nagliparan ang mga kulisap sa tyan ko.

The emotion I have is mixed and indescribable.

Oo na. Cliche na. But, it is true.

My whole system betrayed me. I melted into that kiss.

I fell for my cousin at isang malaking pagkakamali ito!

Damn! This feels so wrong!

This is darn wrong!

Gusto kong itulak siya palayo but my system won't cooperate. In fact, I kissed him back.

Sparks. That's what I felt. It felt like I had received bolts of electricity. It was a nice feeling but also scary.

He then broke the kiss when we both almost ran out of breath. Okay na rin iyon. I don't want that kiss to get deeper.

He look at me with his pleading eyes.

"Can you stay? Can you be mine? Please?" he asked. Malambing at namamaos ang boses niya.

And my mouth betrayed me, too.

"Yes," I said.

Iba ang nasa utak ko. Iba rin ang nasa puso ko.

My mind said no. My heart said yes. And my system followed my heart. My heart was dominant that my mind.

Ngumiti siya. That genuine smile na minsan mo lang makikita sa mukha niya.

Sa totoo lang, babawiin ko sana iyung sinabi ko pero nung nakita ko ang ngiti niya, I decided not to. I don't know what came to me and just gave into him.

"So, tayo na? Wala nang bawian?" Tanong niya.

Napailing ako. "Tayo na but let us just keep it as a secret first."