by Frejas,Tara
We shared a quiet moment of laughter, and then I heard Tita Helena announce that she and Natalie were going inside the house. Charles only nodded to his mother before looking back at me. His warm hands found his way to my bare waist.
“Sadly, we’re not in the same fairytale.”
“Oh, but I may have a lamp that can spit out a genie... who can grant you three wishes. You can maybe wish for a revision.”
The children’s songs playing from the sound system suddenly faded into something else, a romantic R&B track Charles was fond of listening to in his car. It was funny how we both kind of wondered where it came from and knew the answer at the same time. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I looked behind me and saw Tita Helena peeking from the shutters.
“I’ll have those three wishes, please.” He pulled me closer. “And my first is to dance with you.”
And dance, we did. None of that fancy footwork he’d become so good at, though. Just the slow, swaying-to-the-music type of dance. I lifted one hand to his shoulder, playing with the gold tassels of his epaulet. The same hand went up the back of his neck a little later, fingers playing with his hair. “Your second wish?”
He steadied his gaze on me. On my eyes, my lips. I took a deep breath to calm my heart and tried counting backward from ten, but the technique wasn’t working. How could my heart pound like I’d been running a full-court press for ten straight minutes when Charles and I were only swaying slowly?
I felt Charles’ hands hold my wrist firmly as he whispered, “I wish you’re not in love with someone else.”
“Wish granted.”
He pulled away and looked at me with a sparkle in his eyes I’d never seen before.
“Yes, Charlie. I choose you,” I said softly, relishing the expression on his face. I held his cheeks between my palms and squished them. “There was no one else in the first place. I’m still scared about all this, but—”
“Scared?” he asked, confused.
“What if you only think that another ice cream flavor tasted great because the last one you had was crap? What if… after a while, you realize that the new one isn’t that great, either?”
“Garnet.”
“I’m just saying being with me might not be as perfect as you might have imagined.”
Charles shook his head. “I don’t need to imagine anything, Garns. And I don’t need things to be perfect. Being with you is enough. You are more than enough for me.”
My hands fell to his shoulders, eventually sliding down to rest against his chest. Avoiding his gaze, I fiddled with the bright red sash that ran diagonally from his left shoulder to his right hip.
“I guess I’m an idiot too.”
Months ago, I let my insecurities get in the way of having something beautiful beyond friendship. Charles had just broken up with his girlfriend of two years, an incident that might not have happened if not for my reckless actions. I told him he needed time to heal, but I needed that time too. To step back and assess the situation that I dove into without so much as a strategy. To try and fix things. To figure out what I really wanted.
In a single basketball game, lots of unexpected things can happen. No matter how well you train or how much you prepare to counter an opponent’s plays, there will be times when you’ll be forced to hustle. Get the ball at all costs. Run, jump, dive… do whatever it takes to win the game, even if you break something in the process.
And I guess, in hindsight, that’s what this journey had been all along. A hustle to win someone’s heart, to find answers to questions, and to take a big, scary leap of faith.
As long as I had Charles’ hand to hold, maybe the leap wasn’t so scary after all.
The music sounded louder now, but only because neither of us spoke for a while. Later, he lifted my chin and asked, “You know my third wish is to be able to kiss you, right?”
“Only today?” I asked back, my lips turning up in a smirk.
“Any day, anytime... as long as you’ll allow me to.”
“And then—happily ever after?”
He leaned in and kissed me, a tentative answer to my question. It was strong yet sweet. Just as I was about to demand a proper reply, he lifted his hands to cradle my face, and I closed my eyes on instinct as the tip of his nose brushed against my cheek.
As our lips touched again, I smiled, thinking he smelled of apple soda and cotton candy. Even so, his lips tasted like chocolate, and the way they played push-and-pull with mine had me holding on to the fabric of Charles’ costume as if my life depended on it. I never thought I’d admit it, but I wanted more. And I made sure he knew.
Out of breath, I opened my eyes when I felt his lips disengage, his face a blur for a moment until he smiled. “You still haven’t answered my question,” I whispered, biting my lower lip. The faint taste of chocolate was still there. Sweet, sweet victory.
The smile on Charles’ face grew wider, and as his thumbs gently caressed my cheeks, he whispered, “What’s the rush, princess? We’re only at ‘Once upon a time.’”
THE END
About the Author
TARA FREJAS is a cloud-walker who needs caffeine to fuel her travels. When she’s not in work mode, she keeps herself busy by weaving her daydreams into stories.
While not exactly a huge basketball fanatic, she does love and support the national team, Gilas Pilipinas (Hi, Gabe Norwood! Hee~) and has a tendency to get rather emotional watching their games.
In a parallel universe where she doesn’t have asthma, Tara played for her high school and college basketball teams as a shooting guard. She wore jersey number 21, and ended her college career with triple-double averages. In short, beast mode ang ate niyo. Pak.
Her other print-on-demand titles include Paper Planes Back Home, The “Forget You” Brew, and Scandalized.
Get in touch with the author:
Website: tarafrejas.com / taratriestowrite.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/authortarafrejas
Twitter: @tarafrejas
Want more indie romance books in your life? Go to romanceclassbooks.com for more than a hundred titles by Filipino authors!
Special Thanks To…
To my family, for the constant support, comfort, love, and everything else in between. I love you forever and ever.
To my #ClingyGirls—for always being clingy. And awesome. Let’s keep on pushing each other to get more awesome things done, shall we?
To Rix, for your constant enthusiasm in helping me polish my words so I can tell better stories. Thank you for loving Garnet and Charles, and every one of my characters that you’ve met.
To the wonderful people of #romanceclass, for being such an amazing support group. It’s an honor and privilege to be part of this community.
To Ms. Mina V. Esguerra, for inviting me to be part of the #TalesFromTheMetro project, without which Garnet and Charles’ story wouldn’t have been written in the first place. Thank you, always, for the opportunities.
And to you, who gave this book a chance and read through to the end, thank you! I hope you liked it enough to check out my other titles. And if you already have all of them, here, have a BIG HUG from me. Thank you for letting my words become part of your life.
What do you think about this book? Let me know by tweeting me @tarafrejas, or using the hashtags #SettleTheScore or #HustlePlay. I would love to read your comments!
