Inside the barWith every one pa.s.sing the second round preliminaries, they held a party at the bar her brother is staying. She"s glad that brother has such good friends, they even cleared out the place for them to use. Lila was currently in the kitchen, cooking away alongside Kotori and Maika, while Jae-hee and Yori leaned on the counter.
"I wonder what all that screaming was about outside, just the couple flaunting their PDA," Yori said with a deep sigh.
Jae-hee continued to laugh, "Why are you getting so embarra.s.sed for?"
Lila was still mad, and murmured irritated, "There are a time and place for these things, I"m not asking him to be a Prince charming type. I know what I got myself into when I started to date him, but he has to have his limits."
"And the real issue?"
She shyly looked down, "He didn"t hold my hand, so...it was hard for me to stand...." she murmured. Haruka is taller than her, so unless he is holding on to her, she finds it difficult to kiss him.
"..."
"..."
"d.a.m.n this PDA," Jae-hee also cursed.
Yori who had slumped her head in the corner continued sighing.
Was it something she said? Lila felt a tap on her shoulder, "Less talking, more action. The party starts soon," Kotori said.
"Ah right."
....
For the next few minutes, all that could be heard in the kitchen is the sound of cutting. Her thoughts broke off when Haruka appeared beside her, he looked at her apologetically, and she smiled, "I"ll forgive you if you help me."
"Yeah, what do you want me to do?"
"I"m making sandwiches now, so could you slice up the onions for me?"
"Got it."
Lila watched as Haruka quickly washed his hands, grabbed the onions. He removed the top and root with a knife and peeled the skin and tossed it into the trash can. Lila watched him, instead of or focusing on her own work. Didn"t he tell her before that he was no expert in the kitchen? And yet there are times like this where he proves her wrong.
With his skills and appearance, Lila suddenly felt threatened. He"s good at cooking, though he hides it and sometimes he does mess up. But his clumsiness is cute. He knows how to treat girls well and is good at s.e.x. He"s got money and handsome looks. As Lila listed her boyfriend"s qualities, her frown deepened.
"Hey, don"t get too distracted. I know I"m handsome, but Ayase is looking at us with watchful eyes."
Lila laughed softly, "En, I"m staring at you because you"re handsome."
"Hmm, is that so?"
But really, Lila inched closer, "Do you want me to kiss you again?"
"We can kiss later after dinner, but I just want to confirm a few things with you Haruka."
"Sure, go ahead."
"Your good at everything, from cleaning to cooking, from taking care of me and um good at s.e.x," she said the last one shyly. It seemed stupid to her being embarra.s.sed at this stage in their relations.h.i.+p.
To her surprise, Haruka didn"t tease her, "Well, I had to learn. About cooking, I wasn"t sure whether I could still do it. Since I haven"t tried in a long time, but when I started dating you, I figured I ought to relearn it. So from time to time when you have work, and I have nothing to do I learn."
But Haruka has a hectic schedule, when does he have time to learn? Lila looked at him in amazement, and he chuckled.
"It"s not difficult, these days there"s the internet. Online videos help a lot."
Lila nodded her head. But it"s hard to imagine Haruka in the kitchen watching online videos to learn cooking.
"About cleaning, it"s something that naturally happens when you live by yourself. I had no one who could do the household ch.o.r.es for me and stuff. When I first moved away, I did think to hire a housekeeper, but then those housekeepers tried to seduce me."
Lila frowned, "That"s not professional."
"Seeing a single and obviously a wealthy man, wouldn"t you try something too?"
She wouldn"t. Haruka moved towards her and gently kissed her forehead, "Well, I"m dating you because you aren"t like that. But yeah, it was a bother. Since they get too clingy," he trailed off, "I learned these things to survive."
"And um the last one?"
Haruka smiled, "I learned for you."
Lila stepped on his foot then and pushed him away from her; she looked away cheeks burned red. What"s with that learned from her comment? It"s unfair of him. How is she able to remain calm if he says things like that to her? Her thoughts broke off though when she felt Haruka hug her from the back. He said nothing, but Lila felt herself growing incredibly nervous. The scent of his cologne and the lips on her neck were driving her crazy.
This moment, however, is destroyed by the bubbling sound from the pot, "Uwaaah the eggs!" Lila exclaimed. Haruka lets her go, and she quickly checked on the cooking. Thankfully, the pot only just started to form bubbles and had yet to do any actual damage.
That was a close one.
Haruka gently kissed her forehead, surprising her, "We can continue this later can"t we?"
"Are you only like this around me?" Lila asked one last question.
Haruka nodded and brushed his lips against hers briefly, "Only you, Lila. I"ve only ever acted this way around you."
The sensation of his lips on her neck drove her crazy; she knew he was purposely teasing her. He said, "later" but Lila knew he would not stop his advances until he got a reply to his words. If she said yes and accepted, Haruka will stop this and wait until later on. But then it would be even more troublesome for her at night. He would use the, "but you agreed excuse on her."
It did not matter how much she tried to argue with his logic. Haruka always got what he wanted from her in then - this is partly due to her own behavior though. Whenever Haruka touches her, it felt like she"s melting. Being kissed or having s.e.x, no matter what it was. Her head would end up feeling all muddled and confused. People would call her naive but even in that daze state of hers. Lila clearly understood her feelings better than anybody.
She loved Haruka.
A lot more than she originally thought these feelings she has for him grew even stronger as the days go by.