(Confession: I tried, but I always forgot and now had stopped checking wn notification after they changed the format.)
[Edward POV]
As Claire walked into the room, she saw a baffling sight of her husband covered with multi-coloured underwear. She noticed I was smirking as I watched the whole thing, and inwardly painted me as a culprit for this.
"Ed. I'll settle this with you later." Claire said sternly. I tilted my head puzzledly, waiting for an explanation but Claire already had turned to Gloria.
"I don't know what my husband is saying to you, or why he's covered in your underwear-"
"Obviously, I'm trying to seduce him for his money." Gloria interjected before Claire could finish. "That's what I do, right?"
"Hey Gloria. Just a reminder. I'm also quite rich now." I chimed in while watching the show in amusement.
Gloria almost broke her composure and laughed. Both Claire and Gloria glared at me before turning to each other. I took the chance to whisper to Phil, "Hey. We should let them settle this by themselves."
"Yes. I agree." Phil said before he stood up and shook off the underwear stuck on his body. A white, frilly underwear was stuck at his cargo short pocket, but he didn't notice it.
Claire sat at the place Phil sat before and she saw the stuck underwear.
"Phil-" She tried to tell him, however, Phil stopped her and said with a hint of smugness, "Ed and I shouldn't be here. It should be you guys…talking about it…Honey…You're welcome."
Claire was in disbelief at Phil's words but her husband had already walked out of the room. I turned to Gloria and said, "Hazla sudar" (Make her sweat)"
Gloria nodded and said, "Lo haré (I will)"
"W-Wh-What are you guys talking about?" Claire said with a tinge of fear.
I smiled at her and said cheerily, "¡Que lo disfrutes! (Enjoy it!)"
I closed the door as I left the room and returned to the living room, leaving Claire's mouth agape and her suspicious about the whole thing. I already knew how the conversation inside the room would go, and they needed privacy for them to open up with each other. My presence there was no longer necessary.
'Though I felt a bit discontented when I had to leave.'
I separated from Phil who was going to the kitchen after going downstairs. I heard Haley exclaim, "EWW WHY ARE YOU SUCH A PERVERT!" as she saw her dad with Gloria's underwear, and laughed hard as I walked to the pool area.
Taylor and Selena were dunking their bare legs in the heated pool water after taking off their shoes and were drinking wine disguised as sparkling water.
"Hey. Pepper and Harvey were here. They didn't stay though as they had to go to Hollywood tonight to sign a few deals." Taylor explained.
"Oh. Did they eat?" I asked as I feel a bit worried for those overworked people. The company needed to expand – urgently.
"Yeah they ate." Taylor said while nodding slightly and then stood up to face me. "I was also thinking of going now."
"Aww…But I understand." I said with a sly smirk as I gazed in her eyes. Her cheek flushed a bit and she tucked her hair behind her ear as she whispered seductively biting her lower lip, "You know. My hotel is nearby…"
"Skank." Selena muttered to herself.
"Shut up!" Taylor said and hit Selena's shoulder in embarrassment. "I'm only saying my hotel is nearby. I didn't invite him to my room."
She faced me again and said, "But…you're basically homeless tonight right? If you want to check into a hotel, you could stay in the same one I am at."
"Ahh…Maybe. I'll talk to my dad first." I said.
She suddenly leaned closer and grabbed my hand. I could sense she sneaked something to my palm as she did so. She said seductively, "And if you're close…who knows what will happen."
I smiled and said, "Yeah. Who knows, maybe Selena will have to be kicked out of your room tonight."
Selena rolled her eyes and stood up next to Taylor. Her body swayed a little as she did. I looked concerned at her, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. My legs get weak sometimes." Selena said before turning to Taylor, "I'm only saying this once. No matter what happens, I won't get out of the room."
"Hmm…pervert." Taylor said mischievously, making Selena blush. "I'm not hinting at that!"
Taylor licked her lips as her eyes darted between Selena and I, "Maybe…it won't actually be bad if you're there."
Taylor dared to suggest so and didn't fear Selena snatching her potential lover away was because of the fact that Selena's popularity was still low, and she couldn't reach Taylor and mine's level yet.
Selena was stunned and gulped her saliva while I coughed lightly and said, "We don't know if I will stay there yet."
"Wait. Ed. Before we go, are you planning on playing anything tonight?" Selena asked. Taylor's eyes lit up and she said, "Yeah Ed. Play something."
"There's no instrument here. And I'm tired from all the cooking." I made some excuses.
Selena suddenly said, "Well. Too bad. If you played, maybe I won't mind you pocketing the hotel room key Taylor just gave you."
Taylor coughed a few times and I just smiled softly at Selena.
"No reaction? Damn. You're tough." Selena said after studying my face.
"I'm only holding myself back. I'm excited inside." I said using a monotone, making Selena gritted her teeth in annoyance. "So I'm not sexy enough? Is that it?" She said suddenly while pushing her index finger at my chest.
I raised one of my brow and grabbed her finger before pulling her closer to me. She widened her eyes as I leaned forward and whispered to her ear, "Although I like hot-headed latinas, I still have a sense of self-control. I hope you understand that. But if you really want me to stop by, I don't have any objections to that."
Her ears felt hot as blood rushed to her face. She became embarrassed and walked away quickly after grabbing her shoes. Taylor licked her lips as she said, "I'll be waiting!~"
"Taylor! COME ON!" Selena called from afar.
"COMING~!" Taylor shouted before leaning in and giving me a kiss on both sides of my cheek. "Don't be too sad, okay. If you want any consolation. Just hit me up. I'll be with you…all…night…long." She ended her sentence with a seductive whisper in my ear.
"Aww…and here I thought you really cared about my feelings." I said with a faux sadness. She giggled and joked, "Nah. You're only a piece of meat for me to ride on."
"Then you have to put in the grind for me to spread my legs." I added, making her laugh hard and slap my chest unconsciously. "We got into the wrong roles." Taylor accidentally snorted as she laughed, got embarrassed, and ran to follow Selena before I could say anything.
…
[General POV]
In Gloria's room, Claire tried hard to string her words as she faced the victim of her gossipy behavior.
"I don't know what to say except that I am really, really sorry." Claire said in a begging tone.
Gloria sighed and sat next to her before asking, "Just tell me one thing. How do you really feel that I'm with your father?"
" Honestly, at first, it was hard. You don't expect to wake up one morning with a new mom who looks like she fell off a mud flap. But I'm getting used to it. The important thing is you make him happy, which you do, in so many ways." Claire turned to the underwear scattered on the bed and mumbled, "So many colors…"
"I don't know if I can forgive you." Gloria said while looking downcast.
"Claire grabbed Gloria's arm and begged, "Just tell me what I can do to make things right."
Gloria thought about it and said, "There's 2. You can…tell me a secret of yours…that will make you feel as embarrassed as I am if you're the one in my place at dinner today."
Claire was taken aback and asked, "And the second option?"
"Go jump in the pool."
Claire widened her eyes and said, "Now?"
"Yes. Go jump in the pool, with your clothes on. Then, I'll know that you're really sorry."
Claire paused to think for a while and suddenly stood up, "Okay." She walked bravely and got out of the room while Gloria excitedly followed her from behind.
As the wives had come out of the room, the people in the living room exclaimed, "Oh HEYY!"
"You guys work it out?" Phil asked.
"Not yet. Gloria wants me to jump in the pool." Claire said casually before walking out the house.
"What?" Phil and the others were stunned at the situation and all of the family and guests followed Claire and Gloria to the pool. Well, all except Jacob who still fainted on the couch.
"This is so awesome." Luke exclaimed.
"I know. Mom does not look good wet." Haley added.
"Gloria, is this really necessary?" Jay asked exasperatingly.
Claire hurriedly said, "Dad, it's fine. If I need to jump in this water to prove to Gloria how sorry I am, I will do it….It's fine."
"I bet she will chicken out before she jumps in." Edward said to Abby.
"I'll take that bet." Abby said and they did a gentleman shake on it. Only a second afterward, she lost.
"You're seriously not gonna stop me?" Claire said agitatedly as she turned to Gloria.
"Why would I do that?" Gloria replied, full of smugness.
Claire tried to reason. " Because… I am standing here. I'm showing you my willingness to-" She stopped as she saw Gloria shook her head while smiling, and gave up trying to get out of it. Without saying anything, Claire jumped into the pool.
"YEAYYY!!" The group cheered as Claire splashed around in the water. " Are you happy?" Claire asked.
"Yess! I forgive you!" Gloria said while laughing.
" Then give me your hand." Claire said as she reached out her hand to Gloria.
"That's the oldest trick in the book. She's gonna pull you in there." Jay said. Gloria retracted her hand but Jay added, "And that's my job."
He pushed Gloria in, making her shout as she fell in the water. "AY JAY!"
*SPLASH*
Everyone laughed again, and then Phil decided to speak up, "This is funny, but this is also a teaching moment."
Jay was annoyed and he pushed Phil into the water too. Next, Luke and Manny tackled Jay into the water, Mitchell grabbed Alex and jumped into the water, and Cam jumped – cannonball style into the pool.
Haley was laughing at the side before Ed decided to push her in too. Of course, he took her phone out of her hand before he did so.
"Family should stick together." Ed said, looking like a menace outside the pool.
"Smile!" Ed opened Haley's phone camera and took a picture of the family inside the pool. The guests laughed at the family, but no one ridiculed them for the evening. All except for Ed.
As Ed laughed at the family, Gloria whispered something to Claire.
"He advised what?" Claire exclaimed in anger as she knew Ed was the culprit who convinced Gloria to demand a secret from her.
"Phil. Luke. Throw Ed inside." Claire ordered.
"What- No! This is a new shirt!" Ed tried to reason with them, but Phil and Luke's excitement was at the peak. They caught him and dragged him into the water with them.
"You deserve this ED!" Claire said while laughing at Ed's misery.
…
[Edward POV]
I rubbed my wet hair with a dry towel as I sat near the pool area. Haley walked next to me wearing a towel-robe after taking off all of her clothes. Desiree, Abby, Jacob and my dad had already left, and Gloria offered me a place to stay in Manny's room tonight if I wanted, or just pick out one of the guestrooms.
However, I had something else planned so I rejected her and decided to check into a hotel instead.
"Do you want me to put your clothes in the dryer?" Haley asked.
"Sure. That'll be great." I said as I began to take off my shirt in front of her. She widened her eyes as she gazed at my body.
"Wait. How do you get all these muscles?" She said in astonishment and even ran her hand on my body to assure herself that it was true.
"I work out, remember?" I replied dismissively to try and hide the gains I got from the gacha prize. Not only one year worth of Karate training, the prize also included the amount of pink muscles Kennichi had during that time. Therefore, I graduated from my skinny body because of it.
She kept running her hand and even squeezed my chest while she said in disbelief, "I don't trust you. You were not this big before. Is it because boys are in their growing stage now?" She fluttered her eyes as she gazed intently into my eyes.
"Yup. I guess that's the reason. Even some other places grew too." I joked.
Haley blushed and released my body immediately. With a cautious look, she said, "Pervert."
"Hey, I meant my arms. What are you thinking about?" I turned the blame back to her, making her cower in embarrassment. "Although that part did grow too." I added whisperingly, making her bite her lower lips in frustration.
"Don't seduce me!" Haley admonished me before grabbing my shirt and ran away. I laughed and went to the toilet to take off my pants and underpants, and placed them in the dryer too. Phil gave me an expensive towel robe to wear while waiting and we talked for a while before Claire called him away.
Mitchell and Cam left soon after but Claire decided to stay behind to help clean up after the dinner. I helped her to wash the pot while she wiped the tables, but then Gloria came downstairs and said, "No No. You don't have to do that. My house, I will clean it."
"No Gloria. It's the least I can do." Claire said without looking at the latin woman.
I turned to look at Gloria, and my jaw dropped as I saw her, already changed into her nightwear. It was a blue satin robe, and her chest area was pretty bare as she picked it extra small. The short skirt was also riding upward on her buttocks, making me see some glimpses that only Jay should see.
"Gloria, are you crazy?!" Claire was stunned speechless and tried to cover up Gloria's body part from my leering eyes as she saw her.
"It's fine. Ed is harmless." Gloria said before walking to the fridge to drink some milk. She bent over as she opened the fridge – directly in front of my view, and I was reunited with the underpant that had fallen to my head earlier. They were peeking out of her robe as if saying hello to me.
"Fuck. First Jacob was tortured. Now me." I mumbled to myself as I got out of the kitchen quickly. I bumped into Haley as I turned the corner. She was still embarrassed from earlier, and she walked away quickly after nodding slightly at me. I went to the pool table to grab my phone after the minor collision.
"Hey what you got there?" Alex said as she appeared in front of me. I was startled and checked my towel quickly. "? Why are you looking down?" Alex was puzzled by my reaction.
"N-Nothing." I said hurriedly.
"Hey Ed. Why don't you come over tomorrow. We can bounce around on the tramp….poline." Phil said and decided to add something at the end because the sentence sounds too suggestive.
"I also want to bounce, but I have work to do tomorrow. And since my house has no electricity, I will just stay at the hotel all day." I said as I pretended to be sad.
Phil was disappointed, but he understood my blight. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Then. Just stay with us tonight. You can work there too."
"I don't think that's possible. You guys are too much fun. If I stay there, I know for sure I will postpone my work again."
"Honey. Don't force him. Maybe some other time." Claire said as she walked by and was wiping her hand with a wet towel. She had just cleaned the dining table while packing up the leftovers from the dinner.
Thankfully, there wasn't much left. Only a one person portion was there. "Who didn't come?" I muttered.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang and all the people in the house turned to look at the door.
"It's almost 11…who rang the doorbell at this late hour." Jay mumbled to himself as he walked to the door. But Manny suddenly stopped him midway and said, "Be careful Jay. it might be a criminal."
"It's not going to be a criminal!" Jay said gruffly. But then Phil chimed in with a worried expression, "What if it's a stalker. We just hosted a party for 3 celebrities. One is even still with us. What if they wanted to scour for his fallen hair?"
"Phil. Don't be paranoid. It might be someone we know who's in trouble." Claire muttered, her words were to reassure herself more than to dispute Phil's crazy stalker theory.
"Or maybe. It's a serial murderer who came to kill all of us." Luke added menacingly.
"AY JAY!" Manny was afraid and he hugged Jay quickly. Gloria was a bit jealous and needed to hug someone too, so she picked the lonely guy in the crowd.
While hugging me from behind– covering the fact that she was using me as a human shield, Gloria said to Jay, "Do you want my machete?"
"You guys are all ridiculous." Alex said while rolling her eyes.
Jay had enough and pushed Manny away, "If a murderer does come. I hope he kills me quickly so I don't have to keep dealing with this nonsense."
But before he opened the door, the theories kept bugging him, therefore he picked up the baseball bat near the key rack before he opened the door.
"Hey man. Can I have some food?" Leo – who was clearly high was in front of the door as Jay opened it up.
"Oh Leo!" I called out in relief. "That's why there's still a portion left."
"Yeah man. I got lost, and my car ran out of gas on the third street. I had to walk for an hour to get here. You cannot believe this. I saw a car similar to my car before I got here."
"Third street? But that's just next street." Jay said quizzically as he heard Leo's story.
"What?...Hey man, Can I have some food?"
"..."