Chapter 35 One Bed is Enough for Both of You

Claire's POV

A thought flashed through my mind: Could Colin have experienced his first love at sixteen? To this day, he's still hung up on it, clearly having invested deep emotions, and he was quite excited as he brought it up, only to stop and reveal nothing, evidently not wanting me to know...

Other than a first love, there was no better explanation.

A trace of melancholy swept through my eyes, and since Colin didn't want to speak, I didn’t press further.

But the matter tied a small knot in my heart.

I silently went back to the bedroom to change the bedsheets and took out another blanket to lay on the living room couch.

Colin paused for a few seconds before suddenly grabbing my wrist. "Why are you spreading the blanket on the couch again?"

I turned to look at him, "What's wrong?"

"Of course, there's something wrong!" Colin seemed to be restraining something, his handsome face showing an innocent expression, "Didn't you say you wanted me to go back to my room to sleep tonight? Weren't you going to join me?"

"My cousin got beaten up, and you're still concerned about that?" I glared at Colin, my temper flaring even more after he mentioned his first love.

"Eddie definitely can't go home tonight. If I, as his cousin, don't take him in, who will?"

Colin scratched the back of his head and sighed before asking, "Eddie's staying the night? Is the couch made up for him?"

"For myself," I said, toneless.

"What did you say?" Colin's eyes widened. "You're not going to make me and Eddie sleep together, are you?"

"Yeah," she said indifferently. "You and Eddie sleep in the bedroom, I'll take the couch."

"But there's only one bed in the room!"

"It's fine, it's big enough for both of you," I said as I handed him a pillow. "Plus, you two can have a heart-to-heart that 'only men can have.'"
Colin seemed speechless, taking several deep breaths.

Colin's POV

"Eddie's about to go to bed."

Claire had already called Eddie back from the balcony, had him quickly freshen up, and then sent him to the bedroom to rest.

Eddie obediently went and actually lay down on the bed!

I felt a throbbing pain in my temples as I reluctantly entered the room and lay on the other side of the bed, thinking it was the first time I'd slept in the marital bed since getting married, but next to me was another man!

I let out a heavy sigh. The past hour in the bathroom had been wasted!

Eddie must have heard my restless tossing because he sat up and leaned against the headboard to talk to me.

"Colin, am I pathetic, always getting picked on?"

From our previous conversations, I could tell Eddie was kind-hearted and did well in school, just too honest and, due to family reasons, often felt inferior.

I remained silent and pretended to sleep, only to hear his incessant voice continue.

"When I first saw you, I was really scared. But then you called me out to the balcony, asked me things patiently, and offered to stand up for me. Suddenly, I felt that beneath your stern and grim appearance, you're really reliable. Colin, you're right," Eddie whispered, "one should stand on their own feet, especially men. I want to learn from you, to protect my cousin and my family in the future."

I frowned. Why did this foolish kid talk so much? I continued to turn away from him in silence.

"Why aren't you speaking, Colin?" Eddie leaned in to look at me. "Is it because my cousin isn't lying next to you, and you're not used to it?"

He was asking the obvious! I cursed silently in my heart.

But I still managed to squeeze out two words through gritted teeth, "No."

"Oh, okay then," Eddie said, smiling naively. "I'm really sorry for intruding tonight... I didn't want to bother my cousin, but I felt so down after being beaten, I didn't know where else to go."

"Colin, you’re not mad at me, are you?"

"No." I closed my eyes tightly, silently praying that Eddie would stop his chatter.

"Colin," Eddie wrinkled his nose, "What did you put on? You smell so good."

"..."

"Do you always have to smell this good before sleeping with my cousin?"

"Shut up!" I couldn't suppress my rage any longer and roared in a low voice, "Go to bed!"