Chapter 79 Peeping
"That's all in the past, why bring it up? I never blamed you," I said with a casual smile.
Yeah, it was all behind us. I couldn't even remember the sting of those old humiliations and pains.
Daniel gave a bitter smile, lowered his head, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He asked if it was okay to smoke.
'It's a public place, not my home. Do what you want,' I thought.
"Being with Zoe just happened. We were schoolmates, and I wanted to help her. Her tears got to me. Zoe wasn't popular; she always sat alone at parties, looking like she might cry. It made people want to protect her. But after a while, I saw her tears and weakness were her tools. She could be sharp and mean, especially to you. I noticed and talked to her about it, but she always said she had nothing but me, and you were so dazzling she felt inferior. She was scared I'd leave her and would cry like a kitten. Jane, sometimes I wonder if I love her or just pity her. But after all these years, protecting her feels like my duty. Can you understand that?" Daniel said.
"That's your business. Why do you need my understanding? If you think it's right, then it is. Why care about others' opinions?" Honestly, I felt Daniel didn't need to tell me all this. It was his issue, and I couldn't relate. Plus, it was unnecessary. I wasn't special to him, so why tell me? It was redundant.
Daniel looked into my eyes, trying to read my thoughts, but I just smiled faintly.
Whatever his reason for saying all this, it had nothing to do with me.
"Jane, were you very sad back then?" he asked softly, a tone I'd never heard from him before.
I must have misheard. We were just neighbors and childhood playmates.
The only reason I could talk calmly with him was our childhood bond, nothing more.
Time had passed, and we'd both moved on. No point in discussing it further.
"It's been too long, I've forgotten," I replied.
I really had forgotten.
Daniel looked stunned, then gave a bleak smile and said nothing more, focusing on his cigarette.
"Daniel, since you've decided to be with Zoe, then love her well," I said.
He hid in a cloud of smoke, making it hard to see his face.
After a while, I left first.
I'd said all I needed to say. The rest was up to Daniel. Whether it ended happily or sadly was on him.
Even when I got into Brad's car, Daniel's expression hadn't changed.
Brad gave me a questioning look, asking what had happened. I shrugged and mouthed, "I don't know."
I really didn't know. Daniel's emotions weren't from our chat.
On the third, I got up early and asked Brad to hang out and have some fun, then treated him to a meal. My mom always said I should show appreciation for all the years Brad took care of me.
When I told Brad, he was all in and even joked about going to the priciest restaurant to make me pay big time.
Over the years, I'd saved nearly a million dollars from competition prizes, drawing commissions, and scholarships. I could afford to treat Brad to a fancy meal.
Brad planned the day: swimming at an outdoor pool in the morning, lunch, and then either hiking or bowling in the afternoon.
Given my past hiking mishap, I chose bowling, which I'd never tried.
After breakfast, Brad dragged me to the car despite Helen's repeated reminders.
I'd protested about being dragged around before, but it never worked.
According to Brad, the stronger one calls the shots.
Fine, I gave up.
The outdoor pool was actually a natural lake, pretty big, with blue skies and white clouds. The sandy shore was clean and fine.
I stood by the car, watching Brad pull out a large travel bag and hand me a blue package.
"What's this?" I asked, opening it and blushing as I pulled out each item.
It was a complete set of swimming gear. The swimsuit was light blue with patterns, just my style and color.
"Do I have to bring my own? I thought I could just rent one," I said, feeling a bit embarrassed that Brad had to prepare this.
Brad pushed his sunglasses up and gave me a disdainful look. "You'd wear something countless people have worn?"
I hadn't thought about it, but now I felt like my skin was crawling. I shook my head firmly, no way!
The swimsuit fit perfectly. How did Brad know my size?
Brad, being smart, just glanced at me and knew what I was thinking. He smirked and said, "Eyeballed it."
We entered the hall. He went left, and I went right to the changing areas.
After changing into my swimsuit, I went to the back hall to meet Brad.
The hall was misty and filled with attractive people, but I spotted Brad right away.
Brad was standing quietly in front of a white orchid tree, his narrow waist, broad shoulders, and perfect hips attracting many admiring glances.
"Brad," I called, stepping forward to block the gaze of a middle-aged woman who looked quite heavy.
At her age, she should be at home pampering her husband, not ogling young men. How annoying.
Brad turned around, and when he saw me, there seemed to be a glint in his eyes.
In novels, there's often a description of boys' abs. Having never seen the real thing, I was curious. Did Brad really have those killer eight-pack abs?
The answer was yes.
Brad walked towards me, his eight-pack abs appearing intermittently. The lower two were only partially visible, the rest covered by his black swim trunks, leaving me wanting more.
Even as I soaked in the pool, my eyes lingered on Brad's abs.
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