Chapter 42
When the clock was ticking down, David hit up Alice to see when she'd be back. Alice checked the time and realized she'd been soaking so long her skin was turning pink. You could bet her cheeks were flaming red right now.
"Almost done!" Alice shot back.
Hearing this, David frowned and said in a deep voice, "Chill out. No rush. I'll come get you."
With that, David hung up.
Seeing him hang up, Dylan and Desmond, who'd been watching the whole thing, finally stepped in.
"David, man, you missed your calling. You should be an actor," Dylan said, giving David a hard slap on the shoulder with a cheeky grin. He poked David's chest with his other hand. "Doesn't it feel awesome to mess with Alice?"
Desmond glanced at Dylan and thought, 'Man, that smirk deserves a punch!'
David stayed cool and said, "What are you talking about?"
"I'm really here to pick up Alice," David said seriously, "It's what a responsible guardian does."
Dylan thought, 'Damn, you've got no shame left, saying stuff like that?'
Before Dylan could throw in more sarcasm, Alice walked out.
Seeing three guys standing at the door, she was taken aback. Her eyes scanned them one by one and finally landed on David. She asked, "You guys planning a group bath or something?"
The three guys' faces changed instantly.
Dylan quickly pulled his arm back and shoved his hands into his pockets, looking all nonchalant. "Nah, got stuff to do, so I'm out."
Dylan bailed fast.
Desmond looked at David, then at Alice, hesitating.
Alice tilted her head. "Desmond?"
'What's he trying to say?' Alice wondered.
After a long pause, Desmond finally sighed, slapped his thigh, and forced a smile. "It's nothing! You're leaving tomorrow, and I'm just gonna miss you a bit. Once things settle here, I'll definitely visit you in Aurora City!"
Alice said, "Okay."
After Desmond left all bummed out, Alice looked up at David, who reached out and pinched her cheek.
Since she'd been soaking in the hot spring for so long, her cheeks were not only red but also hot. David's hand was cool, and the icy touch made her shiver. She turned her head away.
"Don't touch, it's hot." They said the redder the face, the less you should touch it, or it'd just get redder. You gotta wait for it to cool down naturally.
Hearing this, David raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit annoyed. He pinched Alice's cheek again, then pressed his whole palm against her face, squishing her cheeks together.
Alice's eyes widened in disbelief and she mumbled, "David, are you being childish?"
Could soaking in the hot spring really drop someone's IQ to that of a three-year-old? This childish move was actually done by the always cold and authoritative David.
David pulled his hand back and explained, "I was checking your temperature." He glanced at Alice and said in a flat tone, "It's a bit high. You should stand outside in the cold air for a bit before heading back to your room."
'Stand in the cold air before going back to the room? Is this something a normal person would say?' Alice thought.
That night, Alice crashed hard, probably 'cause David's words stung so bad she lost all interest in TV shows or gossip. She lay in bed for a bit, and sleep just took over.
Meanwhile, David, who was crashing on the couch, couldn't catch a wink.
He kept tossing and turning, sitting up, lying down. His mind was clear, and the source of his frustration was too.
It was all about Alice.
In the end, David caved. He got up, crept to the bedroom door, cracked it open, and peeked inside.
The room was pitch black; he couldn't see squat.
Hesitating at the door for a sec, David pursed his lips and squeezed through the narrow gap, tiptoeing to the bedside.
When you couldn't see anything, your hearing went into overdrive.
Besides his own breathing, he could hear Alice's soft breaths.
This whole sneaky, peeping-tom act made David super uncomfortable, but he couldn't help wanting to check if Alice was sleeping okay. After all, he brought her here to help her forget the bad stuff.
Everything should've been under his control, but somewhere along the line, things went off the rails.
'David, are you being childish?' Her words echoed in his head.
In the darkness, David chuckled softly. He placed his hands on the bed and slowly leaned down. When he felt her breath close to him, he whispered, "You're right. I am childish."
The next day, David dragged Alice into the bathroom to wash up. He placed both their suitcases by the door. After waiting a bit, they headed to the airport to fly back to Aurora City once Alice had changed.
On the plane, Alice rubbed her neck and suddenly remembered she had a dream last night. She clearly remembered David was in it, but couldn't recall what he did. She vaguely remembered hearing David say something.
Alice thought for a long time but couldn't remember.
Well, it was just a dream. Whatever David said in the dream was a lie! 'Cause in reality, David would never say such things!
David, sitting next to Alice, was flipping through a fashion mag, but his mind wasn't on it. After a moment, he closed the mag and put it aside. He turned to Alice and said, "If you're tired, you can lean on my shoulder to get some sleep."
"I'm not tired." She had just woken up; how could she be tired already?
"Then what are you fussing about?" David asked.
Alice replied, "I don't wanna go back to school. I don't wanna see Juniper or Celeste. Feels like a bunch of trouble's waiting for me when I get back."
Before she could finish, David lightly knocked her on the head.
"What's the point of worrying about so much at your age?" David reopened the mag. "Instead of stressing over these irrelevant people, why not think about finding a shortcut to deal with these issues, like finding someone to rely on."
David's hint was pretty obvious.
Alice immediately caught on, her eyes lighting up with joy. Without a second thought, she hugged David's arm and looked at him. "Are you saying you want me to rely on you? What's in it for me?"
David glanced at Alice, amused.
As her supporter, shouldn't she be the one offering him benefits? How could he offer benefits to her?
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