(05
“What?” Yven’s face was filled with shock as he turned to look at me, “Is that true?”
Tremained completely composed, calmly refuting, “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Jason’s face darkened, his gaze turning icy
Sensing the awkward tension in the air, Shairine swayed slightly and leaned weakly against him. “Jason, I suddenly feel a little dizzy. I think I might be catching a cold. Could you take me back to the lodge?”
We were all still wet from earlier, and the cool breeze only made the chill sink deeper into our skin.
Jason, half–annoyed and half–amused, lightly tapped her forehead. “Why would you go near water if you can’t
swim? You’re just asking for trouble.”
Without another word, he bent down and scooped her up into his arms.
As he walked past me, he paused, looking displeased. “Wait here. I’ll come find you later,”
He didn’t spare me another glance before striding off with Shairine in his arms.
Yves watched him leave, confusion etched across his face. “Zoey, what was that about? Why did he suddenly say
he’s your boyfriend?”
Shivering from the cold, I sneezed and replied casually, “He’s just muddled from the cold and talking nonsense.”
I
I didn’t explain further and began walking toward the lodge.
Once back, I headed straight to my room, eager to take a hot shower and change into dry clothes.
The moment I fell into the stream earlier, I had distinctly felt someone deliberately pull me in. It didn’t take much. guessing to figure out that the culprit was likely Shairine.
But why would she do that?
Before I could dwell on it, there was a knock at the door, Jason had come looking for me.
This time, however, I didn’t let him in. I stood in the doorway, blocking his way.
Jason glanced down the empty hallway before lowering his voice. “I need to talk to you. Let me in.”
“No need, Jason,” I said, keeping my tone polite but firm. “If you have something to say, just say it here. Otherwise, if someone sees you entering my room, it might cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”
Hearing this, he gave up on entering and instead looked at me with a serious expression. “Zoey, what’s wrong with you today? It’s one thing for Shairine to mess around, but why are you going along with it?”
“Messing around? I thought it was wonderful. Shairine really loves you,” I replied sincerely.
His expression turned grim, his eyes narrowing as if trying to read my thoughts. “You’re not usually like this. Why the sudden change?”
“What do you mean by ‘not usually like this‘?” I clapped back.
His demeanor softened, and he gave a teasing smile. “You used to get so jealous. You didn’t want any other women near me and would always tell me to stay away from them.”
“Oh? Did you listen to me?” I asked sarcastically.
Of course not. Not once.
To him, my words were unreasonable demands–childish and immature.
Hearing my response, Jason’s expression faltered briefly. He quickly composed himself, though, and his tone softened. “You’re upset because I didn’t save you earlier, aren’t you?”
“Think about it,” he continued, as though his reasoning was irrefutable. “Yves was there, and he’s your brother. If something happened to you, there’s no way he wouldn’t help. But for Shairine, I was the only one who could save her. If I hadn’t, she might’ve been in real danger. You wouldn’t want something like that in your conscience, right?”
3:48 PM
He made it sound so righteous.
If I hadn’t seen him leap into the water without hesitation to save her, I might’ve believed his justification.
