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Ava rolled her eyes and walked up to Luke. She heard Stephen reply to Ian,
“He is Ava’s friend. So, he is here for her.”
Luke cast a quick glance at Stephen and his friends. His eyes stopped on Ian..
“Luke, hi,” Ava said with a smile.
Luke turned his gaze away from Ian and toward Ava. He appeared to be amazed by Ava’s appearance.
“Hi, you are ready to go out. Why don’t we actually go out?
Ava could see that he was hesitant to enter the house. He was not on good terms with Stephen, either.
Ava frowned as she grabbed his arm and said,
“That is what I thought, too. But then I changed my mind. Why not let me show you around? I have a small library there. We can enjoy our coffee while sitting there.”
With a gesture, she indicated upstairs. Luke turned his head to look upstairs.
Indeed, there was a beautiful small library set up. Two single couches with a small table were there for the people who wanted to enjoy reading books. There were small tree plants, which created a vibrant environment.
His gaze moved from there and shifted to Ian. Luke noticed lan’s brows arched. He was looking directly at him. There was some kind of warning he could see through that dark pair of eyes.
Luke scoffed at Ian before patting Ava’s hand. “You are right. We should have our coffee here at your house. I just want to spend some time with you anyway. So who cares if it is in a coffee shop or at your house?”
Ava nodded and drew him to the staircase.
“Ava”
She stopped walking when she heard a voice. She turned her head to look at Stephen’s friend.
It was Ronald who called her out.
“Yes?” she said.
“Why don’t you and your friend spend some time with us?” Ronald said it with a smirk.
“No, thank-”
“Yeah, Luke replied, interrupting her.
Ava looked at Luke with shocked eyes. He moved his head toward her. He tilted his head to get close to her ear and whispered,
“It’s okay. I am not scared of them. You think I am a coward aren’t you?”
She immediately shook her head. “No. I did not mean it this morning.”
He smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders. “Calm down, cutie. I didn’t mind.”
She flushed when he called her ‘cutie‘. She cast a glance at the hand that was wrapped around her.
Even yesterday, she could not think of anything. But after her friends told her that Luke liked her, she started to feel that way about his behavior. It was like she had been ignoring his signals all these times.
1/3
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+25 BONUS
While they were looking at each other, a person in front of them did not look good at all.
His eyes grew cold as he stared at them. His blood was boiling for some reason he did not understand.
“What happened, Ian? Are you not fine with them sitting here?” Ronald muttered in a low tone.
Ian clenched his jaw and turned to face his best friend. Ronald raisetl an eyebrow and smirked at him.
“You don’t look good. What’s wrong? Feeling something strange inside?” Ronald asked, glancing at Ian’s chest. Ian shot him a cold look and said, “No chance.”
Ronald nodded his head. “Yeah, yeah. Then stop making this dull face. Let us enjoy Stephen’s sister’s company. Can’t you see how beautiful she is? Or is her beauty too much for you to see?”
Ava and Luke approached a couch and sat down. Stephen gazed at Luke. “How long have you known her?”
Luke parted his lips as he hoticed Stephen acting like a possessive older brother.
Ava cleared her throat, and responded, “Steph, we have been friends for quite some time. We used to meet in the library, right, Luke?”
Luke chuckled, as if memories had flooded his mind.
Yeah. She was a very attentive girl. I still remember when she first bumped into me. She apologized to me three times, and when I said it was okay, she said she would pay for me because she spilled coffee on my shirt.”
Ava was surprised. “You remember?”
“Yeah. How can I forget our first meeting?”
Memorizing the day as well, Ava grinned at him. After all, he was the only boy who became her friend, whereas others enjoyed bullying her.
Ava heard a sneer coming from the other side. She turned her head to look at Ian, whom she had been ignoring the entire time.
Ian looked into her eyes and said,
“It looks like she likes to bump into boys a lot.”
Ian’s words caused Ava’s brows to rise. She realized what he meant. She recalled the day when she ran into Ian
outside the basketball court.
“What do you mean?” Luke asked.
Ian shifted his gaze to Luke and replied,
“I mean, perhaps she intentionally—”
Luke cut him off and said,
“She is not like other girls.”
Ava turned her gaze to Luke. His words gave her heart warmth. There was someone who always defended her at any moment and in any situation.
“Oh, really?” Ian asked in a mocking tone.
“Ian”
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Stephen’s voice rang out as a warning. He did not want to hear anything negative about his sister.
Tan sighed as he looked at Stephan. “Okay, I am not saying anything.
11
But Luke wanted to tell Ian what was on his mind. So he grabbed Ava’s hand in his hand and told Stephen, “She is very special to me. I know her. If she says she is not interested in someone, that means she wants to stay away from them. You are her brother now. I hope you will carry out your responsibility and always protect her.”
“I am aware of my responsibility. You don’t need to remind one,” Stephen retorted back.
Luke answered, “That is great.
After glancing at Luke’s hand, Ava uttered,
“I don’t need anyone’s protection. I was also fine earlier. It’s just that I never wanted to grab others‘ attention, which I am getting right now a lot.”
After saying that, she glanced at Ian, who was staring at her
As if he were warning her, he said,
“The truth is that whoever’s name is linked to Ian Dawson for once, gets attention from all sides. Well, positive or negative? It is up to their actions to decide what kind of attention they will get.”
