Chapter 13
Ethan's face, which had been tense just a moment ago, immediately softened into a respectful expression when he saw Damian.
Damian walked over, and Ethan assumed he would head straight into the school. To his surprise, Damian stopped right in front of him.
Ethan was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered, smiling as he greeted, "Hey, Damian! What a surprise!"
Damian's gaze briefly flicked to Grace, who was standing beside Ethan, and he said with a meaningful tone, "Yeah, quite the surprise."
Grace felt awkward under his scrutiny but didn't dare say much with Ethan there. She forced a smile and waved, "Yeah, what a coincidence."
Damian glanced at her before turning to leave.
Suddenly, he paused, as if remembering something, and turned back to Ethan. "I heard you want to join the basketball team?"
His tone was calm but carried an undeniable authority.
Ethan was taken aback, not expecting Damian to bring this up. His face lit up with excitement, and he nodded eagerly, "Yeah, totally! I've been submitting applications to the basketball team!"
"Just yesterday, I had Grace pick up an application form for me!"
Damian's gaze lingered on Ethan's face for a couple of seconds, as if contemplating something.
As Damian walked away, Ethan stood there, watching his retreating figure, then glanced at Grace beside him, his eyes filled with confusion.
Did Damian come over just to ask him that?
A few classmates who had been waiting nearby approached, looking puzzled. "Wait, since when did you and Damian become friends?"
Damian was a well-known figure at their school, someone everyone knew but few could approach. How did he suddenly start talking to Ethan?
Ethan was just as bewildered. He hadn't expected Damian to stop in front of him either.
"I have no idea," Ethan said, still dazed.
As he tried to gather his thoughts and say something to Grace, he realized she had slipped away at some point.
He turned to look for her, only to see her figure blending into the crowd, hurrying away as if afraid he might eat her alive.
Ethan rolled his eyes and muttered, "Ungrateful."
Grace only had one class that morning. As a senior, her schedule was light, with just one class on this particular morning.
The rest of her time was spent preparing various documents for submission, as she was about to enter her internship period.
Following the usual process, she needed to get an internship certificate, but she was planning to apply for a master's program abroad.
If she waited until after graduation to go abroad, finding a job overseas would be difficult, and her mother wouldn't approve of her leaving.
Once she received an offer from a prestigious foreign university, her mother would surely agree to let her go for the sake of her education.
She had to prepare all the necessary documents, but fortunately, her IELTS scores were sufficient.
She also needed to work on her thesis. So, even though her senior year had few classes, she was quite busy.
Grace worked until 11:30, then took a shower, changed clothes, and washed and hung up Damian's shirt.
She grabbed Ethan's application form and headed to his department.
When she arrived, Ethan's class had just ended. He walked out of the classroom with a few of his roommates.
"Hey, Grace is here to see you again," one of his roommates teased.
Ethan looked up and saw Grace standing nearby.
Grace walked over quickly and handed him the application form. "Here's your application form."
"Why didn't you bring it over next year?" Ethan said sarcastically as he took the form.
The form was already filled out, with each section completed better than he could have done. The neat, elegant handwriting was also quite pleasing to the eye.
Ethan glanced at it, feeling satisfied. "Barely acceptable," he said, still sounding harsh. "By the way, go get me some lunch..." He looked up, but Grace was already gone.
She had handed him the form and then bolted.
Ethan's face darkened with annoyance. "Damn it, she's disappearing all the time."
"Hurry up, aren't we going for a drive?" one of his roommates urged. "Forget about her."
Ethan finally turned his attention back to his friends.
Meanwhile, Grace had already run far away.
The corner outside the school gate was quiet, with only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves.
Grace jogged over and spotted the familiar black Bentley parked under the shade of a tree.
She quickened her pace, opened the car door with practiced ease, and slipped inside like a nimble eel, bringing a wave of heat with her.
"Roy, sorry to keep you waiting," she said with a smile as she settled into her seat, thanking the driver.
Damian was lounging in the back seat, his legs crossed, exuding a lazy yet distant demeanor. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing his well-defined wrists.
He held a lit cigarette between his fingers, his gaze cool as it swept over her.
"Damian, sorry to keep you waiting too," she added, her smile growing brighter.
The summer sun was intense, and even the wind carried heat. Grace had run all the way from outside, a fine layer of sweat on her forehead, her cheeks flushed.
She was slightly out of breath, her chest rising and falling with each breath.
Unaware of her effect, she fanned her neck with one hand, sending waves of her scent toward Damian.
"Roy, can we stop by the grocery store?" Grace asked, still fanning herself. "I want to buy some of your favorite foods."
She coughed as the smoke from Damian's cigarette reached her.
Damian, legs crossed, leaned back in his seat and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. "We have everything at home," he said coolly.
"Okay," Grace replied, inching closer to him until her shoulder almost touched his arm.
She didn't dare do more, so they sat there, barely touching.
Damian's brow furrowed slightly, and he shifted his body away, creating a small gap between them.
The car drove smoothly down the road, the only sound in the cabin the hum of the air conditioning.
Grace pretended to look out the window, but her eyes kept darting to Damian.
His profile was sharp, his jawline tense, and his Adam's apple moved slightly as he swallowed, exuding a restrained allure.
'What a handsome face,' Grace thought to herself.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Damian turning to look at her until their eyes met.
Grace felt like a thief caught in the act, quickly lowering her head, her cheeks flushing, her fingers nervously picking at her bag strap.
Just then, a modified yellow sports car suddenly swerved into their lane, cutting them off.
Roy reacted quickly, sharply turning the wheel and slamming on the brakes. The tires screeched against the pavement.
Grace, unprepared, was thrown forward, her forehead nearly hitting the back of the front seat.
Suddenly, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her back.
"Ah!"