Chapter 73
Last night, Matthew had nothing to say about what happened.
It was true that he almost lost control.
"Matthew, liking me, or liking my body, is normal. There's nothing wrong with admitting it." Sophie enjoyed teasing Matthew. His reactions were quite entertaining.
The light turned green.
Matthew said coolly, "Are you this indifferent with people you don't like?"
What he wanted to ask was: could she sleep with someone she had no feelings for?
"Nonsense." Sophie snorted softly. "I like you. It's not that I don't care - I like you, so I want to... with you..."
She didn't finish that last word.
Changing the subject, she asked a question she'd wanted to ask for a long time but hadn't felt it was appropriate yet.
"Matthew, if Bella wanted to sleep with you, would you or wouldn't you?"
They were exes.
Isn't it said that exes are the easiest to sleep with?
Matthew frowned and glanced at her sideways.
"If you have nothing to say, you can shut up." Matthew wasn't going to answer that kind of question.
Sophie turned toward him. His response only made her more curious.
"Come on, tell me." Sophie lightly tapped his arm with her index finger, her voice turning flirtatious. "I'm not going to get jealous."
Matthew ignored her.
Sophie pouted. "You're no fun."
With Sophie quiet, the car became much more peaceful.
When the next light turned green, Matthew's lips moved.
"No."
"Hm?" Sophie suddenly looked at him.
Matthew gripped the steering wheel tightly. "I said, no."
Sophie was stunned for a few seconds, then broke into a smile.
Her smile grew brighter and brighter, her eyes sparkling.
After getting out of the car, Sophie stood by it limping, waiting for Matthew.
"Matthew, carry me." She opened her arms.
Matthew glanced at her. "Walk yourself."
"My foot hurts." Sophie said. "You carried me when I got in the car, why not now?"
"That was to play along with you."
Sophie's heart skipped a beat.
He actually knew what she was up to and still went along with it.
She pressed her lips together, holding back a smile, but still insisted, "Carry me."
Matthew didn't want to deal with her and started to move, but then stopped.
Finally, he walked over to her.
Sophie wrapped her hands around his neck, waiting for him to pick her up.
Instead, Matthew pulled her hands down, held her arm, clearly planning to just support her.
Sophie was displeased. She frowned slightly and refused to move.
Matthew looked at her, but she just wouldn't budge.
After a brief standoff, a hint of helplessness flashed in Matthew's eyes, and he had no choice but to bend down and pick her up.
The woman who got her way instantly beamed with joy, her eyes curving into crescents.
Sophie pressed the elevator button. Matthew carried her in, and she pressed the floor number.
The elevator doors closed. Sophie leaned on his shoulder, looking completely content.
"Matthew..."
"Shut up."
Sophie kept one hand around his neck while placing the other on his chest, feeling his heartbeat.
She looked surprised. "Matthew, your heart is beating so fast."
Matthew swallowed.
"Matthew, you do react to me, don't you?" Sophie's finger quickly touched his Adam's apple, then quickly withdrew her hand after succeeding.
Just that one touch made Matthew's body heat up instantly.
A warm current seemed to surge through his lower abdomen, making him tense up.
The elevator doors opened.
Matthew quickly walked out, put Sophie down, opened the door, and went inside, quietly trying to compose himself.
Sophie stood at the doorway, hands on the door frame.
Seeing Matthew take a bottle of water from the fridge and drink it all in one go, she grinned from ear to ear.
She stepped inside and closed the door. Just as she was about to tease Matthew some more, he had already walked into the bedroom, and when he came out, he had pajamas in his hand and went into the bathroom.
Sophie's eyes narrowed into slits from smiling.
She shuffled step by step to the bathroom door, like a peeping tom, listening to the sound of water inside, her fingers lightly scratching at the wall.
When the water stopped, she stared at the bathroom door.
After a while, the door opened.
Matthew saw Sophie standing there. His motion of drying his hair paused, and he frowned. "What are you doing?"
"Cold shower?" Sophie asked with a smile.
Matthew couldn't be bothered with her.
Sophie reached out and grabbed his clothes.
Matthew stopped and turned back, his eyes dark. "Sophie!"
"What?" Sophie let go of him. "It's not like I can do anything to you. Why so nervous?"
Matthew clenched his fists. He was already being very restrained.
Sophie saw his clenched fists. She quickly dropped the playful expression and stepped aside, putting distance between them.
She was a bit afraid he might lose patience and hit her.
Matthew couldn't care less what was going through her head right now. He walked straight into the bedroom and closed the door.
Sophie had sharp ears - she seemed to hear Matthew lock the door.
Sophie was speechless. Like she could really barge in and jump him?
Last night, he was clearly the one who couldn't help himself.
With everyone back in their rooms, Sophie lost interest too.
She took her clothes to the bathroom and washed carefully, afraid of falling.
If she fell now, even if she screamed her head off, Matthew probably wouldn't pay attention to her.
While washing her hair, Sophie inadvertently glanced outside and saw a black shadow outside the bathroom door.
She was startled.
Looking again at the silhouette reflected on the glass door, it was Matthew.
Was he worried that with her bad leg, she might fall?
So he was waiting outside?
Whether it was true or not, that's what Sophie thought.
Sophie dried her hair. When she looked back, the shadow at the door was gone.
Sophie: [Does this count as him falling for me?]
Sophie lay in bed, messaging Emily on Facebook.
Emily sent back a very definite [YES] emoji.
Sophie: [But he's got something unclear going on with his ex. I don't like it.]
Emily: [Don't forget, no matter what, you and he are husband and wife. If someone else interferes, whether it's an ex or whatever, that's called being a homewrecker. You can totally go after a homewrecker.]
Sophie looked at these words and thought they made sense.
Even if they had feelings before, Matthew was her husband now. If anyone was being unclear with her husband, couldn't she do something about it?
Emily: [Bella hurt you so badly before, and you haven't even gone after her - that's already generous enough. If she keeps clinging to Matthew like this, you don't need to give her any more face.]
Emily's words reminded her.
Today when Bella came to find her, she didn't even mention what happened that day.
Sophie: [I'm going to make her furious.]
Emily: [?]
After Emily sent a question mark, Sophie didn't reply.
She lay in bed scrolling through Bella's Facebook, which had a new update.
Bella: [Being reserved is the quality a woman should have.]
Just text, no picture.
Sophie immediately thought of Matthew picking her up today and her kissing Matthew.
The time Bella updated her Facebook seemed to be right around then.
Sophie let out a cold laugh.
She got out of bed with her phone and tiptoed to Matthew's bedroom door.
She reached out and tried the door handle.
Not locked.
She snuck in like a thief. Using the light from outside the window, she walked to the bedside. Matthew had his eyes closed.
Sophie held her breath, opened her phone camera, gently placed her hand in his, slowly interlaced their fingers, and took a photo.