Chapter 179

With the gat he adored curled up in his arms, Bowen would have to be a saint, or made of steel, to keep his composure.

Bowen felt the delicate warmth of her body in his arms. His Adam’s apple bobbed as heat consumed him, his blood running hot. Yet she slept undisturbed, her body instinctively seeking his warmth, pressing closer with each drowsy shift.

Bowen thought to himself, "This is sweet agony."

He was burning up with desire, yet he couldn’t act on it. Gritting his teeth, Bowen forced himself to fall asleep.

Here, Bowen got tormented by desire, while at Ellis Heights, Alvin was also on the verge of a breakdown.

Hugh called to say that Bowen wasn’t home and asked Alvin to come to Ellis Heights to help look after the guest. Alvin, considering that Bowen was his uncle, after all, went. But the moment he saw Isla on the sofa, his jaw nearly hit the floor.

Alvin thought to himself, "Seriously, is this how an uncle sets up his nephew?"

Isla knew Bowen had a nephew, so she immediately recognized Alvin and latched onto him, bombarding him with endless questions about Bowen.

Left with no choice, Alvin steered Isla into the study and fired up a game, hoping to distract her with some mindless fun.

The plan worked. Maybe a little too well.

Alvin glanced at the clock and realized it was the wee hours. He looked over at Isla, who was still trash-talking with others in broken Lumanonian in the game. He sighed and looked up at the sky. "Did this plan work a little too well?" he thought wryly.

“Oh! Alvin, I can’t beat him. Get over here and help!” Isla said.

Alvin could only reply, “Coming!”

Aubree spent the first half of the night wound up so tight she couldn’t sleep a wink, but in the latter half, she slept like a baby.

When Aubree woke up the next morning, she thought the church bed was surprisingly comfortable. The mattress beneath me feels springy and just the right firmness…she thought. "Wait, no! Hold on a second! Mattress?"

As her mind cleared, Aubree remembered that there was only a wooden board with two quilts, no mattress at all.

“Did you sleep well?” Bowen’s husky, teasing voice rang in her ears. To Aubree, at that moment, it was like a bolt of lightning striking her brain, leaving her a blushing, frazzled mess.

For the first time, she felt completely disconnected from her own body.

Aubree swore she scrambled off Bowen at breakneck speed. That had to be Guinness World Record material, she thought frantically. "Can someone please explain how I ended up practically sprawled all over Bowen?"

After scrambling off Bowen, Aubree finally took stock of the situation. "Wait, why was the quilt that should have been covering me now kicked down to the foot of the bed? And how did I end up curled up against Bowen’s chest like this?"

"But that’s not even the worst part. Judging by the way I woke up, it’s painfully clear that I must’ve been the one who crawled into Bowen’s bed all by myself."

“Bowen slept stiff as a board, but I practically coiled around him like a snake. Honestly, he wasn’t to blame in the slightest.”

Bowen, his hair tousled from sleep, propped himself up on one elbow and quietly watched as Aubree sat frozen on the bed, a triumphant smirk flashing in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Bowen asked.

Aubree turned stiffly, swallowing hard. "I distinctly remember Bowen’s clothes were buttoned up all proper when he first got into bed," she thought, a fresh wave of horror washing over her. "So those undone buttons… Was his half-exposed chest my doing?"

“N–no, nothing,” Aubree stammered, hastily averting her gaze, a quilt clutched in her hands.

Bowen glanced down, then chuckled softly. “Oh, I don’t mind a bit."

Aubree’s face instantly burned crimson. “Seriously, is that even the point?” she fumed inwardly, utterly awkward.

Even though he’d just said he didn’t mind, Bowen still let out a theatrical sigh. “But Bree, you’re quite the restless sleeper. This morning, I honestly thought it was sleep paralysis. You had all your arms and legs wrapped around me like an octopus. I couldn’t budge an inch and just had to wait for you to wake up.”

In her haste to scramble over Bowen and get out of bed, Aubree almost ended up kneeling right on top of him.

"Enough already! Seriously!" Aubree groaned inwardly, her face burning with embarrassment.