Crush(1)

Author: Zhen Zhu Niao

I never thought this scene would appear in front of me.

A tall man stood before me, holding the pink lingerie I had just taken off with his slender ring finger.

My jeans were halfway also down my thighs.

1

On Friday, I had just left the company where I did my internship and rushed home by subway during the evening rush hour, ready to sleep all day and night.

As soon as I arrived at the entrance of my place, I saw a familiar figure.

It was my ex-boyfriend.

He seemed to have sensed my presence as he paused the action of pushing the elevator button before turning around suspiciously.

In a split second, I jumped quickly into the bushes next to me.

After waiting for five minutes to make sure the coast was clear, I slowly got up and patted the leaves off my body.

I simply could not stand men. They were annoying. We had broken up, but he still came to pester me.

I took out my phone and sent a message to my best friend, Savannah Harrison.

Me: [Savvy, beautiful Savvy, can I go to your house to sleep tonight?]

Savannah: [Okay, a standard king-size room will cost forty dollars for one night.]

Me: [Talking about money hurts my feelings. Take me in. Henry came to my house again today. I can't hide from him!]

Savannah: [Are you still sad about his cheating? It'll cost you 55 dollars if you vomit on the bed.]

Somehow, I felt that she was chiding me.

Me: [Got it. I'll never touch alcohol again.]

I hailed a taxi. When I arrived at Savannah's house, it was dark.

I entered the password to unlock the door and put down my bag at the entrance.

Then, the first thing I did was take off my bra underneath my short-sleeved shirt to liberate myself.

I casually threw my bra on the couch and was about to open the refrigerator to get a can of iced soda.

Since I did sweat a little, I planned to take a shower first.

I walked into the bathroom and unbuttoned my jeans. However, my jeans were halfway down my legs when I realized that I had forgotten to take a bath towel.

I pulled my pants and tiptoed to look for the bath towel in the bedroom.

When I turned around from the wardrobe, a man could be seen standing by the couch. He was wearing a black cap, a black short-sleeved shirt, and gray trousers.

The most important thing was that he was holding my pink bra on his slender ring finger. The bra was exceptionally conspicuous since he was dressed in dark colors.

My heart suddenly skipped a beat. I was appalled.

I rushed over quickly, preparing to shut the bathroom door.

However, my jeans were still stuck between my thighs. With the sound of the cloth tearing, I sprained my ankle hard as I fell to the ground on my knees.

I endured the pain, crawled to the door, reached over, and slammed it shut.

Savannah didn't tell me that there was a man in her house!

I wondered if he was another new boyfriend of hers.

I took out my phone from my pocket and texted her with trembling fingers.

Me: [Savvy, if one day your boyfriend and I fall into the water at the same time, who would you save first?]

Savannah: [I don't understand what you mean.]

Me: [I've tarnished your boyfriend's innocence!]

Savannah: [???]

Me: [He saw my bra and my underwear!]

I was in tears.

Savannah: [My baby is in my arms. Priscilla Yates, have you been drinking again?]

I wondered if Savannah was a two-timer by having one boyfriend at home and another outside.

I stood up slowly and lifted my pants to put them on.

When I was staring at my swollen ankle, the man outside suddenly knocked on my door.

Caught between pain and embarrassment, I chose to be embarrassed.

I grabbed a coat, put it on, and said, "Come in. I've sprained my ankle."

"I'll take you to the hospital."

His voice sounded like that of a teenager's, fresh and innocent.

I could not believe Savannah was dating a man younger than she was.

I blushed and was too embarrassed to look up at him. I sat by the bed with my head lowered and stared at his long legs.

"It's okay. It doesn't hurt so much. I can apply ice cubes to it myself."

"Is it inconvenient?"

"It's okay. I'll wait for Savannah to come back. It's not convenient for you to be here. Although you saw something you shouldn't have seen, we are innocent! As you know, Savannah has been good at taekwondo since childhood..." The more I spoke, the more panicked I became. When I closed my eyes, I could imagine a scene where Savannah was kicking her opponent away in her uniform.

"My sister won't come back tonight."

I was shocked that he said "sister."

I abruptly looked up and met his puzzled gaze. I didn't know when he took off his hat, revealing his clean short hair.

"Rowan Harrison!"

I was very certain because he and his sister looked exactly the same.

Rowan ignored my shock and went out to the refrigerator to get two ice packs.

"I'll help you with this."

Rowan sat by the bed, holding my ankle with one hand, and his fingertips were still a little cold because he had just taken the ice pack.

"Does it hurt?"

Rowan placed the ice pack on my ankle and turned his head to ask me. His eyes were bright and beautiful.

"It doesn't hurt."

I smiled awkwardly.

When she was a child, Savannah had thrown tantrums with her parents for a long time because they gave her a younger brother, and she had disliked her brother since childhood.

As such, she often bribed me with popsicles to go to her house to take care of Rowan.

However, Rowan was a good boy who wasn't mischievous at all. He came back with his schoolbag and sat at the table to do his homework carefully.

It went on like that until the end of Rowan's high school entrance examination when I happened to go to university in another city.

2

I looked down at Rowan, who helped me apply the ice pack carefully. He was a little different from what I remembered.

His skin was tanned, his chin was more defined, his facial features were tougher, and his forearms were muscular.

He became manlier.

I stared at his slender fingers on my ankle and suddenly remembered the scene where he held my pink lingerie, feeling turned on.

I swallowed hard subconsciously.

I pinched the flesh on my thigh while inwardly scolding myself for desiring someone else's brother. After all, it wasn't like I hadn't seen other men before.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt?"

Rowan was a little nervous when he saw that I was pinching myself.

"No, it's good."

I waved my hand and said, "Um, are you back for the summer vacation?"

"Yeah." Rowan pursed his thin lips and replied in a flat voice.

"You should be graduating soon, right?"

I made a calculating motion with my fingers.

"No, I've just been discharged from the army. I'm still a sophomore."

Rowan reached out and changed an ice pack.

"Why did you suddenly want to join the army?"

It was no wonder he looked tanned. When he was a child, Rowan was very fair and had tender skin. I liked to pinch his cheeks when I had nothing else to do.

Rowan paused and looked up at me. His eyes were dark with flickers of emotions I couldn't catch.

"I happened to see the application, so I went."

After a while, he said, "It should be fine. I'll go out and buy you some ointments tomorrow."

Rowan stood up and walked out.

I quickly took out my phone and sent a message to Savannah.

Me: [Why didn't you tell me that your brother came back?]

Savannah: [He said he would come back recently, but he didn't say the exact time. I also didn't bother asking.]

Me: [Won't it be awkward for me and your brother to stay at home if you don't come back?]

Savannah: [Why didn't you feel awkward when you kissed his face when you were a child?]

Savannah sent an emoji to convey speechlessness.

I glanced at his long legs. If he was willing to let me kiss him now, it would have been fine too.

Rowan came out of the bathroom. He tugged at his collar and stretched out his hand to me. "The hot water is ready. Let me help you there."

I nodded. Rowan grabbed my arm with one hand and held my shoulder with the other. I could vaguely smell the faint scent of detergent on him.

I turned my head and wanted to take a peek at him. However, due to his height, I only saw Rowan's collarbone and Adam's apple. There was also a faint mole in that area, which appeared a little tantalizing.

I swallowed hard and looked away quickly.

I reckoned that my leg was not going to get better anytime soon.

I hurried out after taking a quick shower. Rowan was in another room with the door closed.

I took my time to apply skincare in my room and came out to toss my clothes into the washing machine.

As soon as I closed the door of the washing machine, I saw Rowan coming out of the bathroom topless, wearing only shorts. He took a bath towel to wipe his hair. There were still a few drops of water on his abdominal muscles. The bathroom door behind him fogged up, and the fragrance of shower gel lingered in the air.

I was blushing in an instant.

"What's wrong?" asked Rowan, noticing my odd behavior. His eyebrows were raised.

"N-Nothing," I replied.

I limped back to my room in a panic.

I wanted to ask him why he came out topless, but I was also concerned that he wouldn't show up half-naked in the future after I asked.

I was lying on the bed, with my mind full of images of his attractive body that could not be gotten rid of, and my heart beat wildly.

I lifted the quilt, covered my head, and smelled the fragrance of the shower gel. Thinking of Rowan using the same shower gel in the bathroom where I just took a shower, I suddenly had some other ideas.

I felt about my phone on the nightstand and sent a message to Savannah.

Me: [I want to be your sister-in-law!]