Free Web NovelChapter 363: Chapter 361: He’s Really Easy to Coax
His gaze was filled with worry, but he fought to keep his voice steady.
Even in his haste, he was patiently asking for her opinion.
’He was such a good person. He was so, so good, so how could this have happened...’
A sharp pain pierced Mia Grant’s heart.
She had actually been prepared to slowly distance herself from Hayes Hughes.
But the moment she saw him, the walls she had just built crumbled instantly.
Mia once again felt his devastating effect on her.
’Maybe this was karma.’
’But what had she done wrong?’
’If she could do it all over again, seeing this perfect man care for her so cautiously, tirelessly reaching out to her time and time again...’
’Who could possibly resist falling for him?’
’The scales of her heart had long since tipped in his favor. How could she ever right them now?’
’She had no choice but to give in.’
Mia Grant pouted, lowering her eyes with an aggrieved look.
That one look made Hayes Hughes’s heart ache. He placed a hand on the back of her head, his thumb gently caressing her cheek as he gazed at her, full of self-reproach, and tried to soothe her.
"This will be the last time Mia ever has to come here."
"Our Mia will be perfectly safe. From now on, I’ll take care of all your hardships..."
But before he could finish, Mia Grant suddenly let go of his hand and reached for his face.
He stopped talking, still kneeling on one knee before her, and simply gazed up at her in a daze.
Mia Grant cupped his face in her hands, her lips turned down in a dissatisfied pout as she looked at him. "Hayes Hughes."
Her voice snapped him out of his trance. He quickly raised his hands to cover hers on his cheeks.
"I’m here."
He answered gently. His gaze was tender yet restrained as he silently suppressed the relentless love he felt for her.
Mia Grant’s brow twitched. With something akin to a sigh, she uttered, "You’d better stay this way."
’Stay what way?’
Hayes Hughes never got the chance to ask. A shadow fell over him, blocking the sunlight that poured in from the window.
A warm sensation met his lips. Her kiss was clumsy, almost frantic, as if she were venting her frustrations.
She gnawed and bit at him until he could taste the faint, coppery tang of blood.
He snapped back to reality but didn’t push her away.
The sting on his lips was quickly overwhelmed by the ache in his heart. He leaned in, as if dissatisfied with the distance between them, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.
’I made a promise...’
’I promised I would be a good brother to her for the rest of our lives.’
’Silas Grant had already crossed the line. I couldn’t do the same.’
’I have to be someone she can always count on, her family forever.’
’Of course, I had my own selfish reasons, too.’
’Because in my mind, our bond would only be truly unbreakable if we were family.’
After a long moment, their lips finally parted.
When Hayes Hughes spoke again, his voice was hoarse and laced with a hint of latent hurt.
Or maybe it was hurt. He couldn’t quite tell which emotion was winning out.
He knew he shouldn’t say it. But the kiss had stirred the feelings in his heart, coaxing out forbidden thoughts that churned within him until he finally had to ask—
"Have you been mad at me lately?"
Mia Grant’s eyes flickered. She remained looking down at him, her hands still cupping his face.
They stared at each other in silence for a long while before she asked calmly, "Why would I be mad at you?"
A small smile played on Hayes Hughes’s lips, and his eyes twinkled. "I don’t know. But I just get the feeling I’ve done something to make you unhappy."
Mia Grant froze.
’She had been quietly pulling away from him. She thought she’d done a good job of hiding it.’
’But he knew.’
"No," Mia Grant said, not wanting to elaborate. "I’ve just had a lot of classes lately and haven’t been checking my messages much. I’m not ignoring you."
’He really was... so easy to appease.’
Hayes Hughes smiled and accepted her explanation. "That’s good. As long as you’re not mad."
He didn’t press the issue, his concern shifting back to her head injury.
His renewed questions about her head were giving Mia a headache. "I’m really fine," she insisted.
Still worried, he once again suggested she get an X-ray.
Mia Grant then noticed a subtle, unyielding edge to his tone.
He kept asking her patiently, over and over, but it seemed he would continue until he got the answer he wanted.
Mia wasn’t surprised by this realization for long. After a moment’s thought, she decided to just go along with him.
The moment she relented, Hayes Hughes secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately stood up to take her upstairs.
He held her hand as he walked, using his free hand to pull his phone from his lab coat pocket and call the upstairs department.
He knew she disliked hospitals, so he made sure the examination was over quickly.
Once it was confirmed that there was nothing wrong with her head, Hayes Hughes brought her back to his office.
He turned, shrugging off his lab coat and tossing it aside before grabbing his car keys. "Do you want to go back to school to rest, or... come to my place?"
Mia Grant considered it.
While she was thinking, he added, "How about staying at my place tonight? I’m worried about your injuries. I’d like to observe you for a night, and if everything’s fine, I’ll take you back tomorrow."
"Don’t you have work?" Mia asked hesitantly.
"I’ll switch shifts with another doctor. It’s a slow day today anyway."
He walked over with a smile, taking her silence as agreement. "Let’s go. Did you eat breakfast?"
His question reminded Mia of the breakfast Yates Donovan had sent over that morning.
’The sandwich had fallen to the ground in the chaos and been trampled by the crowd.’
’It happened right in front of the steps of the lecture hall. There were too many students rushing to make it to class on time.’
’A stampede nearly broke out.’
’Thinking about it, she was actually very lucky.’
’Otherwise, she would have ended up like that sandwich on the ground, crushed until the ketchup squirted out.’
Seeing that she didn’t answer, Hayes Hughes knew she hadn’t eaten.
As he led her downstairs, they ran into her roommate and some of the university administrators.
Hayes Hughes spoke with them and, as her family member, was able to leave with her smoothly.
On their way out, he asked what she wanted to eat.
Mia Grant didn’t have much of an appetite. In fact, she still felt a little unwell.
Now that things had quieted down and the adrenaline had faded, she could feel her injuries starting to ache.
All she wanted to do now was lie down and give up.
Before she could tell him to forget it, a figure suddenly appeared at the bottom of the steps.
The person was rushing up the steps and nearly collided with them.
"Yates Donovan."
She recognized him first, his name leaving her lips before she’d even consciously decided to speak.
Yates Donovan froze and looked up.
’The steps in front of the Hughes Family’s hospital were ridiculously long. Weren’t they worried their patients would die of anxiety on the way up?’
Just as he was losing patience and about to start cursing under his breath, he heard a familiar voice.
It was soft, and if he listened closely, tinged with a plaintive note, almost like a whine.
His heart, which already felt like a gaping pit, shattered completely when he met her teary eyes.
Even though he knew she wasn’t seriously injured, he had still rushed over in a panic.
Seeing her in person, the weight in his chest finally lifted, but at the same time, a new, sharp pain emerged, like a thousand tiny needles pricking him from the cracks in his already broken heart.
’How did she get so banged up?’
Her forehead was red and swollen, and the white gauze on her ear and cheek was a painful eyesore.
