Free Web NovelChapter 190: Chapter 180: Blue, I’ll Find You a Dad, Okay? (1)
"If your phone is off again, I’ll skin you alive!" Elliot Sheridan gripped Georgia Thorne’s wrist with a ferocious scowl as they stood in line.
Georgia Thorne’s heart warmed. She flashed a brilliant smile at Elliot Sheridan and obediently kept pace with him.
The crowd was huge. Worried Georgia Thorne would get jostled, Elliot Sheridan turned and pulled her into his arms to shield her, his eyes landing right on her brilliant smile.
In that instant, amidst the roaring crowd, Elliot Sheridan heard his own heart begin to pound.
His expression grew even fiercer. "What are you smiling at!"
He pulled her forcefully into his arms and turned his head away.
Nestled in his arms, Georgia Thorne could clearly see the tips of his ears turning red from her vantage point.
They entered the concert venue, found their seats, and sat down.
They were in the front row, the closest seats to the stage. From there, they had a clear view of the men on stage.
There were five men on stage, and their appearance immediately caused a massive uproar.
The massive crowd below the stage roared in unison, shouting the band members’ names.
It was Georgia Thorne’s first concert, and swept up in the electrifying atmosphere, she joined the rest of the crowd in shouting the band’s names.
Listening beside her, Elliot Sheridan felt a sour knot of jealousy in his stomach. He suddenly regretted suggesting the concert.
’What a rotten idea this was!’
Elliot Sheridan frowned, his gaze fixed on Georgia Thorne’s face the entire time.
Georgia Thorne waved her glow stick, her eyes glued to the men on stage.
When the singers on stage began a song and encouraged the crowd to sing along, Georgia Thorne started humming with them.
Elliot Sheridan watched her profile and, when she wasn’t looking, leaned in close to her cheek.
Georgia Thorne was softly humming along to the song when she suddenly felt warm breath by her ear. She whipped her head around to hear his voice.
"I’m not engaged to Joanne Donovan!"
The roar of the crowd suddenly swelled, drowning out Elliot Sheridan’s voice.
But Georgia Thorne had heard him. Every single word sank deep into her heart.
She had already known since that night in his apartment.
He had personally told Joanne Donovan that he was calling off the engagement.
But she had overheard that. This—Elliot Sheridan telling her directly—was different.
Georgia Thorne understood Elliot Sheridan’s meaning. Just as she was about to respond, another wave of deafening cheers washed over them.
Georgia Thorne’s voice was too soft; Elliot Sheridan didn’t hear a thing.
All he saw was Georgia Thorne flashing him a brilliant smile before turning back to the stage, waving her glow stick with even more vigor.
Elliot Sheridan cursed under his breath and angrily turned his head away. After a moment, however, he turned back to gaze at her profile.
After the four-hour concert, Georgia Thorne’s voice was a little hoarse from all the screaming.
Georgia Thorne stood by the side of the road, coughing repeatedly.
"Drink this." Elliot Sheridan held out a bottle of water to her.
"Thanks."
Georgia Thorne took a sip, soothing her throat. It felt much better.
"Are those guys on stage really that amazing?" Elliot Sheridan asked sullenly, his eyes full of displeasure.
From the moment Georgia Thorne started shouting their names, Elliot Sheridan had sworn to himself that he would never like this band.
"Of course they’re amazing! Why else would so many fans come to their concert?" Georgia Thorne said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
It was their first reunion tour in years, so of course tons of excited fans rushed to see them. The venue was completely sold out.
Elliot Sheridan snorted. ’What’s so great about a band, anyway?’
’They’re not even as handsome as I am!’
The concert left them exhausted, and Georgia Thorne was getting hungry. The two of them found a small, casual barbecue stall to eat at.
Elliot Sheridan wasn’t a fan of street-stall barbecue and eyed the surroundings with disdain.
He had wanted to drive to a nicer restaurant, but Georgia Thorne had insisted on coming here.
The stall was near her apartment. When she was living with Nancy Hughes, they used to come here for barbecue all the time.
He took off his suit jacket, folded it over the stool, and sat down.
"Go on, try it! This place is actually pretty good," Georgia Thorne said, handing him a meat skewer.
Elliot Sheridan’s face was stony, but seeing the expectant look in Georgia Thorne’s eyes, he hesitantly took the skewer.
He took one bite, decided it wasn’t nearly as delicious as Georgia Thorne had claimed, and put it down, content to just watch her eat.
Georgia Thorne had to admit, Elliot Sheridan and his expensive suit did look rather out of place here.
She didn’t push him, just continued to slowly enjoy her skewers.
Once she’d had her fill, the two of them strolled back toward her apartment.
The walk was quiet until they reached the entrance of Georgia Thorne’s apartment building.
Georgia Thorne turned to him. "Thanks for coming with me to the concert today. I’m going to head up!"
Elliot Sheridan just grunted, his gaze deep and intense as he watched her.
He watched her disappear into the building without a backward glance, a heavy, stifling feeling settling in his chest that made him feel tight and restless.
When Georgia Thorne returned to her apartment, Blue leaped out of his bed, rubbing against her leg and meowing for attention.
Hearing the noise, Nancy Hughes came out of her room. "You went to the concert?"
"Mhm."
Georgia Thorne scooped up Blue, walked into the kitchen, and got some cat food.
"Was it good?"
"Not bad!"
Nancy Hughes yawned. "I’m heading to bed. I have work tomorrow."
"Go ahead."
Georgia Thorne poured some food into the cat bowl, and Blue began to eat happily.
Georgia Thorne stroked Blue’s white fur, smiling as she murmured, "Blue, what do you say I find you a dad?"
Blue kept his head down, eating and letting out a steady purr from his throat.
"If you don’t object, I’ll take that as a yes!"
Georgia Thorne continued to stroke his fur slowly. After a few minutes, Blue still hadn’t made a sound in protest.
"Then it’s settled!" Georgia Thorne said, completely satisfied. "Next time you see your dad, you’re not allowed to hiss and puff up your fur at him, got it?"
Once he was full, Blue lazily padded into Georgia Thorne’s room, hopped onto her bed, found a comfortable spot on her pillow, curled into a ball, and fell asleep, purring softly.
After her shower, Georgia Thorne saw Blue sprawled across her pillow and gently moved him aside.
Georgia Thorne sat on the bed, picked up her phone, and took a picture of her outstretched hand.
She sent it to Elliot Sheridan with the caption: "Mr. Sheridan, are you willing?"
It was a cryptic message. After sending it, Georgia Thorne felt a flutter of panic.
She covered her burning cheeks as her heart began to pound.
This was completely different from how she’d felt when she proposed to Zane Lennox. With Zane, there hadn’t been this flustered panic.
Downstairs, Elliot Sheridan had smoked two cigarettes before finally starting to leave.
He was halfway down the block when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out; it was a picture from Georgia Thorne.
The photo was of her outstretched hand, and the message asked if he was willing.
The meaning couldn’t have been clearer. The frown that had been fixed on Elliot Sheridan’s face finally relaxed, and he began striding back the way he came.
As he walked, he typed a reply: "Good girl. Let me hear you say ’Hubby.’"
Georgia Thorne was drying her hair, her mood an anxious mess as her eyes remained glued to her phone.
’Maybe he’s driving,’ she guessed, ’or his phone is on silent and he hasn’t seen it yet.’
The phone on the bed lit up. With a soft MEOW, Blue opened his eyes and placed a paw on the screen.
Georgia Thorne immediately dropped her towel and snatched up the phone.
When she saw Elliot Sheridan’s reply, her cheeks, already pink from the shower steam, flushed a deep crimson, as if a thick layer of rouge had been painted onto her skin.
Georgia Thorne clutched the phone, her fingers flying across the keyboard. She wrote something, deleted it, then wrote something else.
Finally, she sent a reply: "Hubby... Grandpa?"
She could just imagine Elliot Sheridan’s flustered and furious face.
A wide, irrepressible grin spread across her face as she tossed the phone onto the bed.
’Hmph, as if I’m going to call him hubby!’
A few minutes later, just as Georgia Thorne was about to pick up her hair dryer, she heard a knock on the door.
’Who could that be, knocking this late at night?’
"Coming!" Georgia Thorne called out, dropping the hair dryer and running to the door.
"Who is it!"
She opened the door and her eyes went wide with shock when she saw the man standing in the hallway. "You didn’t leave?"
"Good girl. What were you supposed to call me again?" Elliot Sheridan asked, a wicked smirk playing on his lips as he advanced on Georgia Thorne.
"Uh, well, it’s getting late. You should go home, and I need to sleep!" Georgia Thorne reacted instantly, trying to slam the door shut, but it was too late.
Elliot Sheridan slipped inside with ease, trapping her against his body. His elegant fingers caught her chin, tilting her face up. "So I’m ’Grandpa,’ hmm?"
Georgia Thorne shook her head frantically, but even with all her strength, she couldn’t push Elliot Sheridan’s body away.
Through the thin fabric of her clothes, his scorching body heat seeped into her hands where they were pressed against his chest.
’He saw my text! He’s here to cause trouble!’
Georgia Thorne was instantly filled with regret. ’I knew I shouldn’t have sent that picture!’
"Ellio—"
Her hands were pressed hard against his chest. She had barely gotten a single syllable out when Elliot Sheridan bent his head and sealed her lips with his.
Whatever romantic atmosphere they had built was completely shattered by the cat.
Elliot Sheridan pulled away from Georgia Thorne and sat up on the edge of the bed, where he and Blue commenced a staring contest—his dark eyes against the cat’s blue ones.
Seeing Elliot Sheridan retreat, Blue seemed to think he had won the battle. He shot Elliot a triumphant look, then lazily crawled into Georgia Thorne’s arms, claiming her embrace all for himself.
Elliot Sheridan was exasperated. A cat! A cat actually dared to provoke him.
He muttered under his breath, "Where’d you pick up such an ugly cat? It’s hideous!"
As if he understood every word, Blue sat up in Georgia Thorne’s arms upon hearing Elliot Sheridan’s critique and let out a ferocious yowl.
"Blue, stop that! Be a good boy," Georgia Thorne said, gently stroking him. She was afraid he’d get his hackles up and scratch Elliot Sheridan.
’I thought we agreed you were fine with Elliot Sheridan being your dad,’ she thought. ’So why are you treating him like an enemy?’
Georgia Thorne looked at Elliot Sheridan, a little frustrated. "Um, you should probably head home!"
Elliot Sheridan was already feeling sour, having just been bested by a cat.
His brow furrowed, and his tone turned grim. "Are you kicking me out?"
"It’s just... really late!" Georgia Thorne said in a small voice.
She averted her gaze. ’Is he really planning on staying the night?’
In the end, Elliot Sheridan did not stay the night at Georgia Thorne’s apartment. He finally left a little after one in the morning.
Georgia Thorne sent him a text telling him to be careful on his way.
The drive from Georgia Thorne’s rented apartment to Elliot Sheridan’s private one was about twenty minutes.
