Late Love

"Get off me if you're satisfied." Bryan Fowler said this just as I was lying on top of him, nibbling his ear.

His girlfriend, Julie Morgan, stood at the doorway of his bedroom, watching.

I didn't respond to him. Instead, I moved my lips away and shifted my attention to his Adam's apple.

I felt Bryan's large hand caress my waist, and the next second, he flipped me off the bed.

I found myself in the hospital before I knew it.

After Bryan tossed me off the bed, my fragile head hit the floor of his bedroom, and I started bleeding.

When Julie turned on the bedroom light, I was lying there, unable to move.

"Marlee, stop pretending and get up." Bryan never had any patience for my antics. He just found me annoying.

"Bryan, her head is bleeding!" Julie quickly rushed to my side, trying to stop the bleeding.

Thanks to Julie, otherwise, Bryan would have let me lie there until I bled out.

Bryan sighed lightly and sat up from the bed. Then I heard the sound of slippers hitting the floor as he picked me up and carried me out of the room.

What a shame! Bryan had a cold and fever, yet he still had to rescue me, the troublemaker.

But his embrace was genuinely warm, with a faint minty scent, and I fainted in his arms.

When I regained consciousness, I was already in the hospital.

The smell of disinfectant surrounded me, and there were soft whispers in the room.

"I asked Marlee to take care of you, so how did she end up in the hospital?" It was my best friend, Stacey Johnson.

I had Bryan flip me off the bed, all thanks to her efforts.

Bryan was Stacey's uncle, and after I expressed my feelings for him, Stacey kept trying to set us up whenever she could.

Bryan spoke, his voice hoarse from the cold, devoid of any emotion. "Ask her when she wakes up."

That was a good reason for me not to wake up.

"Marlee, I saw your eyelashes move." Bryan really was a piece of work.

It wasn't appropriate to keep pretending.

I feigned just waking up, blinking my eyes in a daze. Besides the softly speaking Stacey and Bryan, Julie was also in the room.

Stacey leaned closer to me. "What happened, Marlee?"

Her long eyelashes were about to sweep across my face. I stretched out the hand that wasn't having an intravenous drip and pushed her face away a little.

"Stacey, who are these two?"

Stacey was always easy to fool; their family's wits all seemed to be concentrated in Bryan.

She reached out to feel my forehead. "Sweetie, are you okay? This is my uncle."

I pushed her hand away and smiled at Bryan. "Hello."

Then I shifted my gaze to Julie's face. Julie was beautiful, fair, and elegant, with the most captivating eyes. "And this must be Auntie, right? Hello."

Bryan looked at me with a half-smile, making my heart race. I was really foolish, pretending to have amnesia in front of this old wolf.

Meanwhile, Stacey was making a fuss about finding a doctor. "Bryan, Marlee hasn't lost her mind, has she? I'll go get a doctor to check."

"I'll go with Stacey." Julie followed Stacey out, perhaps sensing that Bryan was about to scold me, thoughtfully leaving us some private space.

"Marlee, stop clinging to me. I don't have time to play with you." Once everyone left the room, Bryan finally stopped holding back.

He didn't give me any time to prepare, just bluntly laid it all out. His words hit my ears, stinging painfully.

"What about when you were nice to me before?" I asked, still unwilling to give up.

"Because you're Stacey's friend."

When Stacey returned with the doctor, the room was empty except for me. I had thrown a fit and chased Bryan out, and only the doctor came back with Stacey.

Julie had left with Bryan.

In total, I had only seen Julie three times.

The first time was at a bar. I hadn't seen Bryan for a while and wanted to take a peek at him on the sly. I hid myself in a corner, while Julie sat demurely beside Bryan.

The second time was last night when I was kissing Bryan in his bed, and she was watching from the door.

The third time was just now, standing behind Bryan.

If it were me, I would choose Julie too. She was pretty and obedient, unlike me, who always loved to go against Bryan. Whatever he forbade me to do, I insisted on doing. He didn't want me near him, and I hadn't listened even once over the years.

There was no point in talking about choices. I had never been in Bryan's options to begin with.

"Doctor, please check on her." Stacey urged the doctor to examine me.

I grabbed her hand. "Stacey, I'm fine."

The doctor spoke up from the side, "It's not up to you to say you're fine; I have to confirm it."

After cooperating with the doctor's examination, the doctor concluded, "You're fine now. Just take it easy, avoid strenuous activities, and you can be discharged."

Stacey breathed a sigh of relief.

After seeing the doctor off, she leaned in close to me and asked, "You were pretending just now. You scared me to death."

"Yeah."

"Then why did you stop pretending?"

"I realized I couldn't pull the wool over his eyes any longer."

I knew I couldn't deceive Bryan. It was just that last night's events were still fresh in my mind, and I didn't know how to face them.

"Then tell me about your heroic act yesterday!"

It wasn't exactly heroic. But thinking about it, it was quite amusing.

Stacey had brought me news of Bryan's illness, and in exchange for a slice of pizza, I got the key to Bryan's house from her. I wanted to play the role of a fairy-tale helper.

I made my way into Bryan's house without any obstacles.

I prepared some cold medicine and sneaked into his room.

Standing by his bed, I wanted to wake him up, but the medicine was too hot, so I thought I would let him sleep a bit longer.

Bryan was handsome, with distinct features and sharp angles. I loved his high nose the most.

Heaven knew, I just wanted to see if he was really asleep.

I reached out and poked his face, which was soft, unlike the polite and distant feeling he usually gave me. He seemed more approachable.

I couldn't resist leaning closer, wanting to kiss his face.

"Marlee, don't you dare."

When Bryan said that, I really wanted to test his limits.

I turned over onto his bed, straddling him, and leaned down to kiss his lips, but he dodged.

We were at a stalemate like this.

The door was ajar, and I vaguely heard the sound of someone opening the door.

"Bryan..."

It must have been Julie. At that hour, the only person who could have opened Bryan's door with a key would have been her.

I smirked at him, "Bryan, your girlfriend's here."

Bryan said nothing, turning his face away from me. He was giving me the cold shoulder, waiting for me to get off him.

But I couldn't just give in to his wishes.

I shifted my target to his ear.

I leaned down and kissed his ear, and Bryan's Adam's apple bobbed.

"If you're done with your antics, get off me."

Julie was already outside the bedroom door, and I switched from kissing his ear to kissing his Adam's apple. That was when Bryan threw me off the bed.

My head was bleeding, and the cold medicine I made for him was still steaming.

"Marlee, even though the ending was a bit tragic, the process wasn't too bad, huh!" Stacey scratched her head, thinking for a long time, and only managed to say that.

I pouted, trying to squeeze out a couple of tears, but it was futile. I was just sad inside; I couldn't cry.

"Marlee, how did you end up in the hospital?"

Before I could wallow in my misery, my mom rushed in after hearing the news.

"Let me see!" She pushed Stacey aside and sat next to me, holding my head and examining it.

"Mom, I'm fine now. The doctor said I can be discharged." My mom, who was spoiled by my dad, had no sense of moderation, and her touch was painful.

"Then come home with me!"

I dodged her hand, agreeing repeatedly, "Okay, okay, okay."

After being rejected by Bryan, I needed to regain my confidence in my mother's embrace.

Stacey, eager for a free meal at my house, escorted me all the way to my bedroom.

Once everything was settled, she lay down beside me as if it were the most natural thing.

"Marlee, did my uncle say something to you?" She tugged lightly at the ends of my hair.

Stacey's question opened the floodgates of my grievances.

I pouted, and tears rolled down my cheeks.

"He told me to stop bothering him, said I was annoying. He's never said that to me before."

Stacey hurriedly searched for tissues to wipe my tears. "Did we maybe go a bit too far? After all, he does have a girlfriend."

"He never admitted it. The thing about Julie being his girlfriend was something your mom said, not Bryan."

Exactly. The reason I was so brazen about climbing into Bryan's bed was that he never admitted Julie was his girlfriend.

But I also knew that when others joked about it, Bryan never denied it either.

His lack of denial was just my way of convincing myself.

"So..." She wanted to ask what I would do next.

I took the tissue from Stacey's hand and wiped my nose. "If he doesn't want me to cling, then I won't. It's not like he's the only man in the world."

But how could I forget the way Bryan treated me? For over twenty years, only Bryan made me feel different.

Stacey transferred to our class in senior year. She looked so sweet and innocent, easy to deceive. I was naturally outgoing and took it upon myself to approach her. I helped her get books, took her to the cafeteria, and showed her around the convenience store.

Stacey was indeed soft and easy to befriend, never putting up defenses with anyone. Within a month of knowing each other, she started inviting me to her home.

That evening, besides her parents, Bryan was also there for dinner.

After the meal, Stacey's mom requested Bryan to escort me to the entrance of the community.

"Is this the place?" Bryan asked after parking the car.

"Yes, thank you, Bryan." Back then, I was still the polite and respectful Marlee.

After thanking him, I rushed into the community.

Around Halloween, the air was thick with the scent of incense, adding an eerie touch to the night.

I was timid, especially around Halloween, always feeling like spirits were lurking around.

The footsteps behind me, neither too close nor too far, were terrifying, and I couldn't help but start running.

Something tugged at my backpack strap. "Why are you running? You left your phone in the car!"

It was Bryan.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

"Which building do you live in?"

I pointed blankly to show him.

"Let's go."

Bryan gestured for me to lead the way.

When I was in senior year, Bryan was only twenty-five, seven years older than me. He would quietly ease my fears.

Bryan was always attentive.

After graduating high school, Bryan had a business trip.

Stacey pestered him to take her along, and after he agreed, she pushed her luck further, asking him to bring me too.

Unable to refuse Stacey, Bryan took us both to Boston.

On the first night in Boston, I got my period and was in too much pain to move, staying in the hotel all day.

Stacey, being the energetic type, spent the day outside. She returned only to collapse on the bed and ignored my plight.

When I was starving, Bryan knocked on our door.

Dragging my weak body to open it, Bryan handed me a box. "Midnight snack."

He was like a guardian angel to me. I opened the box to find desserts from the shop Stacey and I frequented.

Seeing my pale face, he asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Stuffing my mouth with dessert, I waved him off. "It's nothing, just those few days of the month are always tough."

He stood at the door, pondering, probably trying to think of a good solution for me. I chewed on the dessert, waiting for him.

After a while, he looked up and told me, "Drink more hot water. "

He left me speechless.

But for the next seven days, whenever we ate together, there was never anything cold on the table.

Bryan's care was like a quiet, comforting presence.

Bryan wasn't like this with everyone. For instance, one year at Stacey's birthday party, she invited a good friend from college. The girl, bold and daring, approached Bryan with a drink, openly hinting that she was easy to woo, laying her feelings bare.

Bryan, polite as ever, entertained her but later strictly forbade Stacey from associating with her.

In comparison, Bryan was already quite indulgent with me.