Chapter 68 I’m Not Going Home Tonight
Having lost her temper, Courtney chased both men out of the kitchen straight away.
These two are acting as if they’d skipped their meds today. If they continue wreaking havoc in the kitchen, I’m afraid lunch would never be served today.
In the end, both Alexander and Shay were shut out of the kitchen door. They exchanged glances, and it was clear that they held a tinge of contempt toward each other.
At that moment, Tina and Jordan were both pressed up behind the slit of the bedroom door as they were covering their mouths while snickering discreetly.
“Look, what did I tell you? With pressure, there’d be motivation.” Tina was especially gleeful.
Jordan nodded in agreement, looking delighted too. This is my first time seeing Daddy taking the initiative.
Lunch was particularly sumptuous that day. There were boiled fish fillets, braised chicken wings, fried shredded pork with asparagus, as well as tomato and egg soup. Three different dishes were served with a bowl of soup at the table, and the fragrance was simply tantalizing.
Everybody sang praises before they polished off every grain of rice and dishes on the table.
After finishing their meal, the two children went back to the room to continue playing, whereas Shay helped out by cleaning up the dishes. He seemed afraid he’d be robbed of the chance, and so he took the initiative to wash the dishes. “Courtney, I promise that I’ll get them sparkling clean.”
She was more than happy to take the chance to relax, and so she did not reject his offer. “Well, in that case, go ahead and wash the dishes, but please do not break anything.”
“Don’t worry.” With that, Shay brought the pile of dishes into the kitchen tentatively. Nevertheless, he suddenly felt that something was amiss halfway through washing the dishes.
I’m working hard washing the dishes here, but haven’t I just created a chance for Alexander to spend time alone with Courtney? He turned around in a hurry to peek into the living room. Those two aren’t in the living room—where are they?
Two adults and two children sat in a circle in Tina’s bedroom. There was a board game of Ludo in the middle, and each of them was in charge of a different color. They were engrossed in a friendly fight right now.
“I’m at the finishing point! You have all lost to me! You’ve lost! Everybody will get a sticker each.” Tina, who had a face full of Minion stickers, stuck a sticker each on Alexander, Courtney, and Jordan’s face excitedly.
The faces of these four were clearly a mess by now.
Shay was still wearing the rubber gloves from washing the dishes. He grumbled while standing by the door, “You didn’t even invite me to play the game; instead, you let me wash the dishes all alone. You guys are so inconsiderate!”
The group turned around swiftly toward the door.
Courtney felt slightly embarrassed too. After all, Shay had just returned to the country yesterday, and she knew that it was inappropriate to neglect a guest, no matter how close they were. Hence, she suggested, “Why don’t you join the game, and I’ll wash the dishes?”
“Who would ever want to play with him?” Shay frowned deeply. He figured Courtney would never ask Alexander to wash the dishes, and so he endured the stabbing in his heart while saying to her, “Wait for me to finish washing the dishes. I’ll be back soon enough.”
Upon saying that, he turned around to enter the kitchen again and started scrubbing the dishes vehemently.
Courtney was unsure whether to be amused or exasperated when she saw that.
After ten minutes, Shay joined in the battle of the board game. It started with a game of Ludo before it morphed into Gobang. Then, they switched to international chess before starting on a game of Go. In the end, Shay and Alexander were the only ones left to battle to the end across the board game.
While Alexander was a meticulous person, Shay wasn’t half bad either. Shay was skilled at international chess, whereas Alexander was always ahead of him in the game of Go. Their scores were tied after playing the whole afternoon; in the end, there was no clear winner out of the two.
The sky was getting darker, and Courtney summoned them for dinner outside.
Shay wasn’t even sure when Courtney had left the room. It was only then when he realized with a start that he’d spent the entire afternoon with Alexander. He couldn’t help but feel annoyed with himself.
After dinner, Shay spoke to Alexander directly. “It’s getting late now. When are you taking your son home?”
Alexander took his time to sip his tea. “I don’t think I’m going home tonight.”
“What?” Shay stood up abruptly. “What do you mean you’re not going home? This is not your house.”
Courtney was stumped when she heard that because she wasn’t sure what Alexander was implying. He can’t be planning to stay overnight here, can he? That’d be too strange.
“Jordan doesn’t want to go home.” Alexander glanced at Courtney while speaking naturally. “He told me even before coming over. Previously, Tina stayed at my house for so long, and so he’d like to stay over at Tina’s home too.”
“No way! I disagree.” Shay rejected him decisively. He knew that there was a period when Courtney brought Tina to stay in Alexander’s house; otherwise, he would not have allowed Alexander to enter the house. It was clear that Shay treated him as his number one rival in love.
“This isn’t even your home; you are just staying here temporarily, so your opinion doesn’t matter.” After glancing at Shay, Alexander turned to look at Courtney again.
On the other side of the room, Courtney looked especially embarrassed while she intertwined her fingers tightly together. Even if I were to agree for him to stay overnight, it is truly too strange to have two men staying for the night. However, Alexander has a point—I can’t deny him because I’d lived for two weeks in his home with Tina previously. It would seem as if I’m ungrateful after receiving his help!
While she was struggling for the longest time, Tina suddenly came out of her room. She jogged toward Courtney while uttering, “Mommy, Jordan is asleep. Are Jordan and Mr. Alexander staying over at our house tonight?”
Courtney had no choice but to nod. “Well, I guess so.”
“Hey, no way!” Shay tried to stop her. “You just need to carry the child away since he’s asleep. After all, he is such a tiny boy. Why would you let them stay overnight here?”
“Jordan is generally weak, and so he’d catch a cold if he were to be exposed to the wind during his sleep,” explained Alexander from the side calmly.
Courtney had always had a soft spot for Jordan. Therefore, she couldn’t possibly allow him to head out and expose himself to the chilly night wind since he was asleep. “Yes, we can’t let him leave right now because the child has always struggled with having a sense of security to begin with.” Courtney nodded in agreement.
“Well, what about him? Why can’t he leave if the child has to stay?” Shay was grasping at straws at this point while he hissed through clenched teeth.
“My son has never left my side his whole life, so he’ll not be used to it.” Alexander sounded nonchalant when he spoke, but Shay was rendered speechless by his response.
I’m losing my mind! I know that this man has an ulterior motive, but everything he says makes perfect sense! What am I dealing with here?
After confirming that they were staying overnight, Courtney tidied her room to offer it to him.
“I haven’t informed Cameron, so I can’t let you sleep in her room. I think it’s best that you sleep in mine while I sleep in hers.”
Alexander did not oppose that, of course, but Shay was furious at that point. “No way! I do not agree! Why is he allowed to sleep in your room? Courtney, you need to understand that men and women are different. You need to learn to protect your privacy! I will never agree to this.”
“Well, what would you suggest?” Courtney stared at him. “We have only so many rooms in the house.”
“I’ll take one for the team and let him sleep with me!” Shay glared at Alexander. He seemed especially reluctant, as if he was making a huge sacrifice.
“I don’t think so,” replied Alexander as he glanced at him. “I do not like to sleep with men.”
“How dare you…”
“Enough.” Courtney cut Shay off. “Stop causing a ruckus. He will be staying overnight tonight, so it doesn’t matter where he sleeps. Besides, there’s nothing private in my room. You two should come out first because I need to change a fresh set of bed sheets.”
With that, she pushed Shay and Alexander out of the room before she closed the room door and started tidying up.
Shay held his arms together while staring daggers at Alexander. “You are the president of an enterprise. Why must you insist on roughing it up in this house with us? You can’t be wanting to experience real life after getting bored of your comfortable life, can you?” Shay snapped at him.
“Would you believe me if I said yes?”
Alexander’s comment was filled with double meaning. He moved forward to the bookcase while obviously not taking Shay seriously.
