The two men stood by the door, locked in a standoff. “You should leave. If it weren’t for you, Aurora would have opened the door already,” Asher said brusquely.
“Really? Why do I think it was because of you? How about we make a bet? One of us stays, the other leaves, and we see who she opens the door for,” Julian suggested.
“That’s a good idea. You’ll soon find out for whom Aurora really opens the door.”
“Fine, you stand twenty meters away. If she hasn’t opened the door within five minutes, then it’s your turn,” Julian said.
Asher was up for the challenge, confident in winning the bet. At least that was what he believed. Over the years, he and Aurora had been through life and death together. He was certain she would open the door for him, and he looked forward to watching Julian’s embarrassment.
Aurora, who had been standing behind the door, overheard their bet, curious how Julian might prompt her to open the door. Despite her expectations, how could they know Julian rapidly entered a sequence of numbers on the keypad?
With a beep, the door opened before Aurora and Asher could react.
“Sneaky!” Asher hurried towards the door, but it was too late, since he had walked too far.
By the time he reached the door, it had already closed. “Young lad, you learned your lesson today. You never know how cruel the world can be! And love is a battlefield.”
“Julian Barnet, could you be any more deceitful?” Asher fumed, realizing he had been tricked.
He had thought Julian really wanted to bet, waiting to see him make a fool of himself, but it turned out he was the one who lost.
“You think I’m so idle to make a bet with you, moron?” Julian said smugly, ignoring Asher.
Turning around, he found Aurora standing behind him. “Look, I came in.”
“How did you know the code to my house? I had changed it.” Aurora glared at him coldly.
“Though the keypad is covered, I could guess the numbers from the movement of your fingers when you entered the password,” Julian said, looking for praise.
Aurora was both annoyed and amused, realizing she would have to be more careful when entering the password next time.
“Move aside. I’ll let Asher in.” Aurora couldn’t really leave Asher outside alone.
“If you want to let him in, kiss me first.” Julian blocked the door, standing by it.
“You shameless man! Aurora, you must not kiss him!” Asher panicked from outside.
“Asher, listen. The password is…” Before she could finish, Julian’s lips sealed hers, giving her no chance to call for help.
Hearing sudden silence inside, Asher grew frantic. “You bastard, let her go. Don’t touch her!”
“What has he done to you, Aurora? Say something! I’m going to break!” Asher’s voice carried through.
Aurora then remembered she needed to open the door, glaring at Julian. “Move aside. I need to let him in.”
“No, you haven’t kissed me yet,” Julian still blocked her way.
“Didn’t you just kiss me?” she said, lowering her head shyly.
Even Aurora herself hadn’t noticed that she behaved differently around Julian compared to others.
In front of others, she was a queen, poised and seductive, but around Julian, she had begun to show a shy demeanor at some point.
He had slowly won her over, and she found herself not disliking, but rather starting to enjoy this feeling.
Even though she constantly told herself not to fall for Julian, her heart proved uncontrollable.
“Just now, it was me kissing you, not you kissing me. If you don’t kiss me, that’s fine. Your friend will stay outside tonight. Try telling him the password once, and I’ll kiss you each time. Let’s see who’s faster…” Julian continued to tease Aurora.
Before he could finish, her lips gently pressed against his as she tiptoed up to him.
Although they had already kissed once before, kissing and being kissed were completely different concepts.
Even though her kiss was inexperienced, it thrilled him immensely. Her kiss was devastatingly effective!
Her arms wrapped around his neck, her eyes gently closed, and the dim light from the hallway bathed her face.
He could look down to see her trembling eyelashes and the adorable fine hairs on her cheeks, and smell her sweet scent.
His fingers instinctively circled her waist, harboring no ulterior motives, just quietly savoring her beauty.
Aurora had intended to make it a quick peck and leave, but she feared Julian might nitpick, so she decided to kiss him earnestly.
To her surprise, as she mimicked the caressing he had done on her lips before, she opened her lips and enveloped his.
It was a sensation he had never experienced before. Julian felt all his senses sharpen.
It seemed as if Aurora wasn’t just kissing his lips but every inch of his skin. Before he could revel in it, Aurora had already pulled away.
“Can I open the door now?” she wouldn’t tell him that the kiss had also made her heart race.
She didn’t know if she could stop if they continued, so she decided to break it off while she was still clear-headed.
“Damn it. Julian, if you don’t open the door, I’ll…” Asher, infuriated, was about to burst into curses when the door opened.
“And what would you do?” Julian stood at the door with a raised eyebrow, looking every bit the master of the house.
Beside him, Aurora stood with flushed cheeks, affectionate eyes, and slightly swollen lips. It was clear what had just transpired.
“You bastard, what have you done to Aurora?” Asher, fuming, grabbed Julian by the collar.
“What did I do? Just a little kiss. If you didn’t see it, I could demonstrate again.”