Chapter 265

Zinnia didn’t stay long at Lydia’s place. After sitting for a while, she got ready to head home. Lydia walked her downstairs.

“See you at school tomorrow, Lydia,” Zinnia said at the gate of the neighborhood.

“These are my notes. If you don’t understand anything, just ask me later,” Lydia said, handing her the notebook.

“Okay.” Zinnia took the notebook with both hands and held it close to her chest.

Emily and the others were already waiting for her.

“Lydia, I’ll go by myself. The car picking me up is right over there,” Zinnia said, pointing to a car parked just across the street.

Then she started walking toward it.

While crossing the street, Zinnia kept feeling like someone was watching her. She frowned and looked in that direction, but didn’t see anything strange. People were coming and going like normal.

“Ms. Moore, is everything okay?” Emily asked as she quickly walked up to her.

“It’s nothing, Emily.” Zinnia shook her head and glanced behind her again. Still, nothing seemed off.

She figured she was just tired and hadn’t been resting well, so she brushed it off.

Emily looked around carefully. Her eyes scanned the people on the street. When she saw nothing suspicious, she walked with Zinnia toward the car.

As soon as Zinnia got in, her phone rang. When she checked it, she saw it was an unknown number marked as coming from the police station.

“Hello?” Zinnia answered.

“Hello, Ms. Moore,” the officer introduced himself briefly, then got straight to the point. “Maelis Shaw has asked to see you.”

“I don’t want to see her,” Zinnia said after a few seconds of silence.

It had been over a month since the incident. Zinnia hadn’t expected a call from the police, and she definitely hadn’t expected Maelis to ask to see her.

Thinking about how Henry had almost died because of Maelis, Zinnia’s face turned cold. She didn’t want to see her.

Maelis had been sentenced to twenty years.

“Understood. We’ll let Maelis know,” the officer said, then hung up.

After a full day of classes and spending time with Bonnie, Zinnia was so tired she dozed off in the car.

When the car stopped in the underground parking lot, Yannis was already waiting there.

“Mr. Perkins, Ms. Moore fell asleep,” Emily said respectfully. She had just gotten out of the car and hadn’t woken Zinnia yet when she saw Yannis.

“Oh, and Ms. Moore got a call from the police on the way here. Maelis asked to see her,” she added. “Ms. Moore said no.”

Yannis frowned slightly at the mention of Maelis.

A cold breeze blew into the car, and the sleeping Zinnia curled up a little. The blanket on her slipped down.

“You can go now,” Yannis said. “I’ll take care of her.”

Noticing her condition, Yannis opened the car door. Zinnia’s head rested against the seat, her beautiful face showing signs of exhaustion.

He leaned in, gently slipped one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, and carefully lifted her out of the car.

Maybe it was the movement, but Zinnia stirred a little. As soon as she caught the familiar scent, she relaxed, her frown fading. She shifted slightly, rested her head on Yannis’s shoulder, and fell back asleep.

Emily and the others left only after making sure Zinnia was safely in Yannis’s arms.

Yannis carried Zinnia all the way home, planning to lay her down in her room. Just then, the soft sound of the sensor door opening made Zinnia open her sleepy eyes.

The first thing she saw was the smooth line of Yannis’s jaw, then his deep red lips. His lips were beautiful – like the petals of a red rose.

Without thinking, Zinnia reached up and touched his lips with her slender fingers. They were warm and soft, with a little bounce to them, like jelly – but better.

Yannis froze the moment her fingers touched his lips. He lowered his gaze and looked at her.

“You’re awake?” Zinnia heard his low, gentle voice.

Her fingers were still on his jelly-like lips. Slowly, she came back to herself and blinked. A confused look appeared on her doll-like face.

She tilted her head up and saw Yannis’s handsome face. In his deep eyes, she saw the reflection of her own dazed expression.

Zinnia jolted in surprise and instinctively tried to sit up, but Yannis’s arm wrapped around her waist pulled her back.

“Don’t move. If you fall, you’ll just yell at me again,” Yannis said as he held her tightly.

“Yannis?” Zinnia had thought she was still in the car. She hadn’t expected to wake up in Yannis’s arms. She stammered, and her face quickly turned red.

“What’s wrong?” Yannis looked down, hearing the panic and confusion in her voice.

“P–put me down,” Zinnia said, feeling his strong hand around her waist. She glanced down and saw how he was holding her behind her knees.

Seeing how anxious she looked, Yannis thought something might be wrong, so he bent down and carefully set her on the ground.

Zinnia only felt a little more at ease once her feet touched solid ground. She let out a small sigh. “Yannis, why did you carry me all the way back?”

She remembered falling asleep in the car, but she didn’t feel too embarrassed. When she had hurt her hand or leg before, Yannis had carried her everywhere.

He’d even carried her to the bathroom once. To her, being carried home while sleeping wasn’t a big deal. She was used to it.

But what made her embarrassed – just a little – was the fact that she’d touched Yannis’s soft lips the moment she woke up, like she was being way too bold.

Zinnia had always thought his lips looked really soft, but she had never actually touched them. Half-asleep, she saw Yannis’s familiar face and thought she was dreaming, so she reached for his pretty face.

She hadn’t known it wasn’t a dream. Realizing what she’d done made her cheeks burn, and even her ears felt hot.

She was secretly glad she hadn’t pinched his cheek – now that would’ve been too awkward. Zinnia instinctively raised her hand and fanned her face.

“You fell asleep earlier,” Yannis said. “I didn’t wake you.”

Yannis didn’t think carrying her was anything strange. Sometimes, after a long day out, she would fall asleep on his shoulder. When that happened, he just carried her home.

Just like Zinnia had gotten used to him, he had gotten used to taking care of her. He didn’t mind all the little things she did.

After all, this wasn’t the first time she messed with him. She had once tried to braid his hair, clipped a pink hairpin to his collar, stacked his fingers with building blocks, or rubbed his wrist while pretending to check his pulse.

Yannis had dealt with plenty of that. So when Zinnia touched his lips just now, he didn’t even think about stopping her. Even if she touched his face he wouldn’t find it weird anymore.

Habit really was a scary thing.