Chapter 216\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney had never experienced this before, so lying on the bed seemed like it might at least give her a sense of security.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wore the nightdress Julian had chosen for her. The lace embroidery along the neckline and hem softened her appearance, making her look even more gentle and compliant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had barely bothered with her hair. Her bangs curled to one side, giving her a playful air. Her delicate skin, flushed from the steam of the shower, glowed like a ripe peach about to burst with juice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outwardly she appeared calm, but her fingers twisted together in front of her, betraying her unease. Her eyes, dark and clear like a deer\u2019s, shimmered with uncertainty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Above all else, she radiated resignation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sight stirred something in Julian. He teased deliberately, \u201cWe\u2019ll watch a movie first, then go to the bed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018A movie\u2019 Sydney misunderstood at once. \u201cThat kind of movie?\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we can skip the movie\u2026\u201d She had once given in to curiosity and watched one. It had been raw and explicit. The memory still made her want to crawl into a hole.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney was no longer a naive teenager. Over the years, she had naturally developed her own desires. Still, she preferred books over films.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, she could never say to Julian, \u201cHow about we read smutty novels together?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He would never let her live it down. And he was a perfectly healthy man in his prime. Why would he need a film first? Unless he couldn\u2019t manage without it?\u00a0<\/p>\n
As her gaze grew more and more suspicious, Julian caught on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell is going on in that head of yours?\u201d He spoke as he cast the movie onto the projector.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mortified, Sydney turned away just in time to see the title flash across the screen: Flipped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the most wholesome film imaginable. She had seen it before, but good movies were always worth rewatching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her embarrassment only deepened. Meeting Julian\u2019s amused gaze, she wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney obediently sat on the sofa, ready to watch, when her wrist was suddenly seized. With a tug, she tumbled into his arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice dropped. \u201cSit closer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d She scrambled off him and perched by his side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lights dimmed until only the glow of the projector filled the room, wrapping them in unexpected\u00a0<\/p>\n
tenderness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The story on screen was tender too-childhood friends, the flutter of first love. No matter how messy life\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
became, such stories always sparked a quiet longing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The only mismatch was the way they sat. In films, the girl\u2019s head rested on the boy\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here, Julian\u2019s head leaned lightly against the crown of hers, leaving her frozen. After a while, her neck even began to ache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney clenched her teeth and endured, waiting for him to move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, his head grew heavier as the minutes passed. His breathing slowed, long and steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian?\u201d she whispered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was no answer. He had fallen asleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018He asked me to watch a movie with him, only to nod off. It isn\u2019t even 9:00 p.m. Is this man\u2019s schedule always so disciplined?\u2019 she wondered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney waited until she was sure he was fast asleep before sliding her arm beneath his head, trying to lower him. onto the sofa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment she let go, his head dropped straight onto her lap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was trapped. If she tried to move her legs now, she would wake him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Faced with choosing between her comfort or his, Sydney sacrificed her own. She even set her phone to silent, terrified of disturbing this sleeping bear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she forgot one thing about this particular sleeping bear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u65e5\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When The Ocean Learned My Name and Whispered It Back to You by Aurelia Novel 216 Chapter 216\u00a0 Sydney had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-when-love-is-gone-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22334,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22198\/revisions\/22334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}