The elevator stopped on Evander Lancaster’s floor, the doors opened, and before Sophia Hamilton could even react, she was already wrapped up and guided out by the tall man.

Standing in front of the apartment door, he entered the code and pressed his fingerprint. With a beep, Evander wrapped her along with him into the entryway.

Evander changed into slippers and walked inside, shrugging off his padded coat and tossing it onto the sofa. "Sit for a bit first, I’ll make some popcorn."

Sophia hesitated a moment before finally kicking off her snow boots. She’d just lowered her head when she noticed a brand‑new pair of women’s slippers on the tiles, the same kind as the ones at her place, with little cartoon characters on them.

She pressed her lips together, a strange, nameless feeling quietly sprouting in her chest.

As she slid her feet into the slippers, her heart felt warm along with them.

She took off her padded coat and hung it on the rack in the living room, along with Evander’s coat he’d flung on the sofa. Just as she finished, his voice floated out from the kitchen.

"There’s Coke in the fridge, take it out and let it sit for a bit."

"Oh." Sophia answered in a half‑reluctant tone and walked toward the kitchen as well.

In front of the counter, Evander was frowning at the instructions on a bag of popcorn. After reading them, he put the bag into the microwave, his fingers moving smoothly and deftly over the buttons, clearly used to doing housework.

Opening the fridge, Sophia couldn’t help but marvel that a single guy would stock so many ingredients. Vegetables, fruit, dairy—everything was there, more complete than what she had in her own fridge.

The main thing was that the fridge was huge, and there was also beer and beef jerky.

She took out two cans of Coke and was just about to close the fridge when Evander turned around too, standing behind her. His long arm reached past her for that bag of beef jerky.

The source of warmth was pressed right up against her back. Sophia didn’t dare move at all, one hand gripping each can tight, until that bag of beef jerky was stuffed into her armpit and Evander’s voice sounded behind her.

"I bought it at the supermarket today. I don’t know if you’ll like it."

"Mm." Clearly not wanting to answer, Sophia still couldn’t help nodding, lightly biting her lower lip, the corners of her mouth nonetheless curling up.

"Good girl, go wait on the sofa." Evander ruffled the top of her head, then turned back to watch the microwave. Obediently, Sophia carried the two cans of Coke and the beef jerky back to the living room.

A few minutes later, Evander came out with the popcorn, set the bowl on the coffee table, and while undoing his belt asked, "Do you want to take a shower?"

Sophia...

She shook her head in a rush, like a rattle‑drum, the motion so exaggerated it made Evander laugh. He leaned over the coffee table, reached out to rub the top of her head, and said with a smile, "Little Chili Pepper."

Before heading into the bathroom, Evander turned on the TV. "Watch something first, I’m going to shower."

"Okay." Sophia picked up the bag of popcorn, popped a piece into her mouth, and answered.

While Evander was showering, Sophia sat alone on the sofa watching TV, a hard‑to‑describe feeling in her heart. It was like... she really was in a relationship. Listening to the rush of water coming from the bathroom, she felt a little flustered, a little nervous, and also... a little sweet.

To be honest, this man was pretty great—good‑looking, from a good family, patient with her, and even deliberately tried to win her mother over. If it weren’t for that incident at the hospital, he’d be perfect.

Thinking of how Evander had teased her at the hospital, Sophia pouted in anger. "Bad guy!" Even as she cursed him like that, there wasn’t a trace of real displeasure on her face.

A little over ten minutes later, the bathroom door opened and Evander came out wrapped in a bath towel.

Sophia instinctively glanced over, then the next second her cheeks went hot and she quickly turned away.

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