The Divorce That Brought Us Back novel Chapter 229

Go first with what?!

Nora felt like Maloney had completely lost his mind in anger.

But what on earth was he so mad about?!

Before she could process it, Maloney hauled her up from the mattress, forcing her to sit face-to-face with him.

"Nora," he started.

Nora: "Mhm."

His voice dropped to a deceptively gentle tone. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

She choked on her spit before hastily playing along. "Yes, I will."

"Good." He nodded once. "What's next?"

The bedroom plunged into a suffocating silence for a few seconds.

It took Nora a moment to realize he was actually asking her.

But how was she supposed to know?

She had never had a boyfriend before.

Seriously, how did things spiral into this?

Nora felt both utterly bewildered and entirely overwhelmed.

"Well?" Maloney pressed. "What's the next step?"

She pressed her lips together and whispered, "I... I don't know..."

"How could you not know?" He relentlessly closed in. "A girl as pretty as you must have dated plenty of guys."

"I never had a boyfriend!" she frantically defended herself. "I was too busy studying. Where would I find the time?"

"Oh—" Maloney let out a deeply meaningful hum. Then he added, "Then there must have been plenty of guys chasing you."

"No there weren't."

Her "no" sounded noticeably hollow.

Back in high school, the handsome upperclassman had chased her, the incredibly popular guy from the class next door had chased her, and the star athlete a year below had pursued her relentlessly.

But she genuinely only cared about her grades.

The popular guy had even cornered her in the hallway trying to win her over.

Nora immediately marched to the teacher's office and reported him.

The guy got thoroughly reprimanded and dramatically clutched his chest, wailing that Nora had no heart.

It was a running joke around the school for months.

Maloney's face darkened further. "Any others?"

Defeated, she proceeded to list every single boy who had ever confessed to her throughout high school and college.

They had only chased her, after all.

She never dated any of them.

Knowing she was the one at fault today, and sensing he was determined to dig up her entire romantic history, she decided full transparency was the best way to wave the white flag.

She was getting quite experienced at their arguments lately.

As long as one person showed vulnerability first, the storm would pass.

When she finished her confession, his eyes were still dark and stormy. He asked one last time, "Any others?"

"No more, I swear," she said, leaning slightly closer to him. She reached out and placed her hand on his thigh.

The heating in the house was cranked up, and Maloney was only wearing a pair of black sleep shorts.

Her small, pale hand slipped just beneath the waistband.

That was the absolute limit of her courage.

She didn't dare venture any further.

It was her ultimate signal for peace.