The Returning EX (John and Sophia) novel Chapter 1676

Chapter 1676 He Enjoyed the Meal

Peter didn’t seem like he was about to give up. “That’s fine. The club members are pretty understanding. A lot of them prioritize their work too, so they only show up once in a while for fun. You just have to drop by every now and then—we don’t force our members to turn up all the time.”

Ian was starting to get annoyed at how persistent Peter was. Can’t he tell that Cindy and I are rejecting his offer? We’ve made things pretty obvious, so why can’t he just take the hint? Right when Ian was about to say something, Cindy parted her lips to speak. “Personally, I don’t really enjoy sports. After a full day of work, I’d prefer to spend the rest of my time at home. I can’t help it—I’m just a lazy person.”

Upon hearing her, Ian shut his mouth to stop himself from talking. He realized that it was a good decision to allow Cindy to speak for herself. If I had said something rude earlier, Cindy would have thrown a tantrum at me. This is so troublesome! I’m annoyed at this guy, but I have to consider so many other things before expressing my annoyance.

Finally, Peter gave up on his suggestion and nodded in agreement. “That’s true. It’s hard for people to find time to rest nowadays, so they’d probably prefer to stay home and scroll through their phones or watch some television once they get off work.” This effectively ended the conversation regarding joining the club. Right at this moment, the waiter entered the room and served them their jug of freshly-pressed juice.

Peter rarely drank sweet drinks since he was an athlete, so he asked the waiter for a jug of plain water. Ian, on the other hand, took the jug of juice over and poured Cindy a glass of it. “I wanted to order mango juice, but they don’t have it here.”

Cindy lifted her gaze to look at Ian. I can’t believe he remembers that I like mango juice. She didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent for a few seconds. “I glanced at the menu earlier, and I realized that they didn’t have mango juice either.”

“I should’ve got you one at the supermarket earlier,” Ian uttered with a smirk. Cindy was at a loss for words. Her gut feeling told her that Ian’s attitude was extremely different today—he was nothing like his usual self. Logically speaking, we have no reason to put on a show in front of Peter. Yet, Ian’s actions are confusing me. If he’s not acting… Is he expressing genuine feelings for me?

After looking at Ian and Cindy for a while, Peter shifted his focus to something else. Even an idiot could tell that something was going on between them. Previously, Cindy told me that Ian was her friend, so I assumed that they were just regular friends, but based on their interactions, it seems like they’re more than that. I’m certain that Ian doesn’t just treat Cindy as a friend.

After the waiter showed up with a jug of plain water, Peter poured himself a glass of it before he sipped on his drink. He had been honest when he said that he hadn’t had his dinner, and he was genuinely hungry after playing so many rounds with both Cindy and Ian. However, he had lost his appetite after sitting with them.

On the other hand, Ian, who had been in a bad mood earlier, seemed to have gotten his spirits lifted as time passed. His appetite grew along with his spirits, and all of the dishes tasted amazing to him. The fish that Cindy had ordered based on his suggestion tasted the best among all the dishes. Throughout the meal, Ian didn’t bother to even glance in Peter’s direction. He just placed all of his focus on Cindy.

When Cindy’s glass was empty, Ian would pour her a refill. When Cindy couldn’t reach one of the dishes, he would immediately stand up to bring the dish over to her. Ian’s actions were so obvious that Cindy couldn’t ignore them even if she wanted to. While Ian was in a good mood, Cindy seemed more embarrassed by the situation. Ian’s being a little too much today. Initially, I wondered if he was genuinely showing concern for me, but the more I look at the way he’s acting, the more I feel like he’s just putting on a show for Peter. I don’t get it—this show is unnecessary since Peter doesn’t know who we are.

Ian was the only one who seemed to enjoy the meal, and he even offered to pay the bill after they were done eating. As the three of them stepped out of the restaurant, Ian rolled his shoulders back for a stretch. “It’s still pretty early. Should we go for a walk?” he asked as he glanced up at the skies.