The Returning EX (John and Sophia) novel Chapter 1693

Chapter 1693 The Fallacy of Elitism

“Okay,” Ian acceded before hanging up the phone.

Not long after, Cindy and Logan made their way downstairs.

Ian’s gaze lingered briefly on Cindy, and he noticed that she and Logan had the same pensive look on their faces, albeit subtle.

He cocked a brow and waited until Cindy reached the sofa. “What’s wrong? What did you guys talk about while you were upstairs?”

Cindy dusted off her clothes. “Nothing. He was just showing me his projection device and the 3D figures in the room, that’s all.”

Her unforeseen answer put a frown on his face, as for some reason, he sensed that she was hiding something. He glanced over at Logan, who nodded a little too earnestly as he interjected, “That’s right. I was just giving her a tour and showing her all that projection stuff. I mean, you’d probably scoff at them, but she’s never seen them before, so we took our time.”

Now that Logan was bolstering Cindy’s claims, Ian figured he should stop asking any further.

The three of them sat and talked for a while, and Logan brought them up to the private room afterward. He had told the kitchen to prepare dinner, which would be served in the room.

Logan’s private room was spacious enough to accommodate a small sofa bed and a game machine.

Cindy had never dropped by Logan’s clubhouse before, but it didn’t take long for her to see that this establishment was built for nothing other than expensive leisure.

Then again, a lifestyle like this is par for the course for someone like Logan.

While Cindy had no idea of Lola’s family background, she had previously assumed the latter to be of a socialite status, someone good enough to be in the same league as Logan.

However, when she saw Sophia the other day, she had a change of heart; Ian’s friends could very well be different from stereotypical elitists. In fact, Ian and his friends might not even care for these elitist customs and conventions that demarcated the upper crust society from the working-class folks.

Presently, Ian headed over to the game machine and looked it over, his eyes glimmering with childlike glee.

He raised a hand and beckoned Cindy over. “Are you good with games?”

Cindy shook her head. It went without saying that she was a complete novice when it came to games like this.

The last time she had dabbled in gaming was when she played a round or two of mobile games with Ian, but that couldn’t even come close to playing on a game machine, which she had only ever passed by in an arcade.

Ian probably knew how to work the machine, for he quickly found the main switch and put his arm around Cindy’s shoulders, thereafter nudging her to the console in front of the machine.

He was pressed against her back, and she stood stiffly in his arms, which caged her as he made to guide her hands-on.

She froze, and her own limbs felt foreign as her breathing grew ragged. However, Ian did not seem to notice this. The main menu of the game was displayed on the screen, and he went on to press the buttons on the panel as he selected a couple of gaming modes.

While this was happening, Logan sat down with one leg crossed over the other, and a meaningful smile was playing on his lips as he watched Ian and Cindy with interest.

He and Cindy had indeed talked about a couple of things when they were upstairs in the projection room; while she had tried to be subtle about it, the questions she asked belied her curiosity about Ian’s past with Sophia.

Logan was no fool, though he pretended to be clueless even though he had heard her unasked questions.

In the end, he hadn’t lied to her and only told her that Ian was on good terms with Sophia. Everyone knew of Ian’s background and that he had no friends aside from Logan and Sophia, so it made sense that he was close to her, though they were strictly platonic.

Logan wasn’t sure if Cindy had believed him, but he hoped that she might weigh this alongside all the gossip she had read on the internet and come to a conclusion herself.

By the gaming machine, Cindy was so stiff that she could hardly move. Ian, on the other hand, was unfazed as he continued to guide her through the game, his voice clear and gentle next to her ear.

She felt goosebumps rising along her arms, and she resisted the urge to flinch whenever Ian’s breath tickled her ear.

However, she dared not move or duck away, and she didn’t want to raise her hand to scratch her ear either. As such, she braced through the ticklish sensation, which only made her posture stiffer than before.

The light music coming from the game was just loud enough to drown out her ragged breathing.

Her heart was beating so loudly that she couldn’t even hear what Ian was saying, and it didn’t help that her mind was blank.

After a round of patient guidance, Ian tipped his head to one side to gaze at her profile and asked, “Do you get it?”

No, I don’t get anything at all! I can’t even think straight!