Blair strolled over, stood in front of Wesley and looked up at him. He frowned in confusion. Suddenly, she put her hands on his strong waist, stood on tiptoe, and quickly planted a kiss on his lips. "Thanks for your help."

Last time, she kissed the corner of his lips, but this time, her kiss fell fully on his lips. She was getting bolder.

Blair was wallowing in the smugness when Wesley suddenly leaned forward. She was startled and instinctively took a step back. 'What does he want to do? Will he kill me just because I kissed him?' she wondered.

"Blair."

"Yes?" Was this the first time he said her name? It sounded so great!

"I don't love you." His cold and straightforward words rang in her ears.

Blair grinned, a hint of unnoticeable bitterness lingering on her lips. "I know." She was the one crushing on him, not the other way round. In a relationship, whoever falls in love first hurts more. Blair was well aware of that.

It only proved that Wesley was a good man. He didn't love her, so he turned her down from the start. Quickly. It was better than stringing her along.

Wesley felt a headache coming on. She was quite stubborn so he decided to be blunt. He explained further, "I'm only 24. I don't have time for love. I don't need it. My job is to serve my country and its people. That's it. That's what I was born to do."

"Wesley Li," she suddenly called out, interrupting him.

"What?"

"You're a grown-up. You can marry and have kids and still be a soldier. Plenty of military types do that. And I'm not asking you to marry me now. Let's just date. I promise I won't bother you when you're working." Blair didn't know where she got the confidence to say things like that. She knew it was now or never. She probably wouldn't be that bold a second time.

Wesley gave her a long look. "No, it's not in the cards, okay? Don't kiss me again. Keep your hands—and your lips—to yourself, and we can still be friends."

"Friends..." She hesitated for a second. "I can't just be your friend. I love you."

"I told you, I don't love you. Hate me if you have to, but just leave me alone." He left her apartment after dropping the last words.

Blair took a deep breath and ran to the doorway. "Hey, I can't cook tonight. You hungry? We could order some takeout."

Wesley pressed the down button on the elevator panel and turned around. He glared. The girl hid her body behind the door, leaving only her head visible in the doorway, staring at him with sparkling eyes. He wondered why he had to care about her dinner. "I'll order takeout for you."

Blair was relieved. He didn't ask her to order takeout herself.

So she decided to keep going. "But can't you cook too? I cooked for you last time. Now it's your turn. Fair's fair, right?"

The elevator hadn't arrived yet. Wesley became a little impatient and had an urge to bolt for the stairwell. "What do you want for dinner?"

Maybe he was a softie, or maybe she was getting to him. He had bluntly rejected her just a few minutes ago, and now he was caving to her. "Anything is okay. I'm not particular about food. I'm easy to please..."

Not waiting for her to stop talking, Wesley hastily strode into the elevator as soon as the doors opened. When he turned around and made eye contact with her, she blew him a kiss before the doors closed.

Inside the elevator, Wesley closed his eyes in frustration. He wondered why he listened to her. All he wanted to do was head back to work.

He hurt her, true, but the girl didn't back down. She kept making excuses to be together even after that.

Wesley felt even more frustrated.

On the other hand, after closing the apartment door, Blair leaned against it, the smile fading from her face.

His words stung her heart.

She felt sad. She loved him so much that she cared about every word that flew from his mouth.

But she wouldn't give up so easily. Otherwise everything would be in vain. She needed to strive for her happiness.

Blair caught some zzz's. When she woke up, it was nearly five in the afternoon. Wesley would be off work in about two hours.

She felt much better after a good rest. She went to the bathroom for a hot shower, and then began to clean her house.

Around half past seven, she heard the elevator open, for she had kept her apartment door ajar for just that purpose. In an instant, she dropped everything and hurried outside. To her surprise, she saw Talbot emerge from the elevator with a large bag of ingredients and groceries in his hands.

Their eyes met. Talbot's eyes were as wide as saucers as he shifted his gaze between Blair's apartment and Wesley's apartment. "You two are... neighbors?"

Blair nodded, "Yeah. Where's Wesley?"

"He's parking the car," Talbot said.

"Oh," Blair responded. She pointed at the bag in his hand and asked tentatively, "Are you the cook tonight?"

"Yeah. You know what? I'm an awesome cook. My unit can't wait to taste my cooking," he said proudly.

Blair nodded and echoed his words. "I can't wait, either." Meanwhile, she thought to herself, 'No wonder Wesley didn't turn me down. He's not cooking.'

When they were chatting happily, the elevator doors opened again. Wesley walked out and saw them standing in the corridor. He asked Talbot, "Why are you just standing there?"

"You didn't give me the keys," Talbot said innocently.

Wesley walked towards Blair's apartment as he said, "Isn't the door open?"

Talbot's lips twitched as he didn't know what to say. Wesley had asked him to come and cook for a patient. So it was Blair? He thought it was Megan! After all, Megan's health was bad and she was the only girl he'd ever seen Wesley with.

It turned out Wesley had asked him to cook for Blair.

Blair was surprised too. She didn't expect they would be cooking in her apartment. She moved aside to allow Wesley to get in. "In my house?"

"Yeah. Know how long it's been since I cooked?" Thinking of something, he turned around to look at Talbot, who was still in a daze. "Get in there. I'm going back home to change."

Talbot nodded and ran towards Blair's apartment.

Wesley headed over to his own place. Talbot changed into a pair of clean slippers that Blair gave to him. As he walked inside, he asked curiously, "So how long have you known Wesley?"

Blair thought for a second before answering, "A long time. But we didn't really get to know each other."

"So...are you two... close with each other now?" Talbot asked with an evil smile.

Blair shook her head. "No. But we know each other a little better. After all, we're neighbors. And he helped me out a few times."

"Oh..." Talbot nodded. He took out the ingredients from the bag while running his eyes over her apartment. "Your apartment is pretty much the same as our dear leader's. It's warmer here somehow, and more comfortable."

Blair helped him carry the food to the kitchen. "It's the decorations."

"Yeah, maybe."

Blair told him where all the cooking utensils were. In the end, she said, "Sorry for the trouble. Thank you for cooking for me tonight."

Talbot shook his head. "We're good. I like it. Wait out in the dining room. I'll take care of everything in the kitchen."

"No, I can stay. I'll help you wash the vegetables." Her arm was hurt but it wasn't a big deal to wash the vegetables.

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