Juniper rolled her eyes at his meaningful smile. A billion for one tittle? Tsk. Men who''ve never been in love are so easy to fool.


    ...


    It was ten o''clock on a weekend night.


    After eating her fill, Juniper sat at her desk, yawning as she held her pen. She fidgeted, rearranging things on her desk, and kept ncing towards the bathroom door. What''s taking him so long?


    Just as she was about to doze off, the bathroom door creaked open. Shanley emerged, wearing a bathrobe, his hair still damp.


    "Towel." Juniper immediately shot up from her chair and walked over to him, towel in hand.


    "Thanks, Juniper." Shanley looked up and saw the girl staring at him intently, a faint smile ying on his lips. So that''s where the towel had gone; no wonder he couldn''t find it.


    "You''re wee." Juniper''s brow archedzily. "One good turn deserves another, right? I hand you a towel, and you help me with my homework. That''s fair, isn''t it?”


    With exams approaching, every teacher was in overdrive, assigning test after test in a relentless barrage of practice. This weekend was no different; she had returned with a stack of papers, including an essay for literature. Between finding her family and dealing with Jimmie''s music video, Juniper hadn''t had a spare moment to work on them.


    Shanley, who had been drying his hair, froze. A slow, amused smile spread across his face. So that was her game. All this sudden helpfulness was just a prelude to this.


    “Thanks,” Juniper said, pressing the pen into his hand before he could refuse. She gave him a fake smile. "I''m going to bed. Good night."


    With that, she expertly climbed onto Shanley''s bed and closed her eyes, already looking half-asleep.


    Shanley stared at the imperious girl who had justmandeered his evening, then looked down at the pen in his hand and shook his head with a helpless sigh. Pine What could he do? She was the little tyrant


    All he


    e had insisted on keeping could do was spoil her.


    He gave his hair a cursory towel-dry and sat down at the desk, tackling the stack of papers one by one.


    At three in the morning, Shanley finally finished thest assignment, his neck stiff. He made a mental note to have a chat with Salma about the excessive homework load, especially for Juniper''s ss. He could barely keep up!


    After organizing the papers, Shanley walked over to the bed, intending to grab a pillow and sleep on the sofa Given their current situation, maintaining a proper distance was he leaned over


    important But as stance the


    girl, who had been sleeping fitfully, suddenly opened her eyes.


    The next moment, she shifted over, making room for him beside her.


    “Juniper.....” Shanley frowned, about to patiently exin.


    Juniper''s face scrunched up, and she mumbled in a hoarse voice, "I can''t sleep.”


    Although she''d gone to bed early, she had been tossing and turning, unable to settle down.


    "Alright,” Shanley sighed, lifting the covers and sliding in. As soon as hey down, the girl snuggled into his arms, resting her head on his bicep.


    "How am I supposed to exin this to your brothers?" he murmured, looking down at her. She hugged his waist tightly, her eyes closed, her breathing already even and calm He had just promised them he would treat her with propriety, and now she was in his arms. While nothing had happened, it was enough to drive the two overprotective brothers insane.


    “This is killing me,” Shanley whispered with a wry smile, gently stroking her hair. A wave of heat pulsed through him. "Good thing it''s only a month until graduation."


    Otherwise... holding her like this every night was practically begging him to lose control.