Jayson put the remaining cake back, went into the bathroom to brush his teeth again, and this time, instead of going to the study, he lay directly on the bed and turned off the light to sleep.
Sidney watched his seamless series of actions and couldn't help but mutter a few complaints about him in her mind. Then she groped around in the dark to grab her clothes and went to shower. When she came out, she noticed a small night light on in the bedroom, knowing full well who had turned it on. But Sidney didn't feel the slightest gratitude toward him—he had just criticized her cake so mercilessly.
Sidney took the hairdryer to the bathroom to dry her hair and came back out. It was only 1 a.m., much earlier than she usually went to bed. With another person lying on the bed, she felt very uneasy. Although he looked exhausted and unlikely to do anything to her tonight, who knew if this young master might suddenly get some wild idea? She walked back and forth in her indoor slippers with a faint tapping sound. Suddenly, Jayson slapped the bed and said irritably, "Come here!"
Sidney shot him a glare, walked over to her side of the bed, took off her shoes, and gently lay down. Jayson had taken up the entire blanket, wrapping himself tightly in it. Sidney curled up on her side, her eyes wide open as she counted sheep. By the time she reached the thousandth sheep, she still felt wide awake. She turned over to face him and noticed how well he slept. Despite lying there for so long, he hadn't turned over once, lying straight as a board. Sidney looked over in the soft light of the night lamp, seeing his profile with his glasses off. His closed eyes and slightly upward-tilted eyelids extended all the way to his temples, exuding a certain heroism. His nose was perfectly straight, and the curve from his philtrum to his upper lip, along with the sharp line of his lips, gave his face a strikingly handsome look. It was beautiful yet undeniably masculine. Sidney thought he didn't quite resemble Finnegan. While Finnegan's features carried an air of menace, Jayson's were much softer.
Sidney had no idea when she fell asleep. She just felt incredibly cold, as if something heavy was pressing down on her body, rendering her completely immobile. When she woke up again, she was sitting on the bed, drenched in sweat, with Jayson sitting next to her, glaring at her in fury.
"It's the middle of the night! Can't I get some sleep?" Jayson scolded, his voice thick with a nasal tone.
"...What's wrong with me?" Sidney asked, confused.
Jayson rolled his eyes and said, "You were screaming just now. You scared me awake!"
"Screaming?" She knew she had tried to scream when she felt pinned down, but no sound came out. Did she really scream?
"I'm really tired. Can I get some sleep now?" Jayson said, lying back down and turning his back to her.
Sidney got up and wiped her sweaty body, changed her clothes, and lay back down. Now, no matter what she did, she couldn't fall asleep. She looked around the room, which was dim and shadowy, and every shadow seemed like something was lurking there, waiting for her to fall asleep so it could pounce.
Sidney stared at the shadows in fear, but she didn't dare to turn on the overhead light. The bed they were lying on now was a high platform bed, with space underneath. She was actually afraid of sleeping on this kind of bed because she had always believed, since she was little, that there were ghosts under the bed, waiting to crawl out and drag her away while she slept.
Thinking of this, Sidney shuddered and shrank closer to Jayson. After a moment's hesitation, she stretched out one finger and gently touched his back. She thought, with Jayson being so tall and fierce, if there really were a ghost coming for her, she could immediately ask for his help. Feeling reassured, she fell asleep.
The heavy curtains in the room blocked all the light outside. Sidney slept until she woke up naturally, still unaware of the time. When she tried to lift her body to look at the clock, she realized she was tangled up in Jayson's arms, and Jayson was staring at her from an alarmingly close distance.
She gasped in surprise, quickly stepping back, her face flushing as she stumbled over an apology.
"I didn't expect you to be so demure normally, but you sure are wild when you sleep," Jayson said, his tone bitter with a hint of sarcasm.
