Love’s New Bloom By Simone Hastings

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Chapter 78 Do You Know What Time It Is? 

“How is it tiring talking to me? I’m so easy to talk to.” Sean laughed. 

“Shh, shut up! Someone’s calling me,” Erin shushed. She took out her cell phone from her handbag and saw that her cousin May had called. 

As soon as the call connected, she could hear May sobbing over the phone, “Erin…James had abandoned me…I feel so sad, and my heart hurts so much right now…‘ 

“Have you been drinking, May? Where are you now?” Erin asked nervously. 

May had collapsed onto a sofa in a karaoke booth, surrounded by her guy and girl friends. 

“May! Say something! Where exactly are you now?” Erin shouted in panic. May was her only family in the city. She could clearly make out that she had been drinking over the phone, so what would happen if bad people were around her? 

May hadn’t hung up the call yet, so Erin could still hear some faint music and talking coming from the other end. 

At this time, a female friend sitting next to May took over the phone and started explaining, “Hi, May’s classmate here. You’re her cousin, right? May’s passed out drunk now. We’re at the Tipsy Maid at Cloud Road on 56th Avenue, so you can come over and pick her up if you have the time.” 

Erin immediately replied, “Great, I’ll make my way there now! Please take care of May for me by then. Thanks!” 

“Sure, I’ll stay with her until you get here. Meet us at booth 6255 when you arrive.” May’s classmate instructed. 

As soon as Erin hung up the phone, she said, “Can I trouble you to ” 

Sean replied with a straight face, “I heard it all just now. Let me drive you there.” 

“Thank you!” she answered gratefully. 

He suddenly felt overjoyed. It was rare for Erin to ask him for any favors, so this made his heart leap with joy for some reason. 

Sean put his car into high gear after that. Afterward, he asked, “Might this be too fast for you?” 

Erin shook her head and replied, “I feel fine now since I’ve already emptied the contents in my stomach just now.” 

“Right…” he said nervously. 

Half an hour later, Erin and Sean managed to find the private booth together. 

May had already gone to the bathroom to puke before they came and was now sitting on the sofa, sipping hot water, with a young girl sitting next to her and taking care of her. 

Erin immediately approached them as Sean followed behind. The moment they entered the booth, the atmosphere fell dead silent. Everyone in the room started staring at Erin and Sean, respectively. Their eyes filled with admiration. 

“You’re May’s cousin, right?” one of May’s friends asked. 

Erin nodded as she took a seat next to May. “Feeling better now, May? Can you walk by yourself? Let’s get you home now,” she cooed. 

May lifted her head in confusion at the sound of the voice, and after her somewhat blurry vision finally made out that it was Erin sitting next to her, she started bawling, “You’re finally here, Erin!” 

Erin patted her shoulder to coax her before helping her stand. A few of May’s friends also helped her out. “I’ll leave May in your care then,” one said. 

Erin nodded and showed her appreciation for that. “Thank you for taking care of May for me!” she exclaimed. 

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When Erin and Sean walked out of the karaoke place, Erin’s cell phone started ringing again. 

She then instructed Sean, who was standing next to her, “Answer the phone for me. I can’t take the call while I prop my cousin 

up.” 

Sean was immediately in a good mood when he heard her orders. To think that she actually trusted him that much to allow him to answer her phone for her. He grabbed her handbag and fished out her phone from inside. The caller ID showed the 

name “Chandler.” 

A trace of curiosity flashed across his pupils as he picked up the call. 

“Do you even know what time it is, Erin? Tell me, what time is it now?” the man on the other line barked immediately after 

the line connected. 

It made Sean speechless for a short while. 

“Say something!” Chandler barked again. He was sitting in his study the whole time while he waited for Erin to return. It was agonizing for him to wait until ten, so naturally, he couldn’t wait to bombard her with a million questions over the phone. 

“It’s me, Chandler. It’s me,” Sean teased. 

Chandler, who had been standing in front of the study’s floor–to–ceiling window, had an icy gaze as he probed, “How come you have her phone with you right now?” 

“Erin can’t answer the phone right now,” Sean replied vaguely, deciding to toy with him for a bit. 

“You’d better get her to answer the phone right this instant,” Chandler huffed. 

An image of Erin and Sean doing the dirty flashed through his mind for a split second, and it was already enough to make his blood and emotions surge beyond his control. 

Even Erin could hear Chandler’s low roar over the phone. It prompted her to tighten her hold around May’s waist and shoot a glare at the prankster Sean. She then swiped her phone out of his hands and replied in an upset tone, “What are you angry about, Chandler? Aren’t I just a little late coming home? Something happened to my cousin, so I had to go pick her up. I’ll be back at the latest by eleven.” 

As Chandler listened to her explanation and even heard a few car horn honks in the distance, he gradually stopped frowning. He could sense that she was upset, so he thought for a while before asking, “Do you need me to pick the both of you up?” 

His shift in attitude also helped Erin calm down. “You don’t have to. I’ll have Sean send us back,” she said. 

Chandler frowned slightly at the fact that she said the word “us.” It seemed to him like she had decided to bring her cousin. 

back to the villa. 

“What happened to your cousin?” he probed. 

Erin explained, “She just got dumped, so she went and got herself wasted. I feel like staying with her for the night, but if you don’t want her staying at the villa, I’ll bring her to a hotel and not return to the villa until—” 

“Bring her back here,” Chandler ordered, immediately ending the call. 

Erin later handed her phone to Sean and said, “Let’s go.” 

Sean seemed pretty surprised when he learned that Chandler had agreed to her idea of bringing her cousin back to the villa. ” Who would’ve thought he’d actually make an exception for you? You know, even as one of his three best friends, I still haven’t had the pleasure of spending the night at his place. He’s really giving you the special treatment, huh.” 

“Less talk, more opening the car door, please!” Erin cried. 

Sean pressed a button on his car key, and the doors to his sports car opened automatically. 

“Damn it, how could I have forgotten that your car only has two seats inside?” Erin grumbled. 

“No worries. With how thin the both of you are, it shouldn’t be a problem as long as you don’t mind squeezing together!” 

Sean chuckled. 

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Erin looked up and asked, “But what if someone sees us and flags us down?” 

Sean waved his hand indifferently and replied, “What are the odds of that happening? It won’t happen, I’m sure, so get in the car already.” 

In the end, Erin decided to help May get into the car. So, while May leaned against the car window, she sat on the side closer to Sean. The car’s front portion instantly became a little crowded with that arrangement. 

Since Erin was sitting close to Sean now, he could smell the fragrance emanating from her hair, making him feel a bit flustered. He cleared his throat and reminded her, “You’d better fasten your seatbelts.” 

Once Erin did what he said, he started driving the car at a steady speed. 

During the drive, Sean’s voice had turned somewhat hoarse. And since Erin was sitting beside him, she had to lean slightly forward to fit in the seat. His gaze could easily sweep to her chest area, which made him involuntarily gulp a few times. 

Even after shifting her body left and right, Erin still felt uncomfortable in her seat. She was starting to regret not taking a taxi, but since she’d gone with this decision, she had no choice but to endure it for a while. 

Sean couldn’t help but feel his body getting hotter as he recalled the time he saw her blow–dry her clothes in his bathroom. He was so distracted that he didn’t even notice the traffic light turning red. 

“Red light!” Erin shouted. 

It prompted him to slam the emergency brakes, causing Erin and May to jolt forward. May, passed out drunk, was soundly asleep. Erin, though, was scared as she turned her head toward him and yelled, “Do you even know how to drive?” 

After all, her cousin was still in his car, so Erin naturally felt responsible for her safety. 

Just as Sean was about to apologize, his gaze fell on her bare skin laid out for all to see after the first two buttons of her chiffon dress had come undone. 

Following his line of sight, Erin looked down at herself and let out an embarrassed shriek, “Eek!”