Chapter 297 You Are Eating My Steak
While I had no romantic feelings toward him, he was an exceedingly important friend to me. Hence, I had never thought of giving up our friendship from the very beginning.
With my affirmative answer, Ronan’s expression eased considerably. The corners of his mouth tilted upward, forming a faint arc. He was a striking man in the first place, and he was even more dashing when he smiled. Truly, I loved to see him smile.
However, his smile didn’t reach his eyes. Although we were currently chatting and laughing, the feeling had changed entirely. We were now treading on eggshells when we interacted with each other.
Just when I was at a loss for words, the elevator doors finally opened. I stepped out first. Only when I was with Ronan in public did my awkwardness dissipate.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you for a checkup.”
He grabbed my hand again and headed toward the ultrasound room.
“I haven’t registered or paid yet.”
As he pulled me along, I abruptly realized that he had dragged me upstairs before I could register just now.
“With me here, you don’t need to register or pay.”
Ronan didn’t even look at me despite hearing my words
When the nurse in the room saw him dragging me over, she was stunned for a moment before a faint smile bloomed on her face.
“Have her go first.”
Without even sparing her a single glance, Ronan pushed me right in front of her.
“Sure, I’ll make the arrangements right away.”
The nurse immediately took me into the ultrasound room.
I was a tad averse inwardly. After all, plenty of pregnant women were waiting outside, and here I was cutting queue thanks to Ronan. Besides, I could clearly see the dissatisfied looks thrown my way by several pregnant ladies.
It was already too late since they had already led me into the ultrasound room.
My checkup was smooth sailing. I didn’t have to queue for any tests, and that was indeed a plus point in my book.
I completed all the tests within an hour or so. The baby was still in perfect health, which granted me much peace. Being my first pregnancy, I had been worrying about many things and would only rest easy upon hearing that the baby was fine after each prenatal checkup.
When I was done, Ronan and I went to the bank of elevators once again. I originally wanted to leave right away, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to say it outright.
“You must be tired after bustling around. Let’s have lunch together.” The elevator doors opened, and I was just about to step in when Ronan spoke at that precise moment.
“No, it’s okay. You’re probably very busy. I’ll just go home and eat,” I reflexively declined.
It was still acceptable when he helped me out with my checkup earlier, but I still felt a tad awkward to have lunch with him alone.
At my demurral, the corners of Ronan’s mouth curved into a bitter smile.
In the end, he remarked once more, “Are we really going to be strangers henceforth after this?”
His voice was a soft murmur, but it inexplicably tugged at my heartstrings. Actually, I don’t want to see our friendship come to this too.
As I looked at the wry expression on his face, a sliver of distress crept into me.
“All right, let’s go and have lunch together. But it’s your treat, okay?”
I couldn’t bear to see him crestfallen. And honestly, I didn’t mind whoever footed the bill. I merely said that to ease the atmosphere between the two of us.
“Sure. As long as you’re willing, I don’t mind treating you to a meal every day!”
Seeing that I had agreed, Ronan lifted his face. The gloominess that was shadowing him disappeared in the blink of an eye.
I flashed him a smile but said nothing further.
After leaving the hospital, we went to a nearby restaurant. As soon as we arrived, the manager instantly came up and arranged a table for us. Ronan was probably a regular patron there.
“The steak here is pretty good. You should try it.”
After we had taken our seats, Ronan gazed at me with a faint smile. While he was missing his blasé air of the past, that was already a vast improvement from before.
“You seem to be a regular here. You must have brought tons of women here to eat, huh?”
The manager spoke at length to him earlier, so it’s clear as day that he has spent quite a fortune here.
“You’re the first woman I’ve ever brought to this restaurant. Ever since making your acquaintance, no other woman has caught my interest. Oh, well…”
I only wanted to ease the atmosphere, but his unexpected reply that followed had me feeling more awkward.
I knew he was serious about me back then. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have volunteered to stay and offered to raise the child with me after learning about my pregnancy.
However, I was now with Michael and would be his cousin-in-law in the future. It was really inappropriate for Ronan to make such a comment now.
I lowered my head in embarrassment without responding to that. Right then, I couldn’t think of any topic and didn’t know what to say.
Fortunately, the steak was promptly served. Thus, I could then bury my head in the food to conceal my uneasiness.
I was still having morning sickness. My appetite was lacking, and I didn’t feel like eating anything.
Ronan had his head lowered as he concentrated on cutting his steak, yet he didn’t eat any. While I was a touch perplexed, I didn’t ask him about it.
In no time, the steak on his plate was all cut into pieces. Then he placed it before me and swapped with mine.
Huh? So, he was actually helping me to cut my steak earlier.
“No, it’s okay. I can manage on my own.”
It was an intimate gesture shared only between lovers. I felt rather mortified that he did that for me right then.
“We both ordered steaks of different flavors. This plate is actually mine.”
My demurral did not offend Ronan. Instead, he pointed casually at my plate.
When I registered his meaning, embarrassment inundated me in an instant. I had been eating his steak!
Oh my God, why didn’t he say anything? I’ve already eaten his!
I initially wanted to object to him taking my steak. However, I no longer had any reason to do so.
Ronan looked at me with amusement, and he seemed very much jubilant to see me all mortified.
