But now, perhaps due to the effects of alcohol, her head felt fuzzy, and the usual instinctive respect she had for him seemed to have faded. The desire to confess and to be mischievous with him was so strong. Although her heart was still racing, there was no rational voice telling her that it was wrong to do so.
She lowered her head, resting her forehead on his shoulder, and with a silly smile, she said, “Noah, do you know? I really like you.”
“Hmm?” He lifted her chin with his hand to meet his gaze. “What did you say?”
Thelma noticed that his expression seemed even more serious than before, and there was a sharpness in his eyes that pierced through her heart. Even in her drunken haze, she felt a jolt from him. She instinctively swallowed and cautiously said, “I said, I like you, Noah.”
What’s wrong? Can’t she like him? Why was he looking at her like that?
Sam Noah clearly noticed that her gaze towards him was different. He glanced at the dining table. Was the alcohol that potent? She hadn’t drunk that much.
“Are you speaking nonsense because you’re drunk?”
Thelma immediately shook her head. She tried to make her expression more serious, focusing her gaze on him as she said earnestly, “What I said is all true.”
Sam Noah: “…”
Really, she said what she said was true; she said Sam Noah, I like you.
Even if it was just drunken talk… even if it was just drunken talk…
Sam Noah thought the world’s seven wonders should be changed to the world’s eight wonders: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Now there should be one more: Thelma said she liked Sam Noah.
His heart was filled with joy, so excited that his hands felt numb, yet he still quietly gazed at her, then smiled at her and casually asked, “Is that so?”
Thelma nodded vigorously.
“When did this start?”
Suppressing his laughter and excitement, heaven knows how much effort it took him to ask this question so calmly, but he didn’t manage to suppress it completely; the end of his voice still trembled slightly. However, she seemed not to notice. She tilted her head and thought seriously for a moment, not knowing what she recalled, then giggled, her smile looking a bit mischievous.
“When we were in Maplewick, you were shooting balloons with a gun. At that moment, I thought you were very charming, and from then on, I wanted to get closer to you.”
Maybe it was because of the alcohol, but she no longer felt shy about speaking up. She really did like him at that moment, and she wanted to say it all, to express everything she had to say to him.
Sam Noah fell into deep thought. So, she could like him just by watching him shoot? If he had known earlier, he would have shot more often in front of her (hmm? Why does that feel a bit off?). It would have saved them both a lot of trouble later.
“And you, Noah?”
“Hmm?”
Sam Noah was still caught up in that dizzy spell and didn’t immediately respond.
“Do you like me?”
She was surprised that she actually asked this question. Although she knew he treated her well and surely had feelings for her, she still wanted to hear him say it out loud. He had never said he liked her, and she was dying of curiosity but didn’t dare to ask.
Did she really just ask that?
Sam Noah, do you like me?
Even though the alcohol made her head spin, her body was being honest, tense, and her heart was pounding so fast it felt like it might explode.
She saw the corners of his mouth curve up slightly, and he smiled gently, a hint of tenderness in his eyes.
“I like you,” he said.
“…”
“Didn’t you notice how obvious I’ve been?”
“Ah?”
