Addiction to Temptation: His Mischievous Sweetheart Captivates Him-Chapter 271: Brotherhood Forged Through Fights

Chapter 271: Chapter 271: Brotherhood Forged Through Fights

Even while sitting next to Zane Thorne, Natalie Vaughn’s attention was all on Aaron Channing and Phoebe Quinn. In fact, she was really hoping her two good friends could end up together.

It was the first time with Zane Thorne around that her attention wasn’t focused on him.

The man had his arm around Natalie Vaughn’s waist, not quite used to this situation. He was used to Natalie having eyes only for him, glancing at him even amidst other things.

"What are you looking at?"

Natalie didn’t turn around.

"When do you think those two will get together?"

Phoebe is decisive at work, but slow in matters of the heart—perhaps even more clueless than she is.

Zane gave them a glance and then looked away, uninterested in when others paired up. He only cared about Natalie.

"When the time is right, they’ll naturally come together."

"It’s a pity I’m heading to Brythania soon, otherwise I could keep an eye on their progress."

Zane tightened his grip, which finally made Natalie notice the man’s change in mood.

"What’s wrong?"

"You came straight to find Phoebe once we walked in here, and now you’re sitting next to me but still staring at them."

Natalie: ... So someone feels neglected.

"I won’t see them for a year, so what’s wrong with sneaking a few extra peeks now?"

Zane didn’t reply but continued to tighten his grip around Natalie’s waist, so much so that she couldn’t ignore it at all.

Natalie: ...

"Zane, are you being petty?"

Zane didn’t care about being petty. What’s wrong with holding his wife?

Natalie found it amusing.

"When did you become so clingy?"

Zane didn’t care about being clingy. At that moment, a meme surfaced in his mind: "Wifey Snuggles." It was something he had sent when Natalie was mad and ignoring him.

Thinking about it, Zane snuggled even closer.

Snuggling with the wife is indeed more comforting.

With Zane acting like this, Natalie lost the desire to worry about Phoebe and Aaron’s business. Felix Langdon and Quentin Donovan couldn’t help but tease them.

"Why are you sticking together even while having a drink, when you’re also going to Brythania together?"

"You’ve been married for half a year, why are you still so lovey-dovey?"

Natalie spread her hands, indicating it wasn’t her doing.

Quentin looked at Zane.

"You used to act like you’d seen a ghost around women, and now you’re like a ghost, unbearable without sticking to Nina for even a moment."

Zane shot him a look.

"Is snuggling with my wife a crime?"

Quentin: ...

"You want to snuggle, but others might not like that."

Quentin, who was still on Shannon Rhodes’ blacklist for the last forced kiss incident: ...

Natalie found it amusing to see Quentin being at a loss with Zane. Quentin had a knack for winning arguments, except when facing her or Zane.

Oh, how could she forget about Quentin and Shannon’s pair? Though she felt this pair might be tough.

Especially seeing how Quentin can’t hold his tongue.

Speaking of which, Zane also has a brother who is the complete opposite of Quentin, someone from the Lawson Family whom she had only met once.

It seems the folks from the military really have short vacations.

However, she was curious about how Zane befriended Caleb Lawson.

Thinking about it, Natalie turned and asked Zane.

"How do you know Caleb Lawson?"

Zane looked down at Natalie, playing with her fingers.

"Why suddenly bring him up?"

"I just suddenly thought of him, curious how you know someone from the military."

Zane squinted slightly, recalling meeting Caleb and took a sip of his drink.

"He was my university instructor."

Natalie: ????

"University instructor?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

If she remembered correctly, Caleb was around the same age as her brother, and she heard that Caleb from the Lawson Family wasn’t the easiest person.

Natalie suddenly felt Caleb’s first meeting with Zane might not have been pleasant.

Indeed, it wasn’t very pleasant.

At that time, Zane had just entered university, his mind mostly on racing. His youthful arrogance meant he was difficult to discipline.

Military training in Cinnabar’s universities was often tedious, with simple drills being taught for weeks. Zane despised these useless and tedious sessions. His height and striking face made him stand out in the lineup.

Such casual demeanor, especially that restless look, was disliked by military instructors during training.

Zane, however, was unfazed, even under the captain’s anger, maintaining a calm face.

In the entire camp, Zane was the most stubborn, which was when they got a new captain, Caleb Lawson.

Caleb played a similar role in the military, just as rebellious as Zane.

Zane was undisciplined, so Caleb called him out alone. It’s unsure what was said, but eventually, Zane and Caleb ended up in a fight.

Of course, it couldn’t be an actual fight between an instructor and a student; it was labeled a sparring match.

That sparring match was the most exciting thing during the whole university military training.

Everyone assumed Caleb would easily beat Zane to a pulp since one was just a college student and the other a trained officer.

But that sparring match was exceptionally thrilling, lasting over twenty minutes.

In the end, Caleb won slightly due to experience.

Listening to this, Natalie could hardly sit still.

Zane sparred with a military man for over twenty minutes? That’s terrifying. And to think she once naively considered beating Zane.

Natalie swallowed nervously.

"..."

"What kind of things did you learn?"

Zane, seeing Natalie’s disbelief, found it amusing.

"A bit of everything."

Of course, Zane believed Caleb didn’t go all out, whereas he was giving his all fueled by sheer passion.

Sometimes, people just grow closer after a fight.

Zane only respects powerful people.

Since then, although he wasn’t the most disciplined during training, he wasn’t as rebellious.

That sparring match between Zane and Caleb established Zane’s reputation as an impressive figure during university.

Zane’s friends said he wasn’t fond of women approaching him or interacting with them. But being a notable figure, he inevitably attracted many women.

In university, bold and straightforward girls were never in short supply, nor were those brave enough to pursue love. How did Zane handle all that?

When Natalie asked this, the bar just happened to quiet down, and everyone in the private room could hear.

Felix Langdon and Quentin Donovan burst into laughter, knowing the inside story.

"Sis-in-law, just Zane’s collection of rejection lines could fill a book."

Quentin promptly added.

"In my opinion, Zane was too harsh. What’s wrong with those girls liking him?"

Natalie grew even more curious.

"Come on, tell me, how did Zane reject them?"