The Heart System

Chapter 671: Chapter 671

The ramen place was awful.

Not awful in a charming way, either. Just genuinely terrible. If I had to compare it to something, I would say it tasted like two pairs of socks left out in the rain overnight and then somehow boiled into a broth. I honestly think I would have enjoyed chewing on cardboard more. I was still not entirely sure Ivy noticed, though, because she seemed to be enjoying it just fine.

Good for her, I guess.

We had moved into the mall after that, and now we were inside one of those polished, expensive clothing stores that tried very hard to look elegant and succeeded. Nuppia was the kind of brand that was all clean white walls, soft golden lighting, tall mirrors and clothes displayed like they belonged in a magazine rather than on a rack. The place smelled faintly like perfume and fabric conditioner, and the floor was so spotless it looked almost fake. There were mannequins near the front dressed in sleek seasonal outfits, and a few other customers were already moving around the store with shopping bags in hand.

"How about this one?" Ivy asked, holding up another dress and showing it to me. "Too slutty?"

"A little," I replied, glancing at it. "Why is the back completely open?"

"You old heads would not get it."

"Now I am an old head?" I asked. "Wow."

"Yep."

"I thought you were going to get those pants."

"They sold out," Ivy sighed. "I found one pair, but it was not my size."

"Ah. Right. Too fat for it?"

"I’ll knock you out."

"Sorry."

She wandered farther into the aisle and lifted another dress from the rack, then held it up against herself while looking into a nearby mirror. This one was gray, fitted through the waist and hips, with a clean neckline and thin straps that gave it a simple but classy look.

"How about this one?"

I nodded. "It looks good. You should try it."

"Alrighty." She gave me a quick smile and turned in place. "Where are the fitting cabins?"

"There," I said, pointing toward the side of the store.

Her eyebrows lifted slightly. "Wow. Have you been here before?"

"I can read signs, unlike you."

She scoffed and folded her arms. "Rude."

"Come on."

"Okay, okay." She gestured toward one of the fitting rooms. "Stand in front of the cabin, though. Don’t let anyone go in."

"No shit," I replied. "I was going to livestream the whole thing."

"Shut up."

We walked toward the fitting area together. The cabins were tucked into a quieter corner of the store behind a frosted glass divider, with a small bench nearby and a tall mirror mounted on the wall outside. Ivy stepped into one of the open booths after checking the number on the door.

I stopped in front of it, folded my arms, and waited.

"So, how’s things at the penthouse?"

"It’s quiet," I said with a small smile.

A few shuffling noises came from inside the fitting room, and not long after that a system quest popped up in front of me, telling me to peek at Ivy for a reward of ability points. I dismissed it immediately. There was no way I was doing something that creepy, no matter how easy the reward looked.

"Jeez," Ivy muttered from behind the door. "This thing is tight."

"Too fat?" I asked.

She let out an annoyed sigh and kicked my foot under the fitting room door, making me wince.

"Calm down, calm down."

"You calm down."

A few minutes later, the door opened and she stepped out wearing the dress she had chosen. Her short brown hair framed her face neatly, and the way the dress hugged her body made her look completely different from usual. It fit her in all the right places, tight around the waist and hips, with a clean shape that made her look elegant and dangerously attractive at the same time.

I let out a low whistle. "You look like a woman now."

"How’s the back?" She ignored the comment and turned around to check herself in the mirror. "What do you think?"

Damn.

The dress was so tight that it made her ass look even more defined than before. I had to fight pretty hard not to react too obviously. Ivy looked seriously sexy in it, and I was starting to feel like this whole shopping trip was becoming a test of self-control.

"It looks good," I said, nodding. "I’d say we buy it."

"You mean you buy it."

"Yeah, yeah. I’ll buy it." I shrugged. "Let’s grab it."

"Then I’ll need heels for it too," she said. "I’m thinking black ones."

"Sure. High heels next."

She turned back toward me, and our eyes met.

For a second, everything else felt like it stopped. Her expression changed just slightly, and I could tell she was getting a little shy. Then she looked away and shut the fitting room door again.

Shit.

The kiss we had in the car. The night I brought her home when she was drunk. The way she had looked at me just now.

She felt something too.

That was obvious now, and it made the whole thing a lot more awkward than I wanted it to be.

I stared at the door for a second, trying to figure out what to say next. This was getting complicated fast. Ivy and I had known each other for years, and I was pretty sure neither of us had expected this to happen. Was I making it weird? Probably. Or maybe it already was weird and I was just noticing it now.

Honestly, she might have been a childhood crush if I was being really honest with myself. Not in some dramatic way, but enough that the feeling had probably been there longer than I wanted to admit.

"The ramen place was awful," I said finally, just to break the silence. "I would have rather eaten two raw eggs."

"Why not one?" she asked with a small chuckle from inside the room.

"Because that is how bad it was."

"Wow."

Maybe... I didn’t need to wait? Like I had waited when Lily dumped me. Back then, I was too passive. I had let things sit until they broke apart on their own because I was too scared to say anything real. Was I doing the same thing with Ivy now?

Before I could think too much about it, the door started opening again.

I reached out, grabbed it, and pushed it open fully before stepping inside. Ivy jumped a little from the sudden movement and turned to look at me with wide, surprised eyes.

No.

Not this time.

I was not going to be an idiot again.

"I didn’t regret the kiss we had," I said, keeping my voice steady. "How about you?"