"Friends? Are you kidding me? Hell no! I don't want to be friends with you. The only thing is, my mom likes you, so I will get back together with you no matter what."
Blair didn't know how to respond to this. Her head had spun for a moment after hearing this remark.
Miller had just said almost the same thing to her that Wesley had once said. "My mom likes you, which is why I'm nice to you." "My mom likes you, so I have to be with you."
Though sad in a way, this remark was also highly infuriating. Blair blurted out angrily, "So you want us to get back together just because your mom likes me. What the hell! Should I marry your mom then? She likes me so much, na?"
"Why are you yelling at me? Of course I want you to marry me, and not my mom!" As far as Miller could recall, Blair had always been a calm and sweet person. In fact, she looked even more composed than him when faced with a problem. During the time they had been a couple, he had never seen her cross swords with anyone.
But now, seeing just how mad Blair was, Miller was seized by numerous complex emotions. But to save his face, he chose to put on the mask of a tough guy. Not that it was doing him any good.
Blair had had enough now. She ignored him, turned around, and began to walk towards the bus stop.
But Miller picked up his pace and gripped her arm once again, refusing to let her go. "Blair, if you don't want to start over with me, fine. But please come inside and finish the meal with my mom. Then we will go our own ways," he pleaded.
Actually, that had been Blair's plan all along, but Gertrude's remarks had infuriated her. Now she wasn't in the mood to do that. "I have another appointment. Maybe next time," she replied, trying to release her arm from his grip.
Sensing her reluctance, he insisted, dragging her a bit closer, "Blair, please. Don't let my mom down."
Blair felt that she was about to flare up. God knew what would happen if she lost control on the road.
Just then, a couple of cars pulled over near them with their blinkers flashing. They had just passed by the building, and when the people in the cars had seen Miller badgering Blair, they had turned the cars around and driven back.
The two vehicles were eye-catching and very high. One glance, and Blair already knew who had come.
It had been half a month since she had last seen Wesley. But being forced to dinner by a man was not how she had expected to meet the guy again.
Wesley stepped out of the car with a furious stride and almost rushed over to Blair and Miller. Talbot and his co-workers got out too.
The sight of Miller holding Blair's arm made Wesley seethe. He could see that the woman didn't like it. "Let her go!" he demanded icily.
Miller threw him a sideways glance and asked Blair sarcastically, "You rejected me because of this guy?"
In his eyes, Wesley was nothing. Blair rolled her eyes at him. "It just didn't work out between us. It doesn't have anything to do with anyone else. Miller, let me go immediately. Or we won't even be friends anymore!"
Miller scoffed, "You know what? I thought you were pure and innocent. I thought you would be loyal. It turns out that you have been hooking up with this— Ah!"
Before Miller could finish that insulting remark, a figure had dashed over towards him and smashed a fist into his face, sending him several steps backwards into the pavement. The assault was strong and sudden.
As Wesley continued to badger punches at the man, Talbot and Lenard led Blair to their group. The soldiers lined up in front of Blair to protect her.
Talbot then told her, "Last time, you defended us. Now, it's our turn to pay you back."
He was talking about the time when Blair had slapped the woman who had hit Wesley and Talbot. It was a long time ago, but it was nice to see that the men still remembered it.
Blair shook her head. "I appreciate it, but we're on the street. It would make you guys look bad if people saw Wesley hitting someone. Go stop him." She didn't want anything happening to them because of her personal affairs.
Even though it was already dark outside, she didn't want to risk them getting seen like that. There was always a chance that things came back and bit them on the ass.
Talbot assured her, "Don't worry. Our chief knows what he's doing."
By that time, Miller, who was 177 cm tall, had already received several punches from Wesley. Seeing that he was going limp, Wesley stopped striking the man and yanked him by the collar towards the flowerbed. "If I see you harassing her again, it won't be just a few punches that you face!" he warned Miller.
Having received a good dosage of Wesley's fists, Miller swallowed his anger and nodded, his face bruised and his nose bleeding. "Okay, I won't," he promised.
Wesley walked away from him and joined the rest of the team. Blair looked at Miller, who was lying on the ground, and stepped over near him. "Miller, thank you for being so nice to me in the past. But I think we should mind our own businesses from now on. I'm sorry."
After that, she left the scene without even looking back.
Miller watched her as she climbed into Wesley's car. He got to his feet, anger rising in his heart. He was now completely convinced that Blair had dumped him for Wesley.
Originally, Talbot and Lenard were riding in Wesley's car. Now that Blair boarded it, both of them went back to sit in the other one.
After the cars started moving, they began to gossip about their chief and Blair.
"Wesley is a really nerdy and horny guy. It's crystal clear that he likes Blair, but he just went ahead and kissed her without telling her that." After they had accidentally seen Wesley kissing Blair that night, then by the time the night was over, everyone in the army had found out that Wesley had cornered a woman against his car and given her a long and passionate kiss.
"Right. Chief was so angry just now. He definitely likes Blair. Come to think of it, we were really lucky last time. Chief only punished us by ordering us to run when we ate the love desserts Blair made him. I hate to think what else he would have done!"
"But man, the question still remains; if he likes her so much, why didn't he just say yes when Blair proposed to him?"
Bowman thought about it and ventured a guess. "I don't think Chief is a nerdy guy. I think he's really thoughtful. He always bears in mind that he is a serviceman and knows just how dangerous our tasks can sometimes be. I think he is worried that he can't be with Blair for the rest of their lives. But he cares about her and can't stop that feeling. That's why he acted the way he did."
The others fell silent when they heard his words. Wesley had once remarked that his life belonged to no one but his country and people he was serving. If he had to choose between his country and his own happiness, he would choose his country without the slightest bit of hesitation. In fact, they were sure that the man would easily stay single his whole life if he had to.
Thinking about their chief, they recalled how brave he had always been. He had never flinched in the battlefield. Difficulty had only made him try harder.
At that moment, they actually understood Wesley.
He was not afraid to express his feelings. He was just afraid that he couldn't promise her the forever she deserved. He was also afraid that if they were together, she would live in fear every day, worrying about him. He believed that if a man really cared about a woman, he would do everything to make her happy and never let her live a life in the shadow of doubt and fear.
And a good life wasn't something that he could give her right now.
Inside Wesley's car, Blair was sitting quietly in her seat, reflecting on what had happened a few moments ago. She wondered whether she would have agreed to take Miller back if she weren't living with Wesley.
After thinking about it for a while, she got the answer—no. There was no way she could do that.
Not that she was unforgiving; she could forgive all of his mistakes, but not cheating. She wanted a faithful husband. And even if she chose to forgive Miller and take him back, she would never forget his betrayal. It would always remain an ugly scar in their marriage and would only lead to further tensions.
"I have to take care of a few things tonight. I'll drop you off and leave. You will have to fix yourself something to eat later," Wesley told her, breaking the silence of the car.
Blair broke out of her reverie and nodded. "Okay. No problem."
"If something like that happens again, just give me a call. I am going to be there." He would drop everything and rush to her rescue as soon as he got her call.
"I know. Thanks." She smiled.
"You know what? I'll give you several guys' numbers. If you can't reach me, call them. Any of them will help you out." Wesley started to recite the numbers from his memory.
Blair quickly typed them and saved the numbers on her phone along with the names of their respective owners: Damon, Curtis, and Carlos.