Housewife Gone Wild

Chapter 221

He offered a slightly sheepish grin. “Call it a borderline compulsion. That floor was… genuinely distressing to my sensibilities.

“Then I entrust it to your capable hands,” I conceded, rising and stepping out to grant him space.

Ryan worked with surprising efficiency, swiftly restoring the floor’s shine and even giving my desk a thorough polish.

“What are your plans for getting home?” I inquired as he finished.

“Undecided. Likely brave the rush–hour bus gauntlet,” he replied with a wry twist of his lips.

“Ride back with me, then,” I offered.

Ryan’s face brightened perceptibly. “Thanks, Ms. Murphy. That’s incredibly kind.”

At seven, I navigated the evening traffic towards home, Ryan a quiet presence in the passenger seat.

A glance in the rearview mirror unexpectedly snagged on his reflection. His gaze held mine, and in that dim light, I saw a sudden, unfamiliar depth–a complexity absent in his usual sunlit clarity.

Seeking to diffuse the sudden charge, I ventured lightly, “Someone with your looks must surely have a girlfriend?”

simply. “Family rules

surprised laugh escaped me. “The model of

in his voice. “If anything, I lean

face must buy considerable leeway, I imagine. A

really,” Ryan said, a shadow momentarily darkening his features. “Aside

cage it, and

whisper. “My mother… work consumes her. No time for me. It’s always been just Grandfather and me. We’re each

feeling inadequate as I mentally kicked myself for probing the

he said, the brief vulnerability shuttering behind a mask of resolute calm. “I’ll be graduating

getting on in years,” I said gently. “Make sure you

I will,” he

he spoke, my eyes flicked back to the mirror, meeting his gaze again. The depth I saw–that unsettling amalgam of solitude and a

would inevitably fade from

Iresignation

As I popped the trunk to retrieve my things, Ryan lingered nearby, his

by high–pitched, frantic squeaks. In that instant, primal fear shot through me–every hair stood on end–and pure instinct screamed

Chapter 221

undignified scramble onto him. Instinctively, his anime shot out,