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Chapter 188: Chapter 188: Are You a Dog?

He didn’t even hear Selene Sterling scolding him.

When he got home, he called for Lynn Winslow from the ground floor, but she didn’t answer. Kiki and Humphrey weren’t around either, so Ian Sterling went upstairs and found Lynn in the walk-in closet.

She was picking out an outfit, wrapped in nothing but a bath towel. Hearing him, she turned around, her lips curving into a smile when she saw Ian Sterling.

”I thought you’d hang out at Zoe’s for a while. I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

Ian Sterling’s eyes darkened slightly. ”Are you going out?” he asked, his voice a little hoarse.

Lynn Winslow shook her head and turned back to her clothes, pulling out a pale-colored maxi dress and asking for Ian Sterling’s opinion.

Ian Sterling hummed. ”Where are you going?”

”Jasper Jennings and the guys called. They want to know if we’re free to hang out tonight.” A smile touched Lynn Winslow’s lips. She tossed the dress onto a nearby chaise lounge, walked over to Ian Sterling, and stood on her toes to drape her arms over his shoulders, her eyes sultry.

She blew softly against Ian Sterling’s ear and whispered, ”They know you’re hard to pin down, so they just called me instead. Tell me, has the fact that you’re so clingy with me become the talk of all Quartos?”

Ian Sterling couldn’t stop himself. His hands gripped her waist, and with a bit of force, he pulled her flush against him.

”So what if it is? Isn’t that a good thing?”

As he spoke, he lowered his head to kiss the pale skin exposed by her towel. Lynn Winslow giggled but didn’t pull away.

”It is good. That way, everyone will know that Finn, the fifth young master of the Sterling Family, is officially off the market.”

Ian Sterling’s actions grew bolder, his kisses trailing to Lynn Winslow’s chin. He was clearly trying to keep her from going out tonight.

Pressed so close against him, Lynn Winslow easily sensed the change in him and tried to push him away. ”Stop it,” she said urgently. ”We have to go out tonight.”

”We’re not going.”

”No way. We already promised, so we have to go. You can’t just ignore your friends because you want to stay in with me.”

Lynn Winslow leaned back to evade him. Ian Sterling sighed and finally gave up, his look of helpless resignation making her laugh.

”Don’t be so sulky. You used to hang out with them all the time. Now you act like I’m asking you to do something terrible.” Lynn Winslow scratched his chin, coaxing him. ”No pouting. You hear me?”

Ian Sterling ducked his head and nipped Lynn Winslow’s lip. ”I know,” he drawled.

He leaned against the doorframe and waited for her, his eyes fixed on her as she changed.

Lynn Winslow didn’t try to hide. They’d been together for so long and had done far more shameless things. Changing clothes was nothing to be shy about.

Once dressed, Lynn Winslow took Ian Sterling’s arm and they went downstairs, where she waited for him to open cans of food for their two cats.

The butler stood to one side. ”Young Master, Miss, will you not be dining at home tonight?”

Lynn Winslow replied, ”That’s right. Just cook for my grandfathers according to their tastes. And please keep a close eye on my grandpa—don’t let him have too much oily or sugary food, and no tea either.”

Mr. Powell and Elder Winslow had been staying at Calyx Hall for some time, so the butler was well-acquainted with the two elders’ dietary habits, including Elder Winslow’s specific restrictions. He smiled and nodded.

Ian Sterling washed his hands, then came back and took Lynn Winslow’s hand as they headed outside.

They would inevitably be drinking tonight, so they had a driver take them. Once they were in the car, Lynn Winslow asked, ”Why do you always have to be the one to feed the cats their canned food?”

”If I don’t feed them, they’ll never care about me,” Ian Sterling said. He had no doubt that if he weren’t so diligent, those two would have forgotten him long ago.

Lynn knew her two cats’ personalities. The older one, Kiki, would love anyone Lynn loved, but Lynn herself would always be his favorite. As for the younger one, Humphrey, he should logically be most attached to Ian Sterling after his big brother, since Ian took care of him daily. But for some reason, be it his brother’s influence or something else, he was even more affectionate with Lynn than with Ian.

In other words, despite Ian Sterling being a perfectly qualified, even excellent, cat servant for them every day, he hadn’t earned any special favor from the pair.

The more Ian Sterling thought about it, the more resentful he became. He grabbed Lynn Winslow’s hand, brought it to his lips, and bit down.

Lynn Winslow yelped in pain, snatching her hand back to glare at the teeth marks on it. ”What are you, a dog?” she snapped.

”I’m a Dragon,” Ian Sterling said with an innocent smile. ”You know that, don’t you?”

”I wasn’t talking about the zodiac, I was talking about *you*!” Lynn Winslow was so angry she wanted to wipe the back of her hand on him just to get his saliva off.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Ian Sterling grabbed her hand. ”You’re disgusted by me!” he said, looking pitiful.

Lynn Winslow nodded bluntly in agreement.

”But...” Ian Sterling leaned closer to her, his voice soft enough for Lynn Winslow to hear, but not the driver.

He said, ”You don’t seem so disgusted when we’re making out.”

A blush bloomed on Lynn Winslow’s cheeks. She smacked his chest and hissed through gritted teeth, ”You bastard.”

Ian Sterling loved seeing her angry but helpless. He was completely unfazed by Lynn Winslow’s words. ”Yeah,” he agreed. ”I am.”

Lynn Winslow was done with him. She wrenched her hand free and sat primly in her seat. All the way to Nys, she treated Ian Sterling as if he were invisible, refusing to speak to him or listen to a word he said.

”Hey,” Ian Sterling said, catching up and hugging Lynn Winslow from behind. ”Why are you so mad? It was just a little bite.”

Lynn Winslow gave him a sidelong glance. ”Then let me bite you back.”

”Fine, go ahead.” Ian Sterling offered her his hand. A triumphant glint flashed in Lynn Winslow’s eyes as she lowered her head and, without hesitation, bit down hard.

Ian Sterling had always been babied and couldn’t stand that kind of pain. He let out a yowl, the shock of it almost bringing tears to his eyes.

Now the tables had turned. Cradling his hand, Ian Sterling whined, ”I didn’t even bite you that hard! You almost broke the skin! How could you be so heartless? Don’t you love me anymore?”

”...” Lynn Winslow parted her lips, feeling a little guilty after all.

But Ian Sterling wasn’t done. He continued his accusations, ”You always bully me like this. Even if I bit you first, how could you bite me so hard?”

Lynn Winslow: ”...” ’Are *you* one to talk, darling?’

”I...” Lynn Winslow wanted to explain but didn’t know how. She felt like a toddler just learning to talk, completely at a loss for words.

Nigel Abbott, Zoe Sterling, and Selene Sterling had just arrived. As soon as they got out of their car, they saw the couple standing by the club’s entrance, and the atmosphere seemed strange.

”What’s going on?” Zoe Sterling was sharp-eyed and noticed the corners of her younger brother’s eyes were a little red. ”Why are you crying?”

Lynn Winslow explained awkwardly, ”I bit him. And I made him cry.”

Nigel Abbott couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. Afraid that the doting Zoe Sterling would have his hide, he quickly covered his mouth and turned away from the scene.

Selene Sterling didn’t mince words. ”Finn, are you for real? How did falling in love make you even more of a baby?”

Zoe Sterling poked her, signaling for her to stay out of it.

Seeing Ian Sterling look even more upset, Lynn Winslow hurriedly told Selene Sterling, ”It was my fault. I bit him too hard.”