novellhall Chapter 368 Then... do you still dare?
Chapter 368 Then... do you still dare?
Chapter 367 Then... do you still dare?
The whole family pitched in to prepare dinner.
Steve was in charge of roasting the turkey, Joey was mixing cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes, and Dakota was helping with the vegetables.
Ellie pulled Chen Xun aside to set up the Christmas table.
Lay out a red checkered tablecloth, and place candles and Christmas decorations.
While cutting the pumpkin, Joey chatted with Chen Xun with a smile, and the topic naturally turned to his career: "I watched '2 Broke Girls,' and you acted so well. My friends are all watching it now, and they talk about Han Li to me every day."
She grew up alongside her two daughters as they struggled in Hollywood, and she knows best how difficult it is for Chinese actors to establish themselves in Hollywood.
His eyes were full of admiration as he looked at Chen Xun: "If you need any help with the rest of the trip, just let me know. I've been in this industry for so many years, I still have some connections."
"Thank you, Aunt Joey."
Chen Xun smiled and thanked him, feeling a warmth in his heart.
This was the first time in all these years since he transmigrated that he had experienced such genuine warmth and life in a lively American family.
Steve laughed and replied, "I saw the Spider-Man trailer, it's so cool! When the movie comes out, my whole family will definitely go to the cinema to support you. By the way, if you like surfing, the beaches around Santa Monica are really nice. I'll take you there after the New Year."
A lively and enjoyable Christmas dinner.
The turkey was roasted to perfection, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, while the pumpkin pie was sweet but not cloying. The table was filled with laughter and joy.
Steve and Joey listened to Ellie chattering about the coin trick Chen Xun taught her, and Dakota talking about the funny things Chen Xun did on set, their eyes filled with approval as they looked at Chen Xun.
After dinner, the family snuggled up on the sofa in the living room and turned on a classic Christmas movie.
First, there was "Home Alone." Ellie laughed so hard she almost fell over, leaning on Chen Xun's arm. As she watched, she got sleepy, her head nodding off, and finally curled up on the sofa and fell asleep.
Halfway through "Love Actually," Steve and Joey got up and went back to their room with a smile. Before leaving, they made sure to give the two of them some space: "We're going to rest now. Don't stay up too late."
The living room fell silent instantly, with only the soft background music from the TV and the sound of waves crashing on the beach outside the window.
The warm yellow light fell on Dakota's face. She turned to look at Chen Xun, her eyes overflowing with tenderness.
The two stared at each other, the air thick with an ambiguous atmosphere.
Only after the movie ended did Chen Xun smile and ruffle her hair, saying, "It's getting late, you should go and get some rest too. I'm going back to my room."
Dakota nodded, watching him walk into the guest room and close the door, her heart pounding.
Late at night, the villa was quiet, with only the Christmas lights still twinkling.
The guest room door was gently pushed open a crack, and Dakota slipped in silently, wearing a soft white nightgown and walking barefoot on the carpet without making a sound.
Chen Xun had just finished showering and was leaning against the headboard drying his hair when he saw her come in. He paused for a moment, then smiled and put down the towel: "Why aren't you asleep yet? Aren't you afraid Ellie or your aunt and uncle will find out?"
Dakota gently closed the door behind her, walked up to him, stopped, looked up at him, her eyes misty with tears, filled with unconcealed longing.
She reached out and gently stroked his cheek, her voice soft and gentle, tinged with a hint of grievance: "I missed you~"
"You travel all over the world—Berlin, BJ, Atlanta, New York—it's hard for us to even meet up."
She leaned forward, almost pressing herself against him, her arms gently encircling his waist, burying her face in his chest. "I know you're busy, but I just can't help missing you. Ellie talks about you every day, but actually I want you to come even more than she does. Thank you for coming to our home to celebrate the New Year with us."
Chen Xun's heart melted instantly. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her tightly into his embrace. He lowered his head and kissed the top of her head: "Why are you thanking me?"
The person in his arms raised their head slightly and kissed his lips.
The kiss was both tender and urgent, carrying the longing that had been building up for more than half a year.
Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the blinds, falling on their intertwined figures, intensifying the already ambiguous atmosphere.
Just then!
A sudden cell phone ringtone rang out, sounding particularly jarring in the quiet room.
The two froze instantly.
Dakota snapped out of her daze and frantically reached for her phone on the bedside table.
The name that popped up on the screen was "Christine".
It was a video call.
Dakota's face turned pale instantly, her heart pounded as if it were about to explode, and she looked up at Chen Xun with panic in her eyes.
Chen Xun also held his breath instantly. Without thinking, he crouched down and quickly hid behind the sofa, pulling the blanket on the sofa to cover himself completely.
Dakota took several deep breaths, trying to calm her wildly beating heart, and pressed the answer button, attempting to make her tone sound natural: "Hey? Christine? Why are you calling at this hour?"
The video call connected, and Christine's face appeared on the screen.
She leaned against the headboard, her hair a mess.
The background shows the bedroom of a villa in Beverly Hills, the very room Chen Xun had stayed in a few days ago.
"Just finished watching a movie and can't sleep, so I wanted to chat with you for a bit."
Christine yawned, her gaze sweeping across the background of the screen. She paused abruptly, then raised an eyebrow. "Where are you? Not in your own bedroom? This room looks so familiar."
Dakota's heart skipped a beat, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
She almost forgot!
Christine had stayed in this room when she and her sister vacationed in Santa Monica years ago, so she was very familiar with its layout.
She tried to appear calm, casually smoothed her hair, and laughed it off: "Oh, she's in the guest room. Ellie insisted on watching a movie here with me, but she fell asleep while watching. I just took her back to her room and I was about to go back myself."
"Yeah?"
Christine's tone was slightly puzzled, and her gaze swept across the screen again.
She asked casually, "By the way, where's Chen Xun? Didn't he go back to Los Angeles? I texted him but he didn't reply. I thought he was busy with work again."
Dakota's body was trembling, but her smile remained natural, and she even rolled her eyes, feigning nonchalance: "How would I know him? He's probably holed up in your villa, right? Doesn't he live there? Besides, he's so busy, he's probably at Marvel headquarters again. What, you need him?"
"It's nothing, I was just asking."
Christine stared into her eyes for two seconds, but couldn't see anything wrong. She didn't press further and changed the subject.
We talked about the post-production dubbing of "Spider-Man," exchanged a few words about Christmas plans, and then hung up.
Dakota only breathed a sigh of relief the moment the video call ended and the screen went dark.
She leaned against the bedside table, the back of her pajamas soaked with cold sweat, her heart still pounding wildly.
After a long pause, she whispered, "It's okay, I'm hanging up."
, 7
No one answered.
Dakota paused for a moment, got up, walked around the bed to the sofa, and felt a pang of tenderness as she lifted the blanket.
Chen Xun leaned back on the sofa, his head resting on the cushions, his eyes closed, his breathing even, and he had actually fallen asleep.
He drove all the way from New York, then spent the whole day in script readings, spent half the afternoon playing around with Ellie, and then had dinner and chatted with his family in the evening. He was exhausted, and just now, as soon as he relaxed on the sofa, he actually fell asleep.
Her long eyelashes drooped, and her usual sharpness and spirit were hidden.
Dakota squatted by the sofa, quietly watching him with tenderness and a touch of heartache in her eyes.
She reached out and gently brushed away the stray hairs from his forehead, her fingertips lightly touching his cheek, the movement so gentle it was as if she were afraid of disturbing his dream.
Chen Xun was awakened by her touch. He opened his eyes groggily, saw Dakota squatting in front of him, paused for two seconds, and asked in a hoarse voice, still sleepy, "Did you hang up the phone?"
"Yeah, I hung up. I got away with it."
Dakota smiled and nodded, then gently tugged at his arm, her voice as soft as cotton: "Don't sleep on the sofa, you'll catch a cold. Go to bed, okay?"
Looking at the tenderness in her eyes, Chen Xun glanced at the closed door and listened to the quiet sounds outside. Suddenly, he chuckled softly, pulled her into his arms, and whispered in her ear, "Why do I suddenly feel like we're having an affair?"
Dakota's cheeks flushed instantly.
She gently punched his chest, but instead of pushing him away, she snuggled closer to him, looked up at him with a hint of shyness and lingering passion in her eyes, and bit her lip as she whispered, "Then—do you still dare?"
The sound of waves crashing against the window drifted in gently, and the light from the Christmas lights shone through the crack in the door, falling on the two of them.
The tenderness of the night has only just begun.
In the seaside villa in Santa Monica, the warm Christmas atmosphere hadn't dissipated yet, but Chen Xun was already experiencing what sweet torment meant.
Ever since Christine's video call that night, her phone has been ringing on Dakota's cell phone like a clockwork schedule for the next few days.
I had just woken up this morning when I received a phone call asking about the details of the post-production dubbing for "Spider-Man".
The family was having lunch when the phone rang again, saying that Marvel's marketing department had sent out new materials and they needed to check them with him.
Before going to bed at night, they can play one more game, ostensibly to "rehearse lines," but in reality, they have to scan the background of the screen every time. Even when Dakota goes to the kitchen to get a glass of water, they have to ask, "Where are you? Why aren't you in your room?"
After several such incidents, Dakota was almost traumatized by answering the phone.
Every time the phone rang, she had to immediately jump up from next to Chen Xun, find an empty room to answer it, and cover up the background noise of the TV and Ellie's laughter beforehand, for fear that Christine would find out something was amiss.
After hanging up the phone, she would always shrug helplessly at Chen Xun, her eyes filled with a mixture of amusement and exasperation: "It's like she's been programmed with GPS tracking. She calls three times a day. I'm starting to suspect she knows something."
Chen Xun also had a headache.
He had originally planned to stay in Santa Monica until the end of Christmas and then find an excuse to leave, but at this rate, he would be exposed sooner or later.