The Numbers That Brought Our Fates Together Chapter 153: Best Friend Vs. Boyfriend.

The girl was standing near the table with snacks and reading something in her phone with enthusiasm. She was wearing a light dress of a delicate cream color which was just above the knees. The shoulders were open, the clavicle area attracted by its light and velvety skin. Curly golden hair fell down her back, exquisite earrings with blue topazes matched perfectly with her clear eyes of the same alluring color as the blue sky. Her face radiated an aura of kindness and tenderness as if she was an angel who came down from heaven, and whose task was to fill this world with joy.

The girl tilted her head and giggled slightly, a funny photo was highlighted on the display of her phone. The one, who was a real angel in her life was a little girl whose smiling face she was looking at with such interest.

A young man approached her from behind stealthily and closed her eyes with his palms.

"Guess who?" He asked, deliberately changing his voice to a lower tone.

The girl froze and then sighed. She did not need to think long to understand who was behind her back. And this men is the head of the special task force that fights terrorism? Sometimes it seemed to her that working as a nanny in a kindergarten would have suited him more.

"Jason, you will ruin my makeup," she answered his question without showing a bit of surprise and refusing to take part in his childish game.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I wouldn't want that," the young man immediately removed his hands and went around the girl to check if everything was in order. But noticing the sly smile on her face, he immediately realized that he had been fooled again. "Oh, shoot, Corey, could you just play along with me? I should have scared you, maybe it would have at least some effect," Jason said with annoyance. And how it always happened that no matter how much he tried to fool her, in the end, he himself always ended up the one who was fooled.

Even in childhood, when Corey, Elena and young Barton played pirates, he was a strong and invincible Captain Joe, master of the seas and oceans, and finally, at the end of the game, it was he who was tied to the mast of the ship. And the girls were sitting and eating all sorts of sweets, before his eyes, while he vainly tried to free himself from the ropes that pressed him tightly against the chair that imitated the mast.

Jason closed his eyes and sighed hopelessly. 'And why did I only now understand how difficult my childhood was because of these two.' He shook his head and accidentally noticed a photo on Corey's phone,

"Whow, I want a copy for myself, c'mon, send it to me, right now!" He snatched the phone from Corey and began to joyfully look at the curly little girl, who was smiling happily from the screen, "Oh, my girl is such a doll on this picture! Daddy is so proud of you!"

"Hey, what kind of daddy are you talking about? This is my girl," Corey barely managed to get the phone back before Jason would start kissing its display in a rush of the cuteness overload.

Sometimes it seemed to her that the decision to make him the godfather of her daughter was hasty. This guy was just crazy about the girl and was pampering her beyond reason so that even her grandparents could not match his level of adoration. Corey was sure that if she allowed him to take her daughter to his house for a couple of days, which he asked for every time he met with the girl, then Barton's house would turn into a pink kingdom with inflatable rainbow unicorns and a merry-go-round instead of a dinner table in the center of the living room.

Jason put his hand on her friend's shoulder and said in a businesslike manner, "Baby, don't forget that Ashley is also my daughter, and I swore to God to take care and protect her, so … ah!"

The young man twisted his face, sharp pain in his wrist interrupted the flow of his turbulent speech.

"Baby, would you take your hands off my girl, eh?" A low male voice, like a bell, calling for the order to be executed at once, sounded behind. The owner of the voice squeezed Jason's wrist and removed the guy's hand from Corey's shoulder.

"Oh, Othello's here," Jason grinned and took a step to the side, "Corey, tell your boyfriend that if he is so jealous, he won't last long."

"And this is said by a man who, as her boyfriend, was able to hold on just for two weeks? You're not in a position to give me advice, your place is a friend zone. Honey, here's the cocktail you asked for." Daniel handed Corey a glass with a drink, put his hand on the girl's waist. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her cheek with tenderness.

"Boyfriends come and go, but best friends stay by the side at all times. Two weeks as a guy or twenty years as a friend, is there a difference? Moreover, I am like a father to Ashley," Jason went on the offensive and began to operate with objective facts. 'Well, let's see how you handle this!'

"Godfather, to be exact. But I'll officially be her dad when Corey marries me," Daniel grinned sarcastically, "But about the number of years, you're right. I am older than you, and my experience is clearly superior to yours… in every sense," the elder Anderson added, the sly smile on his face said it all [Skilful seducer. Level: God.]

"Would you calm down already, eh?" Corey stood as if in crossfire between the two ground flanks, and her waving a white flag was left out. The men looked at each other, one with the desire for a new attack, the second with the awareness of triumph on his face. And this situation happened every time their paths crossed, starting from the day that Corey officially began to date Daniel.

When Ashley was two years old, Jason confessed his feelings to her, and Corey agreed to give him a chance, although she wasn't sure. She always perceived him as a friend, and even though she promised to try and see a man in him, she could not. Maybe two weeks were not enough, and she should have given Jason more time, but she couldn't fool her best friend. Every time he took her hand, she felt nothing. Even the only time he tried to kiss her, she broke down and turned away.

Jason did not force her anymore, saying that he appreciated her too much and did not want to lose her, so they decided to leave this the way they were and just be friends. Friends who always support each other in difficult times or enjoy happy moments.

And even now, when she was standing and listening to the verbal battles of two men, she knew perfectly well that this was more of a practice in poking each other than a serious dispute. The girl brought the glass to her lips and took a sip, 'Sorry, buddy, but you won't win this fight,' Corey looked at Jason sympathetically, 'Since childhood, Daniel has mastered in trolling over his younger brother, and if David can't always beat him, what can we say about you.'

She looked at the table with snacks and the strange rustling under the tablecloth attracted her attention.

The girl waved her hand towards the source of the noise, the men fell silent, and then all three of them looked at one another. Foxy and insidious smiles froze on the faces of adults.