Chapter 435: You Missed a Spot
I completed three more laps without hitting the tires, driving into a tree, or putting the vehicle on its side.
That made me an expert.
Chenghai disagreed, but he kept that opinion to himself while I took the mound faster than before. The front wheels lifted at the top, my stomach dropped, and we landed hard enough to send mud flying over both sides of the vehicle.
I laughed before I could stop myself.
The sound came easier now. I had spent the first lap holding onto the steering wheel like it had personally threatened me. By the fifth, I had learned when the tires were sliding and when the entire vehicle was about to throw itself into the grass.
Chenghai’s hand remained on my thigh through most of it. He only moved it when I needed help with the wheel, which happened less every time we went around.
On the final turn, I pressed the gas too early and sent us sideways through the largest puddle on the track.
Mud covered Chenghai from his shoulder to his boots.
I came out of it slightly cleaner because most of the water had gone in his direction.
That was probably skill.
He looked down at his shirt, then over at me.
I kept my eyes on the track and tried not to smile.
Chenghai’s fingers moved higher along my thigh.
The vehicle swerved.
I grabbed the wheel with both hands and corrected it before we reached the tire pile.
"That was cheating," I complained.
He leaned closer, his mouth near my ear while the engine growled beneath us. "Keep your eyes on the road."
His hand stayed where it was.
Apparently, he wanted us dead.
I finished the lap anyway and stopped near the farmhouse. The engine continued rumbling while I looked over the mud covering my arms, tank top, shorts, and most of my legs.
My old sneakers were somewhere beneath it.
Chenghai reached over and turned off the engine and the sudden silence left my ears ringing.
"That was fun," I admitted.
His thumb rubbed the inside of my thigh. "I know."
He didn’t sound smug, which somehow made it worse.
I unfastened the belt and climbed out before he decided to distract me again. My boots sank into the wet ground, and mud immediately pushed over the soles.
The field looked worse than it had when we arrived. Tire tracks crossed the grass in wide circles, the puddles had become small ponds, and the mound near the farmhouse had lost part of one side.
Fan Bo had been smart to leave.
Chenghai came around the vehicle and removed my helmet. My hair fell around my face in damp, tangled pieces that were probably beyond saving.
He looked at me for several seconds. "What?"
His fingers wiped a streak of mud from my cheek, only to spread it farther toward my ear. "You’re dirty."
"That was your plan."
"Yes."
The smile finally showed.
I reached up and dragged both muddy hands down the front of his shirt.
Chenghai looked at the marks I left behind, then wrapped one arm around my waist before I could move away. He pulled me against him until the cleanest part of my tank top pressed into the mud covering his chest.
"There," he said. "Now it matches."
I shoved at his shoulder, but he was built like a wall and found my attempt amusing.
Chenghai caught my wrist and kissed me.
The kiss was nothing like the one in the vehicle. That one had been slow, almost careful, as though he was testing what I would let him do.
This time, he already knew.
His mouth moved firmly over mine while his arm held me against him. I could taste peaches again beneath the heat of his lips. My fingers curled into his filthy shirt, and the mud between us stopped mattering.
When he lifted his head, my face was probably worse than before.
"You missed a spot," I told him.
Chenghai looked over my cheek, neck, and bare shoulders as though he was taking the problem seriously. His thumb rubbed beneath my jaw, leaving another dark streak behind.
"We need water."
"There was some in the SUV."
"Not enough."
He took my hand and led me around the farmhouse.
The ground sloped behind it, hidden by trees and tall grass. I heard the water before I saw it.
A narrow creek ran along the edge of the field. It wasn’t deep, but the water moved quickly over flat rocks and disappeared beneath the trees. Chenghai had left another bag on the bank with towels, soap, clean clothes, and two pairs of sandals.
He had planned everything except telling me what we were doing.
I looked at the bag, then at him. "You knew we were going to end up covered in mud."
"That was the point."
"You could’ve warned me."
"You wouldn’t have driven through the puddles."
That was true.
I sat on a flat rock and pulled off the ruined boots. Mud had worked its way through the tops and onto my socks, which were never recovering.
Chenghai crouched in front of me and untied the second boot before I could reach it. He removed both socks, then lowered my feet into the creek.
The water was freezing.
I jerked hard enough to kick him in the stomach.
Chenghai caught my ankle before I could do it again.
"What the hell?" I snapped.
His hand stayed around my leg while water rushed over my feet. "You’ll get used to it."
"I don’t want to get used to it."
He rubbed mud from my ankle with his thumb, completely ignoring my complaint.
The cold stopped hurting after a minute, although I wasn’t going to admit that.
Chenghai pulled off his boots and stepped into the creek. The water reached halfway up his calves while he rinsed the worst of the mud from his hands.
Then he removed his shirt.
That improved the experience considerably.
Mud covered his shoulders, chest, and stomach, filling the lines between old scars and muscle. He dipped the shirt into the water, wrung it out, then wiped his face and neck.
I watched.
There was no reason not to.
Chenghai glanced toward me while running the wet fabric across his chest. He knew exactly what I was doing, but he didn’t call attention to it. He finished cleaning himself, tossed the shirt onto the bank, and came back for me.
His hands closed around my waist.
I grabbed his shoulders as he lifted me off the rock and carried me into the creek.
The water reached my knees before he stopped.
"Chenghai."
His arm stayed beneath my legs while the current moved around him. "You were going to fall."
"I was sitting down," I replied, my voice deadpanned.
"You would’ve fallen eventually."
He placed me on a wide rock in the middle of the creek. The surface was warm from the sun, while water moved around both sides without reaching more than my feet.
That was considerably better.