Chapter 426: Thought Of Everything
Zhenlan kept me on the swing until the sun began dropping behind the trees.
We didn’t do much after he told me about dinner. The swing moved slowly beneath us while I stayed tucked against his side, and every few minutes his fingers wandered over my thigh or his mouth brushed my hair. He didn’t seem worried about filling the rest of the afternoon with another surprise.
That might have been my favorite part.
In my last life, sitting still usually meant I had forgotten to do something important... like survive.
There was always another door to block, another person to feed, or another zombie making enough noise to drag half the street toward us. I had spent years trying to keep everyone alive until there was almost nothing left of me except the next problem.
And still, they all hated me for it because Meilan was a bitch.
But this life had gone much better.
I had a couch, a ridiculous amount of food, four men who kept volunteering to deal with things, and plants that ate most problems before they reached the house. I still killed zombies when someone dragged me outside, but that was different from making it my full-time job.
Sitting beneath a tree while Zhenlan rubbed my leg was exactly the kind of useless activity I had been reborn to enjoy.
The baby vine eventually found us.
One leaf-head pushed through the flowers first. The second appeared a moment later, both mouths opening as soon as they saw the food bag beside the table.
I lifted my head from Zhenlan’s shoulder and pointed at them. "You already ate."
The first head closed its mouth.
The second kept staring at the bag.
"You eat entire zombies. You don’t need Chenghai’s chicken."
That head slowly lowered until its chin rested on the grass.
Zhenlan’s chest moved beneath my cheek. I looked up and found him trying not to laugh.
"Don’t encourage them," I warned. "They’re already spoiled."
The baby vine began creeping toward the table while I was looking at him. One tendril stretched across the grass so slowly that it probably thought I wouldn’t notice.
I caught it beneath my sandal.
Both leaf-heads looked down at my foot.
"I can still see you," I growled at it. I was perfectly clear. If it wanted food, it needed to hunt for it itself.
The tendril went limp, but neither head stopped watching the food.
Zhenlan reached behind us and picked up the bag before they tried something worse. "We should eat while there’s still light."
"We have lights."
"I know."
He stood and held out his hand. When I took it, the swing shifted beneath me and pulled at my calf hard enough to make me pause.
Zhenlan caught my waist before I put my full weight on the sore leg. His eyes dropped toward the old bite, but he didn’t start poking at it or telling me I should have stopped sooner. He only kept his arm around me while we crossed the small patch of grass.
A folded blanket had been hidden beneath the table.
Apparently, half the date had been sitting right in front of me while I was busy stealing Zhenlan’s cake.
He spread the blanket beneath the tree, then took the food bag from me before I could lower myself awkwardly to the ground. I stretched my bad leg in front of me and watched him unpack enough containers to feed three people.
Chenghai had packed cold noodles, sliced chicken, flatbread, fruit, and vegetables covered in enough sauce to make them worth eating. A smaller box held two pastries dusted with sugar.
I reached for one.
Zhenlan moved the box out of range and handed me the chicken instead.
I stared at him, but the smell made arguing less important. I took the container and started eating while he sat behind me with one knee raised. A second later, he pulled me back between his legs and wrapped one arm loosely around my waist.
That worked too.
The baby vine settled near my feet and watched every bite travel toward my mouth. Both heads followed my fork together, their jaws opening a little each time.
I draped the edge of the blanket over the closest one.
The second head leaned around it.
Zhenlan broke off a piece of flatbread. Before he could lower his hand, I caught his wrist.
He looked from me to the two open mouths waiting beside my foot.
"Don’t," I said. "You feed them once, and they’ll climb into bed expecting snacks."
Zhenlan ate the flatbread himself.
Both leaf-heads collapsed against the grass like I had ruined their lives.
"Good," I murmured as I went back to my noodles. "At least one of you listens."
Zhenlan’s mouth touched the side of my neck.
The fork stopped halfway to my mouth.
His kiss was soft, but he stayed close after it, his breath warming the same spot while his arm tightened around my waist. When he kissed me again, I held the container farther away before he made me drop it.
Zhenlan took the food from my hand and placed it beside the blanket.
Apparently, dinner could wait.
He turned my face toward him and kissed me slowly enough that I tasted the flatbread he had stolen from the plant. I twisted between his legs until I could reach him properly, one hand braced against his chest while the other slid into his hair.
One of the vine-heads popped out from beneath the blanket.
I opened my eyes and found both of them staring at us.
"Go away," I said against Zhenlan’s mouth.
He laughed, which didn’t help.
The vine remained exactly where it was.
I reached toward the grass and pushed one leafy face in the other direction. The second followed it, although both heads immediately began turning back.
Zhenlan caught my wrist before I could start fighting with them. He pulled my hand to his chest and kissed me until I forgot the vine existed.
His shirt was warm beneath my palm. I spread my fingers over the hard muscle and felt his breathing change when my hand began moving lower.
That was interesting.
So, I did it again.
Zhenlan’s arm tightened around my waist. Before I realized what he planned to do, he lifted me across his lap until I faced him properly.
The food containers were safely behind me.
The man really had thought of everything.