Chapter 450: The Last Peach
I pulled the bowl against my chest before any of them could steal another piece.
Four men stared at it.
The baby vine lifted both heads from beside the lounger and stared too.
"You’ve all eaten," I reminded them.
Lingyun leaned against Yuche’s chest with one hand resting on my knee. "So have you."
"That has nothing to do with anything."
Zhenlan’s arm remained around my waist while Chenghai sat across the step with my legs over his lap. Both of them were close enough to reach the bowl without trying, which meant I had to keep it tucked beneath my chin like someone might take it away from me.
They probably would.
Yuche looked down at the three peach slices left inside. He had spent most of the afternoon cutting fruit and feeding Lingyun, so he was the only one who might have deserved another.
I held one toward him.
Lingyun opened his mouth instead.
Yuche caught his chin and turned his face away before taking the peach from my fingers.
Lingyun looked betrayed. "That was almost mine."
"It was never yours."
His hand slid higher on my knee as though he planned to punish me by touching more bare skin. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t much of a punishment.
I ate the second slice myself.
The baby vine moved.
One head snapped at the edge of the bowl while the other wrapped a tendril around my wrist. I pulled back before it could reach the last peach, but Chenghai’s hand left my ankle long enough to catch the bowl before I dumped everything into the pool.
The vine lunged after it.
Both heads hit the water.
For half a second, they floated.
Then the weight of the stem pulled them under.
I grabbed the nearest tendril and hauled them back onto the patio while Zhenlan took the bowl from Chenghai and held it above his head.
The vine coughed pool water across my legs.
"You did that to yourself," I told it.
Both heads shook hard enough to spray everyone on the steps.
Lingyun laughed, grabbed his ribs, and immediately stopped.
Yuche pressed one hand over the bandages beneath the water to make sure they hadn’t shifted. The top edge had become damp from all the movement, and his expression changed when he saw it.
Lingyun noticed too.
"I’m still resting," he said quickly.
Yuche stood and lifted him before he could argue more. Lingyun’s arm went around his shoulders while water streamed from both of them.
"You’ve been in long enough."
Lingyun looked toward me for help.
I looked at the wet bandage. "He’s right."
Apparently, that betrayal hurt more than the ribs.
Yuche carried him toward the nearest lounger and wrapped him in a towel before checking beneath the edge of the dressing. Lingyun continued looking at me as though I had personally thrown him out of the pool.
He would recover.
Probably.
The baby vine crawled beneath the table to sulk. Both heads rested on the stone while water dripped from their teeth.
Zhenlan lowered the fruit bowl.
The last peach was gone.
I stared into the empty bowl.
His mouth moved near my ear. "It fell into the water."
I looked at him.
He was chewing.
I slapped his chest.
Chenghai caught the empty bowl before it floated away, then pulled me back across his lap. His hands settled around my calves beneath the water while Zhenlan stayed close behind me.
The sun had shifted toward the far side of the house, leaving most of the pool in shade. Without it, the water felt cooler against my shoulders. I had also been sitting on the steps long enough that my fingers had begun to wrinkle.
I held one hand up and examined it.
Lingyun called from the lounger, "You’re turning old."
Yuche tightened the fresh wrap around his ribs.
Lingyun’s insult became a pained breath.
I didn’t need to defend myself after that.
Chenghai rubbed his thumb over my wrinkled fingertips before lifting my legs from his lap. Zhenlan stood behind me and placed both hands around my waist.
Between the two of them, I ended up on the patio without doing much of anything.
That was how things should work.
I wrapped a towel around myself while Chenghai climbed out beside me. Water moved over the scars along his chest and stomach before disappearing beneath the waistband of his shorts. Zhenlan followed, pushed wet hair away from his face, and reached for his book before checking whether the cover had stayed dry.
Of course that was his first concern.
Yuche had already removed Lingyun’s wet bandages. The bruising across his side remained ugly, but nothing had reopened. Lingyun sat quietly while Yuche cleaned the skin and wrapped him again.
Quietly for Lingyun meant he only complained twice.
Once everyone was dry enough to enter the house, we gathered the cushions, towels, glasses, empty bowls, and one very wet plant. The baby vine tried to crawl away before I could grab it, but Chenghai caught the stem and carried it under one arm.
Both leaf-heads hung toward the ground.
"They look sad," Lingyun said as Yuche helped him stand.
"They tried to steal my food."
"They nearly drowned."
"They were in six inches of water."
Lingyun rested most of his weight against Yuche and looked at the dripping vine. "They’re babies."
One head lifted toward him.
The mouth opened.
Lingyun smiled.
I pointed toward the garden. "Put them down before he feeds them."
Chenghai placed the vine near the flower bed. It immediately wrapped around Lingyun’s ankle.
Yuche kept walking.
The vine slid across the patio behind them until Lingyun finally reached down and slipped it a piece of peach he had apparently hidden inside his towel.
I stared at him.
He swallowed the rest before I could take it.
Traitor.
Inside, the cool air hit my wet skin hard enough to raise bumps along my arms. I left a trail of water across the floor while walking toward the stairs, but no one complained.
They had all seen worse things on my floor.
The main bathroom filled quickly.
Yuche put Lingyun on the wide bench inside the shower and kept the water away from his fresh bandages. Chenghai turned on the second showerhead while Zhenlan removed the wet bra strap stuck against my shoulder.
I stepped beneath the warm water before anyone could decide I needed help.
All three of them followed anyway.
Zhenlan stood behind me and worked shampoo through my hair. Chenghai washed chlorine from my arms and shoulders, while Yuche kept one hand on Lingyun whenever he tried to lean close enough to touch me.
Lingyun eventually managed to catch my hip.
His fingers stayed there while Yuche rinsed soap from his hair.
The shower should have felt crowded. Four large men took up most of the space, and every time I turned, I found another chest, arm, or hand in my way.
I didn’t mind.
Zhenlan rinsed my hair while Chenghai’s hands moved down my back. Yuche kissed me when I leaned close enough, and Lingyun rested his forehead against my shoulder after the effort of standing became too much.
By the time we finished, the mirrors had fogged and every towel within reach had somehow ended up on the floor.
Chenghai wrapped a dry one around me before carrying Lingyun’s wet clothes toward the laundry room. Yuche helped Lingyun into clean pants, and Zhenlan found one of his shirts for me to wear.
No one bothered going back to their own rooms.
We went downstairs together, still damp and hungry again.
The pool cushions could stay outside until someone else felt like bringing them in.
I had already done more than enough work for the day.