Chapter 421: He Doesn’t Take It Back
Zhenlan kept holding my hand all the way downstairs.
I spent the last six steps waiting for him to remember there were three men probably waiting for us in the living room and to let go of me.
But the smile on his face when he looked over at mine told me that he remembered... he just didn’t care.
The television was still running when we came through the hall. Lingyun had taken over one end of the sectional with two pillows shoved around his ribs and a blanket across his legs. Yuche sat beside him, one hand resting near Lingyun’s hip in case he forgot he was injured and tried to launch himself across the room again.
Chenghai stood at the coffee table, pouring water into a glass.
The moment me and Zhenlan walked in, all three of them looked over.
Lingyun’s eyes dropped to our hands, and his entire face lit up.
I pointed at him before he could open his mouth and glared at him wordlessly to shut up.
He pressed his lips together, but his shoulders started shaking. A second later, he grabbed his ribs and made a pained sound.
Served him right.
Yuche moved his legs out of the open space beside him. Chenghai placed the glass near my usual spot before sitting in the chair across from the sectional.
No one asked what happened upstairs.
Thank God.
Zhenlan put the empty mugs on the table and let go of my hand. I took one step toward the couch before his palm landed against my back.
The roof date was over. We were inside now. I had expected him to go back to wherever he normally sat when all five of us were in the same room.
Usually, he found a chair or sat on the floor near my legs. It seemed like he wanted to be close enough to grab me if something tried to eat me, but far enough away that no one could accuse him of wanting anything.
Apparently, that was finished.
Zhenlan walked me around the table and waited until I sat down. Then he lowered himself beside me, even though there was enough empty couch for him to leave a decent gap.
He didn’t.
His leg pressed against mine, and his arm stretched across the back of the couch behind me.
Lingyun was still grinning.
I grabbed a piece of popcorn from the bowl on his stomach and threw it at him. It bounced off his forehead and disappeared into the blanket.
He searched for it immediately.
Zhenlan’s arm came down around my shoulders while Lingyun was distracted. He pulled me into his side and settled back as though we had been sitting like this every night since the apocalypse began.
I looked up at him but he kept watching the television.
Fine.
I tucked my legs onto the couch and leaned against him. My tank top had thin straps, so his fingers rested against bare skin instead of fabric. The slow brush of his thumb made it difficult to pretend he had only put his arm there because the couch was crowded.
Yuche pushed the popcorn bowl toward me once Lingyun found the piece trapped in his blanket.
The movie on the television involved several men trying to rob a casino. I had missed enough of it that I had no idea which one was supposed to be the smart one. So far, they all looked stupid.
Zhenlan reached for my glass and handed it to me before I could sit forward. I drank half of it, then gave it back. He set it down and returned his hand to my shoulder without taking his eyes off the screen.
That was what kept catching me.
He wasn’t acting nervous about it.
He wasn’t checking whether the others were watching or waiting for me to decide what happened next. He had kissed me upstairs, brought me downstairs, and kept touching me because he wanted to.
I had spent so long wondering when he and Chenghai planned to stop standing around and either decide to stay or to leave, that I hadn’t considered what Zhenlan would be like once he did decide to stay.
And apparently, he was clingy.
But what was worse was that I didn’t hate it.
His mouth touched the top of my head. It was only a quick kiss, but Lingyun saw it.
The grin came back.
Yuche reached over and pressed one finger against the bandages around Lingyun’s ribs.
Lingyun’s grin vanished as he sucked in a breath.
I ate some popcorn and decided Yuche deserved something nice later.
Across from us, Chenghai twisted the cap off his water bottle. His eyes moved from Zhenlan’s arm around me to the hand resting on my shoulder.
He didn’t stare for long.
He took a drink and looked back at the television, but his fingers stayed tight around the bottle for a few seconds before they loosened again.
The man on the screen climbed into an air vent that was clearly too small for him. Halfway inside, he became stuck.
I stared at the television. "He deserves whatever happens next."
Zhenlan’s chest moved beneath my cheek when he laughed.
The man’s pants ripped.
Lingyun laughed too hard and nearly killed himself.
Yuche caught him before he could fold forward, while Chenghai grabbed the bowl sliding off his stomach. Popcorn still spilled across the blanket and floor.
Lingyun blamed the man on television.
No one listened.
Zhenlan kept one arm around me while the others cleaned up the mess. I reached for a piece of chocolate on the table, but Chenghai picked up the plate first and passed it over.
"Thanks," I said.
He nodded and kept the plate near me until I had taken two pieces.
Zhenlan reached for the second one.
I slapped his fingers away and put it in my mouth.
He looked down at me, then moved his hand from my shoulder to my bare knee.
That was considerably harder to defend.
His palm stayed there while his thumb rubbed slowly along the inside edge. My shorts weren’t particularly short, but they suddenly felt like they had lost several inches of fabric.
I focused on chewing.
Zhenlan’s fingers moved higher when I tucked my leg more comfortably against his.
The movie continued. The casino robbery fell apart, the police surrounded the building, and one of the thieves began screaming at everyone else even though the entire plan had been his idea.
Lingyun eventually fell asleep halfway through the argument.
Yuche fixed the pillows around him and pulled the blanket higher over his stomach. Chenghai lowered the television volume before sitting back down.
The room became quiet after that.
Rain still slid down the windows, but the storm had moved farther away. I could barely hear the thunder anymore.
Zhenlan’s hand stayed on my leg.
When I shifted against him, he pulled me closer instead of giving me room. His fingers slid beneath the edge of my shorts, only far enough to rest against the skin above my knee.
Heat climbed up my neck.
I looked toward Chenghai.
He had already seen it.
His eyes stayed on Zhenlan’s hand for a second before lifting to my face. Something in his expression changed, and he looked away to put his water on the table.
I settled my head against Zhenlan’s chest again.
The date had been over for almost an hour, but he hadn’t gone back to normal.
Maybe this was normal now.
Near the end of the movie, Zhenlan lowered his mouth beside my ear. His breath moved across my skin before he quietly told me to be ready before lunch tomorrow.
I turned my head enough to look at him.
He gave my thigh one slow squeeze and returned his attention to the television.
Before I could ask where we were going, he reached for the remote and turned the volume up.
Frigging asshole.