Chapter 261: What Does A Girl Have To Do?!?
I looked up at Yuche and blinked slowly like I had seen on a hundred million dramas.
It always worked for those girls. They didn’t have to say a single word, just did that slow look followed by an even slower blink and the guy she liked was on his knees in front of her, promising her the world.
I didn’t want the world, but I wouldn’t say no to Yuche on his knees.
And for a single second, I thought it had worked. He was beside the couch before I could decide whether to add a second blink for emphasis, and I felt my heart jumping into my throat.
The eye thing worked!!
"What is wrong?" he asked, leaning down with immediate concern. "Is something in your eye?"
I froze just long enough for my heart to fall back down to its proper place.
Of course.
Of course that was his conclusion.
"No," I replied, slouching back into the couch with a harsh sigh. Apparently, the whole eye thing was beyond my capabilities.
His hand lifted, stopping just short of my cheek. "Look at me."
"I am looking at you."
"Your eyes were strange."
"My eyes were not strange."
"You blinked deliberately."
"People blink, Yuche. It is one of the main features of having eyes."
"You did it oddly."
I stared at him.
He stared back, completely serious.
Wonderful. It was official.
I had attempted mysterious feminine charm and somehow convinced the man I needed medical assistance. At this rate, I was going to seduce him into making a call to Luo Xin and request an eye examination.
"I am fine," I hissed out, crossing my arms in front of my chest. Seriously! What did a girl have to do to get fucked?!?
"You always say that when you are not fine."
"I also say it when I am fine, which means your evidence is useless."
His eyes moved over my face again, careful and close, and my breath caught before I could stop it.
He was too near now. His hand was still hovering by my cheek, and his attention had narrowed until the rest of the house might as well have disappeared. It should have made me feel trapped, but it didn’t. It made me want to lean forward and see what would happen when I finally let go of everything.
So I did.
Not smoothly.
Not seductively.
I leaned toward him with what I hoped was obvious intent and somehow ended up doing something closer to a controlled collapse. Yuche caught me immediately, one arm sliding around my back as his whole body went rigid with alarm.
"Rouxi." His voice went sharp and, with my face pressed against his chest, I could both hear and feel the low growl in his throat as he pulled me in closer.
That part was perfect.
Everything that I wanted.
I could work with this.
"Mm," I said, because words seemed unnecessary and also because his chest was a much better place than the couch.
His arm tightened. "Are you dizzy?"
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
"No."
"Did your leg hurt?"
"No."
"Your breathing changed."
"Yes, well, that happens."
"When?"
"When a woman collapses against a man."
"That is why I am asking."
I lifted my head and looked up at him. "Yuche."
His expression was so serious that I wanted to shake him. "You need water."
Before I could process the betrayal, he lifted me away from him, set me back against the couch cushions, and reached for the water bottle on the side table.
I stared at the empty space where his chest had been.
This was going terribly.
He opened the bottle and held it out to me. "Drink."
"I do not need water."
"You used too much energy today."
"I am trying to use more."
He paused, and for one glorious second, I thought he understood. Then his frown deepened into concern. "That is why you need food too."
I slowly took the bottle from him because throwing it at his head would waste water, and I was not emotionally damaged enough to disrespect supplies. I drank one sip while glaring over the rim, but that turned out to be another mistake because his gaze dropped to my mouth and stayed there half a second too long.
There.
That was something.
He looked away first.
My fingers tightened around the bottle.
So he was not indifferent. He was not unaffected. He was just so determined to be careful that every attempt I made got shoved into the category of injury, dizziness, thirst, or hunger.
That was somehow both sweet and deeply insulting.
I was not a wounded bird. I was not a patient. I was a woman, sitting right in front of him, trying to figure out how to seduce a triad boss with no practice, no dignity, and a man who kept trying to hydrate me through the process.
I put the water bottle down.
Yuche’s eyes narrowed immediately. "What are you doing?"
"Standing."
"No."
"Yes."
"Rouxi."
I shoved the blanket aside and got to my feet before he could stop me. My leg held perfectly fine because Luo Xin’s ability had done its job, and I was getting very tired of everyone acting like I was going to shatter if I moved without committee approval.
Yuche stood too, his whole body tightening like I had just done something unreasonable instead of proving that I was, in fact, alive.
"See?" I said, holding both arms out. "Perfectly fine."
"Sit down."
"No."
"Rouxi."
"No more Rouxi in that voice." Seriously... it was turning me to goo, and combined with that look on his face, I was ready to do my best impression of a puddle.
Instead, I put both hands on my hips and glared at him because subtlety had failed, blinking had failed, collapsing had failed, and apparently the only thing left was blunt force honesty. "No more water. No more food. No more asking if I am dizzy every time I breathe differently."
His expression sharpened. "You were breathing differently."
"That was the point."
He stared at me.
I stared back.
Even the baby vine stopped making noise outside the boarded door, which meant either it was listening or it had finally found something more interesting than my humiliation. I really hoped it was the second one. I already had one audience member too many, and unfortunately, he was the entire reason I was about to embarrass myself.
Yuche took one slow step toward me, his brows furrowing as he studied my face, looking for some clue about what was wrong with me. "What was the point?"
I threw one hand out. "You know what?!? I give up! Just what does a girl have to do to seduce you?!"
