“Baby, you feel so soft tonight.”
At the sound of the man’s low, sensual voice, Lin Chu’s palms grew slick with nerves. She didn’t dare make a sound.
The living room was pitch-black because of a power outage. The man bent his head and kissed her neck. She’d had a few too many drinks at dinner with her coworkers, and her body wasn’t entirely under her control, but her mind was perfectly clear. She reached out to push him away.
“Don’t…”
The moment the word left her lips, Zhou Chengze’s movements stopped.
Lin Chu hardly dared to breathe. She was supposed to be staying at her best friend’s place tonight. She hadn’t expected her best friend’s boyfriend to mistake her for someone else. Before she could explain, Zhou Chengze’s lips had already covered hers, leaving her no chance to say a word.
This time, his kiss was fierce, his movements tinged with a hint of inexperience.
Lin Chu stiffened all at once and instinctively shoved at him, trying to stop this from happening.
Zhou Chengze kissed her deeply, biting her lip with just enough pressure. His voice was seductive as he asked, “Why are you so soft everywhere tonight, hmm?”
He and Jiang Nai had been together for a year, but they’d never gone beyond holding hands and kissing. He respected Jiang Nai’s wish to take things slowly, but tonight Jiang Nai seemed so different that he could hardly stop himself.
Lin Chu didn’t dare speak. She could only press her hands against his chest and push. A fine sheen of sweat formed on her forehead, and an indescribable tingling sensation rose from deep within her…
A phone suddenly rang, shattering the heated atmosphere in an instant.
Zhou Chengze breathed deeply into the hollow of her neck. She smelled so sweet—almost unbearably sweet. Only when she gently pushed at him did he finally straighten and answer the call.
The dispatcher on the other end sounded a little apologetic. “Captain Zhou, you’ve been called in from standby.”
“Mm,” Zhou Chengze murmured. His eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the darkness, so he could only sense the woman breathing softly in front of him. One brow lifted slightly, and he asked in a hoarse voice, “I’ve been called in to fly. Will you be all right here on your own?”
Lin Chu nodded quickly, holding her blouse closed with both hands where he’d undone several buttons. Her answer was barely audible. “Mm…”
Zhou Chengze could vaguely make out the movement. He smiled, gave her cheek a light pinch, and reminded her of a couple of things before straightening his rumpled shirt and getting up to leave.
Only when the front door closed did Lin Chu finally let out a long breath. Like a fish out of water, she slowly sank to the floor. The tingling in her heart gradually faded, but her thoughts grew more and more tangled.
She could only think that everything that had just happened with Zhou Chengze was a dream. This wasn’t the first time they’d kissed, but unlike their awkward kiss ten years ago, this one had been an unabashedly passionate kiss between adults.
When Zhou Chengze was seventeen, a car accident left him unable to see for a time. He went to the city where she lived—a small southern city nestled among mountains and water—to recuperate.
That was how the two of them met. The attraction between a boy and a girl drew them closer as they tentatively tested each other. Then, on the day he was about to return to Jingbei, he kissed her and told her to wait for him. Once he could see again, he said, he would come back for her.
But ten years passed, and Lin Chu never saw Zhou Chengze again. Instead, three months ago, a work transfer brought her to Jingbei, where she unexpectedly learned that he had become her best friend’s boyfriend.
Because he’d once said his dream was to become someone exceptional, she had resolutely chosen to work at an aviation hospital after graduating from college, hoping she might meet him. She’d never imagined they would meet again under such circumstances.
Now, Jiang Nai and Zhou Chengze were a beautiful woman and a handsome man, widely regarded as a perfect match.
So Lin Chu had kept their past connection to herself and chosen to act like a stranger around Zhou Chengze. She’d never expected fate to play such a cruel trick…
Tonight, something so absurd had happened between them.
Her phone buzzed. Jiang Nai had sent her a message.
【Chuchu, I just remembered—my boyfriend’s coming over tonight. I forgot to tell him I’d been assigned standby duty, and I forgot to mention that we’re sharing an apartment. Don’t be surprised when you see him, okay?】
Lin Chu stared at the message, at a loss for how to reply.
How could she tell Jiang Nai that she hadn’t just seen Zhou Chengze—he’d nearly slept with her?
Lin Chu had trouble sleeping that night. Meanwhile, at the airport, Zhou Chengze was unusually distracted too. That frustrated, unresolved feeling was hard to bear.
He felt Jiang Nai had been very different tonight, far softer than usual, and it had left him restless. Before takeoff, he still took out his phone and sent Jiang Nai a message.
【Are you asleep?】
When no reply came, he checked the time. It was only just after midnight; Jiang Nai shouldn’t have gone to bed so early. He’d asked a chief flight attendant he knew about her schedule that day, and she hadn’t been on the roster. Had she gone to bed early for once?
Zhou Chengze didn’t send another message. The soft little moan from the woman in his arms that night flashed through his mind.
“Southern 6688, cleared for takeoff, runway 01,” came the voice from the tower.
“Cleared for takeoff, Southern 6688.” Zhou Chengze’s voice was low and steady. He pulled his thoughts back and pushed the throttle forward. The engines roared louder as the plane began rolling down the runway.
It picked up speed. His gaze remained calm and fixed ahead as he rotated, lifted off, and retracted the landing gear. Every movement was crisp and precise. The plane soon rose into the night sky and passed through the clouds.
When Lin Chu woke up the next morning and stepped out of the bedroom, she came face-to-face with Jiang Nai, who was carrying breakfast.
“Chuchu!” Jiang Nai looked her over without changing her expression. Then, as Lin Chu looked at her, she smiled brightly, her eyes curving at the corners, and set the soy milk and youtiao on the dining table. “Did you sleep well last night?”
Lin Chu couldn’t help recalling what had happened the night before. Her voice came out soft. “It was okay…”
Jiang Nai took off her coat and watched Lin Chu’s reaction. Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to her, she asked, “Oh, right. Did my boyfriend come over last night?”