Husband With Benefits-Chapter 797: The End...

She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up into his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Well, we need to have a complete story for your grandchildren, don’t we?" He grinned playfully, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "How can you say you dated a lunatic until you’ve at least kissed him? Hmm? So, a kiss?"

Lily blinked, her heart skipping a beat. Did that actually sound like a question? She studied his expression and realized it was. Even though he had made the classic move of pulling her into his arms, there was a softness in his eyes. He was waiting, asking for her permission to kiss her. And that was incredibly sweet of him...

But in the few seconds it took for her to gather her thoughts and give him an answer, he seemed to take her silence as a no. He was already stepping away, looking slightly disappointed.

Hurriedly, she tightened her hands on his shoulders, stopping him, and leaned up on her toes. She pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his lips before pulling back just as fast, feeling her face warm with embarrassment.

He smiled at her then, shaking his head with amusement. "Well, okay then, I think that suffices for a kiss at the end of the first date. Goodbye, Lily. I’ll see you later."

"Will you?" The words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them, and her face flushed as he raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I mean... unless you don’t want to see me," she added quickly, suddenly nervous.

Cai shrugged, "I don’t see why we shouldn’t catch up..."

He chuckled, the sound warm and reassuring. She smiled back, nodding. "I’d like that. We can hang out together... only as friends, of course," she hurried to clarify, worried he might misunderstand her meaning. Then, she immediately wondered if she was overthinking it. There was no need to explain, really.

He laughed again, more heartily this time, and before she could say anything else, he leaned in close, surprising her with a quick kiss on her lips. As he pulled away, he flashed her a charming smile. "There. That’s better. So, Lily, would it be too soon to ask you on a second date if I did that the moment I stepped away?"

Her heart fluttered at his words, and she wanted to immediately shake her head and say no it wasn’t too soon, but she forced herself to pause, pretending to think about it for a moment. Then, with a small smile, she shook her head. "No, I don’t think it’s too soon."

Cai grinned, winking at her as he finally stepped back and began walking away. He had only taken a few steps when he pulled his phone from his pocket and turned to shout from the distance, "Wait for my message!"

As Cai walked away, Lily stood there for a moment, feeling the lingering warmth of the quick kiss still on her lips. A small, shy smile crept up as she turned around and started to walk into the hostel. Her mind raced with thoughts of the evening, and the unexpected spark between them.

Just as she was about to tuck her hands into her pockets, her phone beeped. She pulled it out and glanced down at the screen. It was a message from Cai. he really had messaged her the moment he was gone.

"So... I know it’s only been like 5 minutes, but I couldn’t wait. How about we make that second date official?"

Lily’s heart did a little flip, and she bit her lip to stop herself from smiling too hard. She typed back quickly. But before she could send the reply, he’d already typed up and sent another message, "So, how about this weekend? Dinner and maybe a movie? I’ll try not to be late late like today..And definitely no blood."

Lily giggled to herself, feeling her cheeks warm again as she thought about it. It felt so easy with him.

That sounds perfect! What kind of movie are we talking about?

A few seconds passed, and her phone buzzed again. I’m thinking something light. A rom-com? Or maybe a classic adventure? Or... we could just argue about it until we agree on popcorn."

Lily couldn’t help but laugh out loud this time. His playful nature was still the same. She could already feel her cheeks hurting from all the smiling.

There was a slight pause before his next message came through. "There are toppings in Popcorn? Okay, Deal! As long as I get to hold your hand during the scary parts.

Wait... are there scary parts in rom-coms?"

Lily laughed at that and simply sat down on the stairs, looking up for a moment, before shaking her head and replying, "Unless you count cheesy declarations of love as scary."

Lily’s fingers hovered over her phone, eagerly waiting for Cai’s next message. The smile on her face remained, her heart light from the unexpected sweetness of the evening. She was about to check her phone when, out of nowhere, a forceful slap knocked the device from her hands, sending it flying onto the cold, hard floor. The sting of the slap registered a split second later, making her gasp, her cheek burning.

She looked up, her eyes wide with shock, to see her mother standing in front of her, fury blazing in her eyes.

"Lily!" her mother snapped, her voice sharp and unforgiving. "What on earth do you think you’re doing?!"

Behind her mother stood her father, arms crossed, his face hard with disapproval. His presence loomed over them both, casting an ominous shadow on the narrow hallway.

Lily’s hand instinctively went to her cheek, her mind racing to process what had just happened. She hadn’t seen her parents for almost three years and now, they were suddenly coming here and slapping her?

She glanced down at her phone, which now lay a few feet away, the screen flickering where it had landed.

"M-Mom?" she stammered, her voice trembling as she looked back up at her mother, the sharpness of the slap still echoing in her mind. "W-what are you doing here?"