Husband With Benefits-Chapter 826: Knowing Each Other

"So, explain to me again—how exactly is this supposed to help us?" Lily raised an eyebrow at Cai, who seemed far too enthusiastic about his latest idea.

Cai grinned, leaning back casually. "Trust me, it’s going to help. We need to build up our teamwork, and what better way than playing a few rounds of online games?"

She gave him a skeptical look. "We’re going to improve our teamwork... by gaming?"

"Uh-huh!" he nodded. "We’ll play all sorts of games, get some practice working as a team in different settings. You know things like these are what make couples fight the most? Chores and hobbies? So, we will work on these first. Become a team in gaming and hobbies and then, tomorrow, I’ll take you to town—you might want to start preparing the bigger house. Now that the weather’s clearing, we should be ready for Dora and the others. They could show up any day now, probably without warning. Their version of an ’announcement’ will be the helicopter touching down in the backyard."

Lily blinked, feeling the familiar tug of excitement mixed with apprehension. It had been so long. So much had changed. She felt the emotion bubbling up but quickly pushed it down. Cai had told her to trust him, to follow his lead, and she would. But still, she couldn’t help asking, "So... how long will you actually be staying here before you have to go back?" She’d been hired for a year so...

Cai paused, glancing sideways at her, considering his words. "I’m not in any rush to leave," he said finally. "I’ve arranged for the best doctors to head up the hospital. And things are working perfectly well on that end. It is the research part that would need me. Right now, we’re going through the first batch of applications for the initial trial and research surgeries—it’s a longer process than I’d expected because we have very few volunteers."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I thought funding and infrastructure would be the hardest parts, but finding patients willing to participate? Turns out that’s an even bigger challenge. What they fail to realize is if they sign up for a trial surgery they might actually have some chance of living but if they don’t, then death is imminent. Sooner or later. But they would rather die later than try anything and die sooner. But it’s like they already consider themselves dead." freeweɓnøvel.com

Lily gave him a sympathetic smile as his frustration softened into a resigned sigh. Before he could dwell on it, she nudged him with a slight grin, waving the gaming console in her hand. "Come on then, Dr. Teamwork. Let’s see what you’ve got."

They jumped into the game, teaming up for a mission, with Cai taking the lead. But Lily, inexperienced as she was, took her role with unexpected intensity and decided that it was best to deal with aggression. Cai laughed as he struggled to keep up with her reckless approach, as she fired all over, while both of them called out strategies and dodging attacks as they moved into the enemy’s territory to grab the prize.

Just as they neared the final piece with only a few enemies left, Lily accidentally hit his character, her shot taking him down.

The screen flashed Game Over, and Cai dropped his controller, groaning dramatically. "Lily! I can’t believe you killed me," he laughed, leaning over and wrapping her in a playful hug. He buried his face into her neck, pretending to cry. "How could you betray me like that?"

Lily laughed, even as she felt butterflies in her stomach at his closeness. Her hand tightened on the controller to keep herself from hugging him back as she shot back. "I’m just trying to keep you humble! Don’t tell me you expected to win every game when I am just starting out."

He lifted his head, grinning down at her, his eyes full of a soft warmth. "Guess we’ve got to work harder if we want to become a successful team."

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed at his shoulder, ready to challenge him. But instead he did not move an inch, placing his head on her shoulder again,"Or we can try other team building activities..."

His hand moved suggestively over her hips and she felt herself almost melt. Feeling bold, with his gaze not on her, but his breath falling on her neck, she let go of the controller and placed her hands hesitantly on his back.

Her hands began to wander over his back, fingertips tracing a slow, hesitant path across the contours of his muscles. She marveled at the warmth beneath his shirt, the way the fabric shifted under her touch as if it, too, was reacting to her tentative exploration.

As she traced along his spine, her fingers brushed the toned lines of his shoulder blades, feeling the strength there and the way his muscles shifted. She barely noticed her own breathing growing shallow, her pulse picking up in her ears. His hand tightened on her hip, steadying her as she drew circles all over his back, and he groaned softly, the sound sending a thrill through her. Before she could fully process it, he tilted his head, pressing a soft kiss into the crook of her neck. The unexpected warmth of his lips against her skin made her hands shudder, her fingers tightened reflexively, the nails digging into the small of his back.

Cai lifted his head, eyes half-closed, a gleam in them as he looked at her. She met his gaze, caught off guard by the intensity in his eyes, the way they held her so closely, as if she were the only thing he could see.

Without realizing it, her fingers resumed their slow exploration along his back, lingering on each ridge and dip, as if memorizing the feeling of him under her touch.

A breath hitched between them, her fingertips still pressed into his back as his face hovered just inches from hers. "So, is this part of the team-building?" she whispered, unable to help the smile that curved on her lips.

Cai chuckled, his hand moving to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Absolutely," he said, voice low, his gaze never leaving hers. "And I think we’re making real progress."