Chapter 23: Unprecedented difficulty

Even Alex couldn’t laugh anymore.

If the previous moment had merely been awkward, what followed could only be described as a catastrophic public death of dignity.

Jack’s face changed color. The redness started at his neck and climbed all the way to the top of his head. He stood there completely frozen, as if someone had pressed a pause button on him.

"Fuck."

Mitch abruptly turned around, presenting his back to everyone. Unfortunately, his ears had already turned so red they looked ready to bleed.

As for Ray, his usually dark, intimidating expression had become as rigid as iron. His Adam’s apple bobbed once. He clearly wanted to say something, but for perhaps the first time in his life, he had absolutely no idea what to say.

On this particular subject, the mighty dude was completely helpless.

"You—why the hell didn’t you say so sooner?"

In the end, Mitch managed to force the words out through clenched teeth. His voice was rough and irritated, but beneath the aggression was an embarrassment he himself didn’t seem to realize he was showing.

I wanted to tell you! Did any of you actually give me a chance? You all immediately started trying to strip me down. What was I supposed to do? I’m desperate too!

May complained furiously inside her head. The cramps were so vicious that she didn’t even have the energy to roll her eyes.

"Lie down."

Theo’s voice came again, calm and authoritative. He lowered the front passenger seat until it was nearly flat, then reached over and supported May by the shoulders, carefully helping her settle back.

"Bend your knees."

"I beg yours?"

May was completely bewildered by how smoothly he had taken control of the situation.

"Don’t move." Theo’s voice was very close, almost beside her ear. "You were exposed to the cold for too long. Your lower abdomen is chilled, which has affected your circulation. That’s why the pain is so severe."

As he spoke, he held out his hands. Under everyone’s stunned gazes, he rubbed his palms together, again and again. He rubbed them until they were thoroughly warmed.

Then, while May stared at him in horror, one broad, scorching palm slipped over the thin fabric of her shirt and settled directly against her lower abdomen.

"Ugh..."

May’s entire body instantly went taut. She felt like a bow pulled to its absolute limit.

The problem was that Theo’s expression remained completely composed and professional, as if what he was doing was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"Relax." He applied gentle pressure to her abdomen, his brows drawing together slightly. "You’re too tense. My body heat won’t reach you properly if you keep tightening up."

May nearly burst into tears.

It’s not that I want to tense up. Your hand feels like a red-hot iron! How am I supposed to relax?

She could clearly feel the rough texture of his palm through the fabric as his hand moved over her skin.

The warmth seeped through the material, spreading outward from the point of contact until a strange tingling sensation traveled down her spine.

Theo said nothing more. His palm began moving in slow, deliberate circles across her lower abdomen.

His pressure was remarkably controlled—light one moment, firmer the next, occasionally pressing against certain points that left her feeling simultaneously sore and numb.

And, incredibly, the stabbing cramps really did begin to ease beneath his massage.

But the relief came with another problem. A strange warmth and tingling sensation began spreading through her body.

Inside the truck, the other men had long since stopped pretending they weren’t watching. They stared at Theo’s hand moving across a place none of them had even dared think about touching.

Ray’s fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked.

Mitch’s eyes remained fixed on that hand.

Jack, meanwhile, had completely short-circuited. His entire worldview was being rewritten.

Was this actually a thing? Could you really treat pain like this?

"Breathe." Theo’s low voice carried an almost hypnotic quality. "Follow my rhythm. Inhale... That’s it. Now breathe out."

May’s thoughts had already dissolved into mush. She could only obey his instructions instinctively. With every slow movement of his palm, she could even feel her waist subtly lifting on its own, unconsciously following the pressure of his hand.

The temperature inside the truck seemed to rise by the second.

Finally, Theo’s fingertips pressed precisely against a particularly sensitive point below her abdomen.

May couldn’t hold back. A soft, involuntary sound slipped from her throat. The noise was gentle and breathy.

Every man in the truck went rigid. It was as though that single sound had scratched directly across their nerves.

"Don’t make a sound..." Theo’s voice remained completely calm. "I’ll be gentler."

Ray’s breathing stopped for half a second.

Then—

"Done."

Theo seemed not to have noticed the strange atmosphere at all. He slowly withdrew his hand and spoke with complete composure.

"The blockage has cleared."

Cleared? What had cleared? Where had it cleared?

May could only lie there, stunned.

The painful cramping had indeed subsided considerably. Unfortunately, it had been replaced by a lingering warmth and numbness that left her limbs weak.

She remained sprawled across the reclined seat.

The truck fell into a silence so complete it was almost suffocating.

Jack had become a statue. His enormous two-meter frame stood frozen in place, his expression cycling from confusion to shock before finally settling on a look that seemed to say—

Oh. So that’s possible.

Mitch’s handsome face, usually dominated by irritation, was now an absolute masterpiece of conflicting emotions.

Fuck. That bastard Theo. He’d managed to make this look completely innocent.

Ray’s expression was the worst of all. He stared at Theo as though the man had just become his mortal enemy.

Damn it.

He wouldn’t even dare touch her carelessly, and this bastard had simply put his hand on her. Then rubbed her stomach for who knew how long.

[System?]

May quietly called inside her head.

[Did you just... not react?]

[Touching my stomach doesn’t count as intimate contact? He practically rubbed sparks out of me. How did I not get any points?]

"Ding."

The mechanical voice finally sounded in her mind.

[Detected therapeutic physical contact with Target No. 2, "Theo."]

[Contact did not meet the threshold for ambiguous tension. No points awarded.]

May: "..."

Fine. Apparently, this system had standards.

"It’s only temporary relief." Theo glanced toward the small dark-red stain that had spread across the fabric. "The physical problem still needs to be dealt with properly."

His tone remained as clinical as ever.

"She needs clean, absorbent cotton fabric. Immediately."

He said it so naturally that it sounded like a routine medical order. To the group of rough-and-ready men around him, however, those words landed like a thunderclap.

"Cotton... fabric?"

Jack finally managed to find his voice.

Alex leaned against the back of the seat and lazily translated for the hopelessly clueless men.

"He means May needs sanitary pads. We have to go find some."

Sanitary pads. Those three words somehow packed an even greater punch than "menstruation."

Ray finally spoke.

"Alright." His voice was decisive. "We’re going to the nearest town. Find a supermarket."

The truck started moving again. This time, the atmosphere inside the cab was even stranger than before.

May was ordered to remain lying down, a blanket was tucked over her. Someone had even placed a military canteen filled with hot water against her abdomen.

Half an hour later, the truck rolled into an abandoned town.

It was small and eerily quiet. A crooked sign stood beside the road, its once-bright lettering almost completely faded beneath years of dust.

The words "Breezy Life Plaza" could still barely be made out.

"This is it."

Ray parked the truck in front of the shopping plaza. He turned around and surveyed the several men sitting stiffly in the back.

"Who’s going?"

His tone was perfectly flat, but everyone understood the gravity of the situation. This was a problem of unprecedented difficulty.

There were probably dozens of different kinds, and not one of these rough, clueless men had the slightest idea what they were supposed to buy.