Page 19 of Teach Me to Laugh

I’ve told myself these words almost every day since as far back as I could remember. Somewhere along the way they became my prayer. My saving grace. My protection and my courage.

The words became the foundation to the thick wall I’d built to withstand all the hurt anyone I could ever meet might intend to throw at me. But no matter how strong those words were, they weren’t strong enough to craft a foundation capable of keeping out Joss, Raina, Maddy, and now the most dangerous of them all—Beckett.

But I still had my face. The mask I’d worn every day for so long that it was nearly automatic. As soon as I woke, it slipped into place. I wore my bitterness like a shield and I wielded my lashing tongue like the sharpest sword.

Maybe my wall was crumbling, but I hadn’t lost my entire arsenal quite yet. For now, I was safe enough.

At least, that’s what I decided to tell myself as I opened my bedroom door to step into the hall. One fleece covered leg moved and the other followed not far behind as I walked myself to the living room. It was there that I noticed Beckett in the kitchen,standing behind the island counter. He wore a pair of blue plaid pajama pants that hung impossibly low on his gloriously carved hips and a gray housecoat that he left hanging open to expose the lickable tan skin with all the ripped glory that was his chest.

I’d seen plenty of men with their shirts off, Kaiden included. The man had a penchant for going shirtless in the mornings. If Kaiden had a cup of coffee, there was no shirt. Raina excused the nonsense with “he’s building a good tradition, my girl” or “we appreciate good traditions.”

But this wasn’t tradition. This was like seeing the Holy Grail for the first freaking time. Awing. Pure righteousness.

And clearly this whole plan I had tokeep myself hard and unaffectedwas doomed.

I was feeling melty again.

“Figured I’d get everything open so we can pile it onto plates.”

“Sounds great.” I said, praying my mask was holding even though all the glue that seemed to hold me together was melting away, bit by bit, every time I was in this man’s presence.

“You wanna watch something sappy? Women seem to like that stuff and I figured I’m man enough to give you what you want,” his warm teasing eyes lifted to mine. “At least for tonight.”

“Actually,” I shook my head, knowing I was totally going to surprise him. “I’m not feeling that tonight.”

“What are you feeling?”

“I have the boxed set ofGame of Thrones.I’ve been dying to see it, but I’ve never been much for TV and I hate waitingfor things I love. Figured now that six seasons are out I’m good. They’ve been sitting in my room, but I haven’t had much time to watch.” I could feel something like excitement bubbling up in my belly as I moved closer to the island. “What do you think?”

“I think we can make it through at least one season tonight.”

“You haven’t seen it?”

“Oh, I’ve seen it.”

“And you want to watch it again?”

“It’s that good.” He winked and my silly heart fluttered. “But I’m warning you, don’t get attached to any of the characters. They’ll either die or get so brutally hurt that death would have been preferred.”

“That bad?”

“That bad.” He confirmed.

“Good.” I decided. “I don’t want hearts and flowers tonight.”

“Then you’ve ordered the right series.” He chuckled. “No hearts in theGame Of Thrones—unless you count the ones being ripped out and tossed away like trash.”

“Just what I need tonight.” I informed, swiping my plate and filling it with deliciousness. “And this, this lookssogood right now.”

“You look good, by the way.” He said and I felt suddenly fluttery in my belly. “I like the ugly pajamas. They work.”

“They aren’t that ugly.”

“They’re pink.”

My eyes snapped to his, because this was real business. “They are not pink. They arepurple!Are you colorblind?”

Beckett wasn’t colorblind. He was laughing. Actually, he was a hysterical mess of laughter as he crouched over, holding his gut, sobbing with man-giggles. “I was kidding. They’re purple. I just like messing with you.”

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