Page 68 of Until We're More
He kept on staring down at me, that expressionless face that drove me crazy in more than one way in place.
“Well?” My voice came out higher-pitched than usual.
“Trying to figure out where to start. Do I tease you about how doing something without thinking and chickening out isn’t bold?”
“You start with saying you remember.”
“I remember.”
“And?”
“And I wasn’t sure how it happened or if I’d gotten carried away—it’s not like I hadn’t thought about kissing you before. But then things were weird after that and you moved, and…” He rubbed his thumb over my shoulder. “I definitely remember. Now I’m kicking myself for not pulling you back to me and kissing you that night.”
I curled closer and gave his scruffy cheek a peck. “We might’ve taken the long, windy route, but the important thing is we got to the kissing eventually. And since your sister played a part in that, I plan on thanking her.”
“Yeah, I’ll be thanking her, too. Not out loud, though. Don’t want it to go to her head.”
We shared a smile before stepping into full view of his family. Instead of waiting for them to say something about our cozier-than-usual stance, Liam cleared his throat. “In case anyone was wondering, Chelsea and I are just friends—”
I peered at him, forehead all scrunched up, and he shot me a mischievous smile.
“—who had a lot of sex this weekend.” He dipped his head to kiss me, not bothering to tone it down for our audience, who whistled and hooped and hollered.
Shane even stopped his workout to give his congrats.
“I wasn’t sure who’d be here,” I said, low enough so only Liam could hear, “so I bought a shit-ton of food.”
“Of course you did.” Pride, or something close to it, lit his eyes as he looked at me. Then he glanced at his family and raised his voice. “Who’s hungry?”
Big surprise, everyone was.
Brooklyn and I caught up while Finn helped Liam clear off the desk in Blake’s office and Shane hit the showers, and within fifteen minutes we were seated around the room, plates of food on our laps.
It was like now that Liam and I had crossed lines, everything else in my life had clicked into place. Work was going well—really well. And as we sat around talking and eating, I felt a sense of belonging—of home—that I’d never experienced growing up.
I’d had hints of it with Liam, but over the past two and a half weeks, it’d taken root and grown, and surrounded by his brother, sister, and Shane, it deepened even more.
Finn was the jokester who’d do almost anything for a laugh and had automatically taken me in when his brother did; Brooklyn had always been an awesome friend and what I imagined having a sister was like; and then there was Liam, the rock at my side. Whenever he was in a group, he didn’t talk much, although he spoke more with his family than anyone else.
I snuggled closer, and he played with the ends of my hair. It made me think of how upset he’d been when I’d mentioned dyeing it brown.
As the food disappeared and the conversation wound down, he kept glancing at the stack of papers on the desk, a clear indicator he was about to insist he get back to work. Before that happened, I wanted to take a second and commemorate this moment so I’d always remember it.
I opened my phone, switched to the front-facing camera, and swiped to the filter with the floating hearts. I leaned my head against his and stretched out my arm in front of us. “Say cheese.”
“You think now that we’re sleeping together, you can talk me into taking these crazy pictures?”
“That’s exactly what I think.” I snapped one and saved it, then moved my lips next to his ear. “If you let me take one more, once we get home, I’ll let you bend me over the couch.”
His hand circled my thigh, and his breaths came out more labored than usual.
“Is that a yes?” I asked, slightly drunk on the power of causing that kind of a reaction.
He swallowed and then gave one sharp nod.
Maybe it was cheesy, but I’d always wanted one of those cute kissing pictures. Phone extended, I closed my eyes and slanted my lips over his, then blindly tapped the screen.
“Aw,” Finn said. “Our brother’s officially gone off the deep end. Never thought I’d see the day.”
