Chapter Eleven
Liam
“After we eat, do you want to watch movies on the couch?” Spencer smeared strawberry jam on his toast. “I noticed you have a nice collection of DVDs, so even if we can’t stream anything, we should be able to watch something we can agree on.”
“Sure.” I placed crispy bacon on the table next to the bowl of cheesy scrambled eggs. “I must warn you though, most of those movies are romantic comedies. There are a few action and horror flicks mixed in, but the majority are mushy lovefests on film. That’s how my sister described them.”
“Then that is perfect.” Spencer grabbed the mugs of coffee from the counter and brought them to the table. “I prefer the mush over the gore, although I will devour a zombie apocalypse flick like candy the day after Halloween.”
“Then I think we need to have a movie night.”
“It’s still morning.” Spencer shook his head at me. “But I do like the idea of just cuddling up on the couch and watching movies. Do you have any popcorn?”
“I do. Butter or Kettle Corn?”
“Both?”
“Can do. Let’s finish this up and then get comfy on the couch. You pick the movie while I grab the popcorn and some drinks. Oh. Do you want chocolate to put in the popcorn?”
“Ew. No.” Spencer scrunched up his nose and his eyes grew wide. “That doesn’t work for me. Sorry. We can have separate bowls—”
“Oh no. I was just making sure.” I made a show of wiping my brow and looking relieved. “I don’t like that either. But Isaac—”
“Oh, I know.” Spencer shuddered. “As he puts the whole box in there and the chocolate gets all over his hands and then he licks it off all noisily. We had to stop going to the movies.”
“Same.” I mentally combed over the movies I had. “Do you know which movie you want to watch?”
“How does Written in The Stars sound? I heard that was a good one and I saw you have a copy in there.” Spencer grabbed the drinks as I got the bag of popcorn from the pantry.
“Great. I haven’t seen it yet either. Nicola gave it to me for Christmas. Let’s do it.”
“Awesome.” Spencer waved the two cans in the air as he backed up to the kitchen door. “I’ve got the beverages, you get the snacks, and meet me in there. Let’s get this cleaned up so we can start our date.”
“Our date, huh?” I felt my lips quirk at that.
“Yeah. I know we are doing things a bit unconventionally, but I want a date.”
“Then a date is what you’ll get.”
Spencer
“No way. This is not you.” I held the romance book up and squealed. We watched movies all day and night and ended the binge with the newest romance with my favorite actor. That was when Liam dropped the bomb on me that he was the man who wrote the book the script was based off of. I was doing a bit of fan-boying. “I am mated to a romance writer? Am I getting a book? I want to be in a book. Not as a stupid side character either. I am the main character, baby. Make me kick ass and take names, and then win the heart of some dopey alpha. Oh, make him a single dad that rides a motorcycle and owns a café. Yes. That will work.”
“Hold up, hun.” Liam grabbed me around the waist and pulled me onto his lap. “I just told you I am a seven-figure author and all you care about is that I write you into a book, give you a happily ever after, and make you a badass omega? Should your dopey alpha have tattoos too?”
“Of course.” I looked at my mate. “There should always be tattoos. And maybe a piercing. You need a piercing. I saw the tattoos, but have you thought about a piercing?”
“I have, but one closes up when I shift so it’s kind of pointless.”
“Aren’t there some special metals that would keep the hole open?” I examined his earlobes like they would show me answers to my inquiries.
“There are but I don’t want to use them. They sometimes carry side effects, and I haven’t seen the benefits outweigh the risk in my opinion.”
“Oh.” I shrugged. I could give up the piercing, I guessed. “But the tattoos stay?”
“The ink is natural and the witch that did them, put in a special spell to make sure they stayed. Not all scars and markings heal. If I wanted the piercing to stay, I could just not shift for a month. But my bear hates that idea.”
“I think if I had an animal, I would face that same struggle. I wonder if the world would be easier to stand in a shifter form?”
“Probably not.” Liam snuggled my neck, tickling me. “Sounds are louder, smells are stronger, all senses are sharper.”
“Oh. So, overstimulation hell.”
“Pretty much.”
“That sucks. Do you ever get overwhelmed?” I wiggled in his lap a bit to get comfortable. I felt him get harder beneath me but neither of us seemed awake enough to do anything about it. Snuggling with him on the couch felt too nice to get in some sexy time. Maybe in the morning.
“Sometimes if I am around a lot of people. Like in a city. But out here, with nature? Not really.” Liam shrugged. “I can’t get overwhelmed with the sounds of the natural world. It’s the man-made world that overwhelms my senses. I could smell a whole field of wildflowers and be in heaven, but one old lady with floral perfume or a teenage boy overzealous with musky body spray? Yeah, I want to tear my nose off and run away.”
“I can relate.” I closed my eyes, imagining the serenity that nature offered and feeling a peace flow through me.
“Isaac never had the same issues.” Liam ran a hand through my hair lazily.
“I know. He lives for the busy crowd and party life.”
“He is the party life.” Liam chuckled and I had to join him.
“True.”
“But Nicola and I both preferred the downtime of the country. That’s why our parents moved up here when we were young. They saw how much the city was draining me. They said it was like moving flipped a switch and I was much calmer once we were out in the middle of nowhere.”
“My parents couldn’t move. Their jobs at the hospital and university there were too important.”
“You were important too though.”
“I know.” I ducked my head and closed my eyes. “My parents love me. I know that. But they weren’t sure how to deal with me sometimes.”
“It’s simple. They should have loved you and saw what was hurting you and did what they could to help you find the tools you needed to navigate the world.” There was a low growl in Liam’s voice, and I looked up into his eyes. His bear was at the surface, his amber eyes taking on a slight glow. I kissed his nose.
“And they did.” I laid my head on his chest. I loved to listen to his heartbeat when we were this close. “They had their own particularities. Sometimes it was hard. For all of us. But we all made it work.”
“Fine, I’ll believe you that they were good parents.”
“They were.”
“Your mom is a doctor and your father is a professor at the university? Any brothers or sisters?”
“Yup. Mom is a really popular OB-GYN, and dad teaches a psychology of spirituality class that always gets filled within minutes of the registration opening. People really love them. I have one brother and one sister. They are twins. They’re traveling Europe for the year before attending classes at Dad’s university.”
“Are you guys close?” Liam started rubbing my back and I started feeling sleepy.
“We used to be closer but now we are trying to rebuild the relationship. We do have a bit of an age gap but now that they are adults and I’m not with Alan, it will be better.”
“What does Alan have to do with your relationship with your siblings?” Liam’s brows lowered.“Let’s just say I was an idiot and never should have stayed with him as long as I did.” I huffed out a breath, frustrated at myself for being a fool. “He wanted me to give up all my dreams, friends, and family—”
“I really dislike that guy.” Liam growled, low and menacing.
“I know. But you don’t have to deal with him and neither do I.” I patted his chest. “Liam?”
“Yes?” His growl calmed to a purr.
“I’m falling asleep. Can we go to bed now?”
“Yes, babe. Let’s go to bed.”