I smile at him. “I guess we’re staying in.”
He places his hands on my hips. “I really just want to hang out with you, but we can do anything you want. Hales would have ended up here, anyway.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and lay my head on his chest. “It actually sounds great.” I peer up at him. “I just want to be with you.”
Liam kisses the top of my head. “Let’s go get you some food.” We make our way to the kitchen, where we find Aiden standing with the refrigerator door hanging open.
He turns to face us and smiles. “Allison, how much do you love me?” he asks. I feel Liam tense beside me as he draws me tighter to his side.
“What do you want?” I ask him, snaking my arm around Liam’s waist. I can tell by the tone of his voice he wants something.
“I’m hoping, maybe, you might, possibly, want to make us some of your famous enchiladas?” he asks sweetly, batting his eyelashes at me.
I shrug. “Sure, if you go to the store and get what we need.”
“Yes. Liam, man, you don’t know what heaven is until you’ve had her enchiladas, they’re the bomb.”
Liam looks down at me. “Actually, I think I do,” he says only loud enough for me to hear.
Aiden leaves for the store, so Liam and I cuddle up on the couch to watch some TV. We end up watching Wedding Crashers on HBO. The last thing I remember is lying down on the couch with Liam bound tight in his arms.
I wake up to someone brushing a piece of hair behind my ear. I open my eyes to see Liam watching me. I’m curled up tight against his chest. “Hey, beautiful.” I blush.
“Hey.” I start to pull away, but Liam stops me.
“I’m not ready to let you go,” he whispers as he runs his fingers down my cheek. I hear voices in the kitchen, voices I don’t recognize.
“What time is it?” I ask him.
“It’s a little after eight.” This time I do jump up.
“Shit. I was supposed to make enchiladas. People are already here?” It comes out as a question, but I already know the answer from the voices and commotion in the kitchen.
“Yeah, Blitzen and a few of the guys got here about thirty minutes ago.” He shrugs.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Liam pulls me off the couch, lacing his fingers with mine. “Because I was enjoying having you in my arms and wasn’t ready to give that up.”
I just shake my head. Liam has to be the sweetest guy on the planet. There’s no way I can even fake being upset with him.
“Come on, boyfriend, you can watch me make dinner.”
A huge grin spreads across his face as we make our way into the kitchen. We walk in to find Aiden, Hailey, Blitzen, and the two guys from The Warehouse last night, Mike and Scott. Wow, was that really just last night? So much has happened since then.
“Hey, sleepy-head,” Hailey says to me.
“Hey.” I can feel my blush coming on. Did they all see us sleeping? Of course, they did, you have to pass the living room to get to the kitchen.
“What’s got you grinning like a mule with a mouthful of briars?” Blitzen asks Liam.
Liam draws me back into his chest and kisses right below my ear. “This beautiful girl just referred to me as her boyfriend for the first time.” He holds nothing back.
“Boyfriend,” Scott and Mike both say at the same time. Blitzen and Hailey don’t know the specifics, but, by the look on their faces, they aren’t surprised.
Liam nods. “Yes, boys, I’m officially off the market.”
They both start talking at all at once. I’m not sure who says what, but comments range from “Fuck me”, “holy shit”, and “I’ll be damned”. Liam seems oblivious too, or just doesn’t care about their shocked expressions.
“So,” Aiden says, obviously trying to break the ice, “are you still planning on making enchiladas? I bought enough to triple the batch.” He offers me a boyish grin.
“Yes, I’ll make you your enchiladas.” I sigh, like it’s a huge inconvenience, but I have a smile on my face. I enjoy cooking.
“Well, I brought the stuff to make a triple layer chocolate fudge cake. So, you boys go do whatever it is you do while us women slave in the kitchen for you.” Hailey ushers Aiden toward the living room.
All the guys, except for Liam, follow suit. “Um, that means you too, big brother,” Hailey chides him.
Liam has yet to let me go. “You need any help, baby?” he asks me, completely ignoring Hailey’s demands.
I shake my head. “I’m good, I’ve made this a million times. Besides, Hales has got my back.”
Liam twists me in his arms and kisses me slow and sweet. “Let me know if you need anything.” Then he turns and joins his friends in the living room.
Chapter 22
Liam
I make my way out to the living room still sporting a goofy ass grin on my face. I can’t help it. Allison is mine, after weeks of agonizing, she’s mine. I stop just outside the living room in the hallway. I know as soon as I enter the living room, the boys are going to give me shit. Honestly, I couldn’t care less. I’m more concerned they’ll say something about Allison that’ll piss me off. I don’t want to punch any of my friends, but I will. I take a minute to get my shit together.
I walk into the room. “There he is, Mr. Pussy Whipped himself,” Blitzen says with a grin.
I walk behind the chair he’s sitting in and slap the back of his head. “Watch your fucking mouth when you talk about me and my girl, fuckstick!” I hope getting it out there early will prevent further outbreaks of their diarrhea mouths.
Scott speaks up, “So, you really have a girlfriend?”
“Yes,” I reply, not wanting to get into it with him.
“She seems like a cool chic. She’s hot as hell,” Mike adds.
I want to yell at him, but he’s right. Allison is hot. Instead, I glare at him and change the subject. Much to my relief they roll with it. “So, what are we playing?”
“Texas Hold ‘em,” Aiden responds dryly. He always whines about losing too much money. He so needs to work on his poker face.
We’d just gotten through our first hand when Hales and Allison join us. There’s only one extra chair without bringing in another from the kitchen, and I’m fine with that. Hailey sits in the chair next to Aiden as I tug Allison onto my lap and kiss her shoulder. She relaxes against my chest while I continue to play my hand. Having Allison here with me like this is a dream come true. I keep touching her, my fingers splayed out across her belly. My other hand is playing with her hair, or rubbing circles on her thighs; I can’t control it. This makes playing cards difficult. I keep laying my cards down to touch her. I can see the looks my friends and sister are giving me, but frankly I don’t give a flying fuck. I’m happier in this moment than I can ever remember. Did I mention my girl is amazing?
After about twenty minutes, Allison tries to get up, but I hold her still. She looks over her shoulder at me. “I have to take the enchiladas out of the oven,” she says with a laugh.
I nod. “You need help, babe?” I ask her.