Willow nodded and sat up, swinging her legs around to the floor.
She took my hand and together we stepped into the kitchen.
Liam glanced down at our joined hands but didn’t make a face or say something slurry. He was trying, and I guessed he deserved credit for that.
The three of us made quick work of putting the groceries away—however, Willow and I might’ve been putting things in the wrong spot.
“We’re watching ‘Beetlejuice’ if you want to join us,” Willow told Liam when the last of the groceries were put away.
“No thanks.” He shook his head. “I’m going to hang out in my darkroom for a while before I make dinner. Enjoy your movie.”
With a wan smile, he passed us and headed down the hall to the room. A moment later we heard the door click shut and locked.
“Darkroom?” I asked Willow. “People still do that?”
She lifted one slender shoulder in a shrug. “Liam does,” she said those two words like they explained everything. Maybe they did.
The rest of the day passed relatively peacefully. We finished the movie, ate dinner with Liam, and went to bed regretfully alone.
That is, until Willow snuck into my bed around two in the morning.
At last, I could finally rest.
Willow
I rolled over, laying my hand on Dean’s chest and burrowing my head in the crook of his neck. He reached up and pulled his fingers through my hair. Outside the bedroom windows we could hear the roar of the ocean lapping against the sand.
“Liam’s going to kill us if he finds you here,” Dean warned, but he made no move to kick me out of his bed.
I’d snuck in a few hours ago and we’d both fallen right to sleep, but now we were up, watching the sun rise and bathe the room in hues of navy and orange.
“I don’t care.”
I felt that after yesterday on the boat Liam had become more understanding of my relationship with Dean. I knew it was a shock for him and he needed a moment to adjust.
“It’s beautiful here,” I said softly after a moment. “I can see why Liam wanted to move here.”
Dean’s fingers glided over my back and I shivered.
“What got Liam into surfing?” He asked, his fingers still on their trail. “I don’t remember.”
“The whole band had to be in L.A. for the summer when we were ten and that’s when he learned. I did too, but I never had a passion for it.” I curled my body closer to his.
“You can surf?” He sounded surprised.
I nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I’m not pro-level by any means, but I can do it.”
“Wow,” Dean grinned at this information, “something I don’t know about you.”
“I guess it’s rare for us not to know stuff about each other, isn’t it?” I laughed.
“It is…” He agreed. “What’s my favorite color?”
“Red.” I glanced up in time to see his pleased smile. “Mine?” I prompted.
“Yellow and green because you refuse to pick just one,” he replied.
“Exactly,” I nodded, “it’s an injustice to have to choose between two perfect colors.”