Kira’s eyes widened when she remembered that Liam didn’t know about Juarez, and she sent me an apologetic look.
“Yeah, sure. I won’t leave it unlocked anymore.” Looking up at Liam, I asked, “Happy?”
“Yep.”
“Good. As much as I love having you two gang up on me over an unlocked door, how about movie time?”
He started walking toward one of the couches with me, but came to a stop, then took a few steps back. “I left my candy in the car.”
“You brought candy?”
“Movie night means candy,” he answered simply.
I bit back a smile and held my hands up in surrender until he turned and jogged out of the condo.
Less than a minute later he was back, and as soon as he was inside he was yelling, “You didn’t lock the door.”
“You weren’t even gone for sixty seconds!” I yelled back, and narrowed my eyes when I caught sight of his amused expression. “You’re so—” My words caught in my throat, and I froze as I eyed the offensive boxes in his hand. “What the fuck is that?”
Liam seemed startled by my horrified question, and glanced around him for a few seconds before looking at the candy in his hand and holding it up to show me. “This? It’s Sour Patch Kids candy.”
“Oh my God,” Kira whispered, her voice expressing the same horror as mine.
“Yeah. Saw that. Why are they in our condo?”
“Well, shit, are you allergic to these too?” Liam asked quickly. “You need to tell me these things.”
“We’re not, but we might as well be!” I waved my hand at the boxes and made a gagging noise. “You need to get rid of those.”
“Fuck no, they’re my favorite.”
“Since when?” I asked dramatically, like Liam had just told me he had an incurable disease.
“Since always! What is your deal?”
“You need to get rid of them,” Kira repeated my earlier words.
“Tell me what’s wrong with them first!”
“ ‘Sour Patch’ is our dad’s nickname for Mom,” Kira explained. “They’ve never told us why, and we’ve never asked. But they eat Sour Patch Kids like they need them to breathe. Kennedy and I can’t stand them because of our parents—they gross us out.”
Liam’s lips turned up. “Seriously?” He dropped one of the boxes on the kitchen counter and walked toward us as he opened the other. “I’m sure you’ll get over it.”
My eyes and mouth widened. “You’re really going to eat them?”
“Yeah, Moon. And I’m gonna kiss you as soon as I’m done.”
“I will castrate you,” I swore, and his smile widened.
“That’s not nice.” As soon as Liam was sitting on the couch, I started walking over to sit near Kira on the love seat, but Liam grabbed me and pulled me back, so I was sitting on his lap. “Movie time, and you’re sitting with me.”
Kira laughed as she started up the movie.
“So you’re allergic to anything that comes from water,” Liam muttered, and tapped my nose before popping a couple pieces of candy in his mouth. “What about you, Kira?”
“No allergies.”
“And you’re both abnormally disgusted by the best candy ever made. What else?”
I started to say, “Nothing,” but Kira cut me off. “Pancakes.”
“Ah, yes!” I said, and pointed at her. “Pancakes.”
Liam stopped chewing, and looked at me like he was worried about my well-being. “What in the hell is wrong with pancakes? Pancakes are a Sunday-brunch tradition in my family.”
“Oh, fuck that. Don’t ever ask us to brunch with your parents. And pancakes are another thing between my parents that we don’t understand. But their little inside jokes about pancakes have made Kira and me steer clear.”
“Don’t worry,” he said on a laugh. “Sunday is family day.”
“Then I’m safe.”
“Are there any foods in particular that you love?”
“Bananas,” I said on a sigh. “I freaking love bananas.”
“Amen to that,” Kira said distractedly.
“I probably could have guessed that from the never-ending supply in your fruit basket. Now, you don’t see me flipping out over that, do you? You’re both a little dramatic when it comes to—”
“Can we stop?” Kira pleaded. “You’re going to make me sick if you keep talking about those two things.”
“So dramatic,” Liam whispered, and repositioned me so we were both more comfortable. “That’s new,” he said awhile into the movie, as he traced just below the new tattoo.