“It wasn’t voluntarily!” I called out.
“I can see that.” Liam’s mom sighed, and I listened to her light footfalls as she approached us. From the way Liam bent, I assumed she was giving him a hug, but then I heard a smack and Liam cringed. “Put the poor girl down! Gently! Gently put her down.”
As soon as I was on my feet, I straightened and blew out a frustrated breath, then turned to see everyone watching me with amused expressions. “Hi,” I said awkwardly. But no one said anything back; they just kept smiling as they looked between Liam and me. “Um . . . huh. So . . . the pancakes smell good.”
“So you’re in love with this loser, huh?” Liam’s aunt Bree asked.
A startled laugh bubbled past my lips, and my eyes darted over to Kristi and then Brandon, who were both smiling patiently, and I could only assume from their looks that they’d told the rest of the family about my decision. “Uh yeah. Yeah, I am.”
“And the ex?”
“Bree,” everyone said at once, and gave her a look.
Konrad, her husband, pulled her back and put a hand over her mouth as he shrugged. “Don’t listen to her.”
There were mumbled words coming from Bree, but all I could catch were the words dog bed when Konrad dropped his hand.
“Don’t you shush me,” she bit out at him, then looked back at me. “Well, I still want to know.”
I looked at Liam’s parents and sister, and both sets of his aunts and uncles, and tried to find the right words. I knew Liam was close with his family, so I wouldn’t have doubted that they all knew what had been going on between us over the past month. But he’d also told me about last weekend and the huge blowup over Thanksgiving and me on our way over here, so I felt like I owed them some explanation. I just couldn’t figure out how much of an explanation I wanted to give them—not to mention that this was an incredibly awkward situation.
“You don’t have to answer that,” Liam leaned down to whisper.
Grabbing his hand, I held on to it as tight as I could. “There’s nothing between Rhys and me anymore, and there’s no chance of any relationship ever again. I told him last night that I’d chosen Liam, and he was surprisingly okay with it.”
Bree still looked like she was hoping for more, but the rest of Liam’s family was either glaring at her or giving me sympathetic looks.
“Well, now that you’re done being rude,” Liam’s mom said to Bree, then looked back toward us, “I think it’s time for pancakes. Everyone hungry?”
Liam must have felt the way I tightened, because he whispered, “Banana pancakes.”
“I can do this,” I said to myself, and Liam failed at holding back a laugh.
“Yes, you can. It won’t be that bad, I promise.”
He was right. They weren’t that bad. Actually, the pancakes were to die for, and if Liam hadn’t cleaned the rest of them out, I would have gone back for thirds. Liam and I were curled up on an oversized chair together, and everyone else in the family was spread throughout the living room and kitchen as they talked and finished eating.
“How many did you eat?” Liam asked when he set his plate on top of mine on the end table.
“Six,” I boasted proudly. “My stomach is so happy and fat right now.”
“Look at you eating pancakes. I’m proud of you. I should give you a medal or something.”
“Don’t ruin this moment. This aftereffect of the pancakes is better than the ones from the orgasms you give me.”
Liam hooked an arm around my neck and pulled me close so he could whisper, “I somehow doubt that. But if you still think so in five minutes, I’ll have to remind you how much better the latter is.”
“Five minutes?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “Are we leaving already?”
“Why would we have to leave? There are a lot of bathrooms and bedrooms in this house.”
“Liam Taylor,” I harshly whispered. “We are not doing anything in your parents’ house.”
“We are if I feel like you need to remember how easily I can start making you scream.”
My eyes widened, and I glanced around to make sure no one in his family was close enough to overhear us. “I cannot believe you just said that here.”
“When was it?” he asked in my ear, and nipped on it. “After your second orgasm last night? Yeah . . . after the second. And we both know just how fast it is to get you there.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. You love me, and I fucking love those piercings and what they do to you.”
My breathing had deepened, and I was now beyond mortified that I was getting turned on in front of his family. “Liam, you have to shut up.”