There was no way he could fake that. Relief was written all over him.
My other eye opened too, and I watched him.
His breathing was slow and steady. His body was relaxed.
I felt so calm myself, the last thing I wanted to do was cook something else. I wasn’t even hungry, and I was always hungry.
“You should’ve negotiated for hand-holding instead of food,” I said.
I should’ve negotiated for that too.
He gave me a small, lazy grin, wrestling his eyes open slowly. “Do you want a pan too?”
“I wouldn’t say no to a stock pot, but I’ll offer a one-time trade. You can swap your dinner for snacks on my couch, with the sides of our arms touching through an entire movie.”
“Deal.” Ethan didn’t hesitate. He handed me my fork and knife, put his glasses back on, and stood up. After he released my hand, he grabbed his bag of snacks and strode to the couch.
I expected the discomfort to come back full-force after he let go, but the physical contact seemed to have calmed my wolf down. I could barely feel her at all.
Ethan found the remote and turned the TV on while I ate.
“What kind of movies do you like?” he asked me.
“Anything other than romance.”
“Shitty experiences ruined it for you?”
“Mmhm. The only thing I want to be romanced by at this point is gummy worms.”
“God, I love gummy worms.”
“You’re only collecting them because you’re nesting,Cupcake.” I threw his nickname back at him.
He snorted, digging around in his snack bag before he pulled out a massive pack of gummy worms. It was a resealable bag, and it was nearly empty.
Guess he really did like them.
“Are they hard yet?”
“Of course they aren’t. Tell me you’re not the kind of monster who leaves your gummy candy open to let it harden,” he said.
“It’s the only right way to enjoy it.”
Ethan sighed heavily. “It’s a good thing you’re not interested in romance. I could never love someone who eats stale candy.”
I bit back a grin as I finished up my food and dropped my plate in the sink with the rest of my dishes. It was overflowing, but that was a problem for the Maya of Tomorrow.
Ethan flipped through the movies on my favorite streaming app while I plopped down next to him on the couch.
I felt immediate relief again when our arms met, but it wasn’t as significant as before.
That was a good sign. If we could erase our wolves’ issues completely just by touching for a while, we could probably be apart for at least a couple days before the discomfort came back.
“How do you feel about horror?” Ethan checked.
I made a face. “Put it on the list with romance.”
He chuckled. “Alright… how about a murder mystery?”
