“I’m good with that.”
He flipped through a few of them, reading the descriptions. Two were newish, and one was an older movie that didn’t look super interesting.
The runtimes were vastly different. The newer ones were right around ninety minutes, and the older one was above two hours.
He picked the older one without commenting on it.
My lips twitched.
He was crafty. I’d give him that.
“Was your discomfort still better after we stopped touching earlier?” I asked him.
“Much better. It was still manageable when you sat back down,” Ethan admitted.
“Good.”
Thatwasgood. Really good.
“We need to have a plan for what we’re going to do about our… problem… after this is over.” I gestured toward the TV.
“You don’t want a mate bond,” Ethan said, without turning to face me. It wouldn’t have mattered if he did. I couldn’t see his eyes through the glasses, so I wouldn’t have any clues into whatever he was feeling. “I understand completely, and like I told you, making you uncomfortable isn’t in my best interest. You can make the rules, Muffin.”
“You have got to stop calling me that.”
“I don’thaveto do anything.”
I snorted. “Let’s just plan on going back to our normal lives after this. When either of us starts feeling uncomfortable again because of our wolves, we can plan another dinner. No gifts required.”
“It seems to hit me harder than it does you. You’re perfectly functioning. I’m not.” He was still avoiding looking at me.
“Then you get to be the lucky bastard instigating more movie nights, Cupcake.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“Mmhm.” The movie started playing. The video quality was so poor, its age was very obvious.
I didn’t comment on it, though.
Ethan had been in bad shape before and clearly needed the physical contact. Without the movie, we were going to end up talking more. And the more we talked, the more I liked him.
So, the shitty movie was perfect.
We ate his overly-soft gummy worms, followed by the rest of the snacks he’d brought with him. When I started dozing off thirty minutes in, he put a pillow behind my head.
I didn’t wake up again until the sun was streaming through the windows the next morning.
three
ETHAN
“She letyou stay for a movie night?” Abby asked, her expression incredulous.
“Yup.” I popped a gummy worm in my mouth.
All of my friends’ mates—minus Zoe, since her thing with Connor was new—had shown up on my porch the next morning with my friends in tow. The guys were all in the kitchen, making food, while I sat on the couch with their women.
Honestly, I was surprised a fist fight hadn’t broken out over the way I had the ladies’ attention.
