“Niall,” Mom chided him.
“Afantasticone,” he amended with a wink that must’ve tugged on his wound, because it was followed by a grimace.
I pivoted, then sidestepped Liam without so much as a glance his way, and took the stairs, my emotions in a tailspin.
Mom always said the moon amplified emotions in us shifters. I hoped she was right. I hoped that in the light of day I’d be able to sort through my jumbled feelings and filter out the superficial ones, the ones that made my ego throb like a stubbed toe. Just because Liam thought I was a child didn’t make me one.
Chapter 17
Imanaged to avoid Liam the entire first half of the week by spending most of my days in my bedroom or holed up at the hair salon with Adalyn. The great thing with my line of work was that I could do it from literally anywhere. I took on more commissions than I ever had, because working kept my mind off my bruised ego and the fact that Shifter Zero hadn’t yet been caught.
I still saw Storm daily. Just because I was no longer a fan of the dad, didn’t mean I was no longer a fan of the son.
Too sweet.How the hell had Liam managed to make something that really should’ve been a compliment sound like an insult? Was he only into bitches, and I didn’t mean the shifter type?
“And too young,” I muttered to Storm as I helped him fit animal shapes into a board that produced a jingle each time he got it right.
Mom had gone to pick up some last-minute items for the Thanksgiving feast Dad and Nolan were cooking up at Pondside, which was how I’d ended up sitting on my striped pink-and-beige rug with my back propped against my bedframe and Storm clapping happily beside me. The doorbell rang. Since Liam didn’t use the bell, I scooped Storm off the floor, balanced him on my hip, and went downstairs.
I was surprised to find Lucas standing on our doormat, wiping mud off his boots. “Came to fetch my man the Destroyer.”
It hadn’t snowed since the blizzard, but since the air was crisp, the land had stayed nice and white. Gold at the moment, since the sun was fading behind the crenellated mountains.
“Come on in. I need to get Storm’s jacket from the laundry room. We had a little spit-up situation.”
Lucas’s head swung from side to side as he stepped inside, his short ponytail swishing like a wolf’s tail. “Nice digs.”
“Thanks. It’s my parents’.” I caught my lower lip with my front teeth. “You probably knew that, though.”
He smiled at me. It wasn’t condescending. More like amused. “Yeah. I heard.”
My living arrangements probably fed into Liam’s belief that I was a kid. I definitely was ready for my own place. And not for Liam’s sake but for my own. Maybe tonight, I’d have a chat with Niall to check if that second bedroom still had my name on it.
I rounded the staircase toward the stairs that led to the basement, Storm still on my hip. Lucas was following me. “You can wait up here, if you want.”
“I enjoy visiting houses.”
“Really?” Because I was incredibly insecure, I assumed he was trailing me to make sure I didn’t endanger my precious, twittering cargo. Although, had he truly been worried, wouldn’t he have offered to carry Storm?
“I started designing the floorplans to my future house with my girl. It’s nice to see what’s out there. Sometimes, it sparks ideas.”
“So everything’s better between you two?”
“Better?”
Shoot.Maybe I wasn’t supposed to know his relationship was on the rocks. Too late now.
I wrapped my hand around the banister as I started down the stairs. “Liam mentioned you had a fight.”
“Did he, now? Our Alpha issucha gossip.”
Once I reached the bottom, I glanced over my shoulder. “He is?”
He chuckled. “Nope. The guy’s a tomb. I’m surprised he even mentioned my private life.”
As I headed to the stacked dryer and washer, I handed him Storm.
“Talking about private lives, haven’t seen you around for a few days.”
