I rolled my eyes. “Of course, you’ve watched that.”
“Meaning you haven’t?” he sputtered. When I shook my head, he gaped at me. “We’re changing that. At some point, youarewatching that movie with me.”
“I can watch it with you,” Kat declared, sounding more like herself. Thank fuck.
“I think you’re too young, Kat.” He pulled a face. “I don’t know the age it’s rated for. I mean, there’s no…”
Stifling a laugh, I replied, “You’ll just have to wait, Kat. It’s like the rides at the amusement parks that are too big for you.”
“No fair,” she pouted. “I want to watch too.”
“We’ll find something to watch together, don’t worry. Conor loves cartoons.”
Her eyes lit up, and the joy overwhelmed the earlier episode of… What?Dissociation?How had I never seen how deep this went before? Because I was on the lookout for trauma, not something else like fugue states?
“We can watch those together!” she cheered, drawing me back into the conversation. “Do you likeNaruto?”
I groaned. “Don’t get her started on that weird fox dude. Only sociopaths grin like that—”
“Weird fox dude?” They both blurted that at the same time, their outrage unfabricated.
“Never mind that Kakashi weirdo.” Because my brain was on a delay, I asked Conor a stupid question, “You know he reads porn?”
Of course, Katina picked up on that. “What’s porn?”
Before I had to answer, someone called out, “Hey!” The three of us turned as one and found Seamus, Conor’s nephew, standing there, wearing an easy, welcoming smile. “Uncle Con!”
Conor hooked Shay around the neck and hauled him in for a bear hug. “You managed to stay out of trouble since I’ve been gone?”
His nose crinkled. “Maybe. You blacking out half of my social media helped.”
Chuckling, Conor drawled, “Be careful what you wish for and don’t get…” He cast a quick glance at Katina who was staring at the older boy with stars in her eyes. “…you know. Don’t be dumb.”
“I won’t. It was a party!”
Ah.Party = drunk.
“Anyway, I’m about to go and set up a game and wondered if you’d like to play with Victoria and me?”
Before my very eyes, my precocious brat of a kid blushed bright pink and turned timid as hell. “I’d like that. Thank you so much for including me.”
Without another look at either of us, she drifted away, her usual social commentary on life put on mute which was a testament to her sudden shyness.
Shaking my head at her antics, I turned to Conor who was studying me. “I know we have to talk but I can’t not do this,” he mumbled, stepping into me, one hand settling on my waist, the other cupping my nape.
When his mouth pressed against mine, I sagged into him, knowing he’d take my weight, knowing he’d support me.
That he always would.
My lips parted, accepting the soft greeting of his tongue, the caress a ‘hello.’ A ‘you make me happy.’
I’d never madeanyonehappy.
In fact, I’d always done the exact opposite and usually, I’d gone out of my way to ensure I pissed as many people off as I could. Bitter, discontented people did not make for nice humans.
But Conor changed that by being him.
I slipped my arms around his waist and clung to him, my head falling against his shoulder until he retreated, pressing his forehead to mine as we both caught our breaths.