Page 117 of Seeking Stars
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Liam rescheduled a few things over the speakerphone, including a plan for Mo to come to Liam's place in a couple of hours to drop off Ana's bag and food for dinner. Once he hung up, Liam and Ana chatted about the production forLethal Whispers, keeping away from personal matters while he drove.
Ely texted Ana as they got to his house. It included the screenshot of a blurry picture of them someone had taken in the parking garage, and which was doing the rounds.
Ely: I'm happy for you guys! You'll have to tell me the deets after you're done tearing each other's clothes off. Don't hurry, I can wait!
Ana chuckled. "Seems the couple you took pictures with spied on us and posted it on social media."
"Mh?" Liam put the car in Park and opened his car's door.
He came around to find Ana, who'd gotten out of the car as well and now showed him the picture.
"Worth it," was all he said.
She followed him inside. She kicked off her shoes automatically and, with a chuckle, he did too.
"I wonder why I kept my shoes the first time I came here," she said.
He took her hands and walked backwards, leading her further into the house. "I thought maybe you taking them off now meant that you're entering my home feeling more comfortable… like this could be a home to you, too."
"Huh." She smiled, a response to his grin.
She assumed he'd lead her to the living room but he didn't, he turned towards his bedroom. She arched her eyebrow, her smile in place.
The decor echoed the same style as the rest of his house: dark tones, broken up by warm wood and light gray bedspread and linens. The headboard served as a focal point in the middle of the neutrality, its blue so intense it reminded her of the ocean. In the same vein, there were more paintings here, like in the rest of his house. Her eyes rested briefly on a family picture on top of his dresser.
A small, curious part of her wanted to study the photo, but she didn't. She'd have time for that later. Now all that mattered was the gleam in his eyes.
He pulled her to him. He placed her hands on his back and then put his own on her face, holding her with thumbs on her jawline.
"There is something you need to know," he said.
"What's that?"
He smoothed back her hair, fingers running through her loose hair until they cradled the back of her neck. "I love you, too."
Warmth exploded in the middle of her chest, the spark she'd tried to stomp out the first day at the beach bursting into a constellation.
She filled her hands with his shirt and stole a kiss from him.
"I love you, Liam. Everything I was most worried about happened—" she let out an exasperated chuckle— "my career was threatened, I’m in the tabloids. I was so scared of getting hurt again, and I did get hurt, and yet all that stuff doesn’t seem so bad now. Not because it wasn’t awful, it was. But because it was worth it to get to this place, with you."
"I feel at home with you too." He kissed her again. "Let's do this together. It's all I ever wanted."
Chapter 24 - Home
They had a meal together with Mo, who left in the early evening. Liam and Ana made drinks and took them outside, where Liam insisted that they sit on the same lounge chair. Ana rested against his chest and between his legs.
She sighed, burrowing into him.
"Comfortable?"
"Very."
"I imagined this many times, when we were at the beach." He surrounded her with his arms.
"It was a good time, wasn't it."
