Page 28 of Trust in Me
21
Avery
Shit.
I was cuddled on the couch under a blanket while Brax flipped through the movie options. When he’d asked what I wanted to watch, I hadn’t anticipated this. But now that he was going through a list of horror movies, I was regretting my answer ofOh, anything.
Should I let him know I was scared of ghost movies?
It was silly. A college degree, a doctorate, and I was still unable to get scary images out of my mind? Ridiculous. People liked these movies for a reason. I could like them.
Probably.
Brax clicked on The Shining. “How about this one, darlin’? Have you seen it?”
I shook my head.
Brax raised his eyebrows. “Really? It’s a classic. You’re missing out.”
I bit my lip. I couldn’t lie to Brax. He’d know, and I’d feel terrible. Even about something this silly. “Well, I’ve seen part of it. I just haven’t seen through to the end.”
Because I’d had to turn it off because it was too scary. And the scene with the lady in the bathtub was still burned into my brain. But he didn’t need to know that.
“Oh, the ending is the best. You’ll love it.” He started the movie and settled in next to me.
40 minutes into the movie, I was closing my eyes for the third time to block out a scene when the sound disappeared. I cracked one eye open to peek up at Brax.
“That’s three times you’ve gone completely stiff, held your breath and, I believe, closed your eyes. Something you’d like to share with me?” Brax looked down at me.
Not only were my eyes closed this time, I had my hands up over them. Yeah, I was a wimp.
“I’m, um…kind of...scared of horror movies,” I admitted. I hid my face in his side.
“Kind of?” Even without looking, I knew his eyebrow was raised.
Damn perceptive Doms.
“Well, um...they scare me a lot. Like the scene with the bathtub in this one. I had to stop the movie the first time I watched it and I still can’t get that scene out of my head. It’s been like ten years.”
Brax pulled me back to look me in the eye. “There’s nothing wrong with that, darlin’. However, there is definitely something wrong with hiding the truth.”
I chewed on my lower lip. “I guess I figured if you wanted to watch it, I could handle it.”
Brax snorted, squeezing me into his side. “I’ve seen this a million times. I don’t need to see it another time. I want to watch your favorite movie.”
He wouldn’t, but he was the one who’d asked.
“Um…it’s Pitch Perfect. I know, it’s really silly, but it just makes me feel good. We don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to. We can find something else.”
Brax picked up the remote wordlessly, flipping through menus until he found the right movie. The familiar opening song filled the room and I relaxed into him, losing myself in the movie I’d seen more than a dozen times.
Halfway through, I looked up at Brax. I expected to see impatience, or a face that implied he thought this movie was stupid, or any of the expressions I’d seen before when an old boyfriend grudgingly agreed to let me choose the movie. Instead, he was engrossed in the movie. He turned his head, smiling down at me. He winked before he turned back to the screen. I grinned, too, then turned back to the Barden Bellas.
I was nearly asleep when the movie ended, my head on Brax’s shoulder. When he moved his arm out from around me, I blinked my eyes open for a moment, then closed them again. Sleep was good.
He tugged at my hand. “Time to get up to go to bed, darlin’. Work in the morning.”
I groaned and leaned deeper into the couch. “Just sleep here. I’m good.”
