Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 162

I can feel it before she even says a word-the shift in her scent, the way her body tenses ever so slightly. Lia’s heart is coming again.

It’s been a few days since the incident, and everything is okay. Or it seemed to be okay when I walked in and saw that Lia was not in a good way. I cleared my throat, trying to get her attention.

Lia looked up, but then she looked away again. Sighing, I decided to just sit across from her and just try to get her to open up. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I would do my best.

She’s curled upon the couch, arms wrapped around her knees, staring at nothing. I settle next to her, close enough that our shoulders brush. “It’s starting again, isn’t it?”

She lets out a breath, a small nod following. “Yeah.”

There’s hesitation in her voice, a weariness that twists something in my chest. I reach for her hand, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. “You don’t have to go through this alone, you know.”

She looks up at me then, the corner of her mouth quirking up. “I know.” I grin. “Good. Because you’d have to fight us off if you tried.”

A real laugh escapes her, and the tension in her shoulders eases a little. “You make it sound like you’d throw yourselves at me.” I smirk “Oh, we absolutely would. It’d be a full-on intervention. Think padded walls and straitjackets.”

She snorts, shaking her head. “That’s dark” I shrug, still grinning. “You laughed.”

Her smile lingers, and I count that as a win.

“I’ll be here,” I tell her, my voice quieter now, more serious. “We all will.”

She squeezes my hand, and for the first time tonight, she looks like she believes it.

There’s a beat of silence before I nudge her with my shoulder. “By the way, if you do decide to run away from us, I’m taking the couch. It’s way too comfy to give up.”

She raises an eyebrow. “You’d be the one running, not me.”

I chuckle. “I’m just saying, if I’m stuck with you through this whole thing, I might as well make it comfortable. Maybe throw in some popcorn and a movie marathon.”

She rolls her eyes. “That’s your solution to everything, huh? Popcorn and movies?” “No, it’s usually Rain’s job, but he has started to worm his way into my head.”

I said this seriously because it was the truth. He had started to worm his way into my head, much to my annoyance. There was no avoiding Rain.

“Rain is rubbing off on you.”

“Hey, it’s proven to work Haven’t you ever heard of the healing power of snacks?”

“Oh my god, are you Rain?” Lia asked, gasping loudly. “I can’t believe I am sitting here with Jesse, who has been taken over by Rain! Unless Rain has learned the ability to shapeshift.”

“Lia, answer my question.”

She smirks. “No, but I’m willing to test it out. On one condition.” I lean in, curious. “What’s that?”

“You make the popcorn. I’m not trusting you with the microwave again.” “Deal,” I reply quickly. “But only because I’m a man of principle and dedication.” Lia snorts. “Right. You’ll need those skills if we’re stuck in this for a while.” “Exactly. I’m nothing if not prepared.”

“Prepared to overfeed me, you mean.”

“Exactly.” I wink “And if it helps, I’ll even throw in a blanket fort for extra comfort.”

Lia laughs again, the sound light and easy, and for a moment, I feel like everything is going to be okay.

Then she sighs, resting her head against my shoulder. “Thanks for this,” she murmurs. “For distracting me.” I soften. “Anytime.”

“Just don’t burn the popcorn.” I scoff. “No promises.”

It wasn’t a big deal if Rain was rubbing off on me. Given that I spent a lot of time with my friends, it was obvious that he was going to rub off on me,

“Why don’t you make the popcorn?” I asked. “Why do I have to do it?”

“Fuck that is adorable,” I muttered, looking at Jesse. “Why is she so damn cute?”

“I have no idea why she is so damn cute, but it’s going to be the death of us, Rain. That much is for sure.”

But the rest of the movie was still playing, so I wasn’t going to stop. I laughed, trying my best not to wake Lia, but it didn’t matter how loud I laughed. She remained passed out where she was sleeping until we had to gently shake her awake.

“Did I fall asleep?” she asked, blinking slowly. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, Lia. No one cares that you fell asleep during the movie,” I assured her, giving her a grin. “I’m heading to bed. Night, guys.”

It wasn’t just trying. We had managed to do it, and I felt better that Lia was going to be able to sleep a little better tonight. Yawning, I glanced at Jesse. “Think I am going to head to bed too. I have to coach a bunch of little kids tomorrow.”

“Good luck with that,” Jesse said with a chuckle.

“Hey, I like teaching the kids. We all have to start somewhere, you know. Remember when we started playing rugby?”

“Yeah, we sucked,” Jesse said with a laugh. “And we can still play in some semi-professional leagues, you know. It doesn’t mean we won’t be able to ever participate in rugby again.”

“I know. Right now, I’m going to focus on coaching, which is the most important thing to me.”

It was something I was enjoying, though. I was going to be thrilled to be watching them learn to play rugby, seeing them try their hardest to learn rugby skills from a professional. Not that I was bragging.

But I was a professional. Or at least I had been at one point. Then came all this bullshit with the coven, stopping my rugby career.

Not that I was bitter. I might sound a little bitter, but I wasn’t.

Yawning, I climbed up the stairs and threw myself down onto the bed. Colby was out talking with the werewolf association, so I didn’t have to worry about waking him up. By the time he got here, I was likely going to be knocked out anyway.

I did hope that Lia’s heat didn’t happen until the weekend when all of us were there. That way, we would know that we would be able to help her through it without any trouble.