Page 104 of My Family

He's always saying that word because deep down, he believes he's Batman.

Reed actually chuckles.

When the pizza arrives, the table goes quiet for the three seconds it takes for everyone to process that the food is real, is here, is happening.

Then it goes loud again as we attack it.

Jack takes two slices before anyone else touches the pepperoni.

Tyler gets one, then looks at me, rolls his eyes, slides his plate over to me, and gets another slice for himself.

I'm actually pretty shocked he'd do that.

I get a piece of each for Liam.

He beams at me, immediately biting into the cheese one.

Jack makes a noise that's basically a full moan.

"This is the greatest pizza in the history of human civilization," he announces, mouth full, cheese stretching from his lips to the slice in a string. "I want to be buried with this pizza."

"There won't be enough for that," Liam says.

Santana explains to the table that his spirit animal for the tournament was a panther, not a lion. He's revised the dream, and that's why he lost.

"You can't just revise a prophetic dream after you lose," Dan says.

"Spiritual interpretation evolves," Santana replies.

Liam laughs again, so I chuckle too.

This was a good day.

A damn good day.

Chapter 33. Liam

The pizza sits warm and heavy in my stomach as we stumble back into our room. My face still aches from the punch, but I don't care. I'm full, I'm happy, I'm with the man I love, and I just had the best time with my friends.

Life is good.

Ethan shuts the door behind us softly, then turns and leans against it, arms crossed, watching me with this look that's part hunger, part some other kind of hunger, and part you're the cutest thing on this planet.

"I love when you're smiling like that," he says.

I flop onto the bed, face-first into the blanket. "I'm high on carbs and humiliation."

He snorts. "You didn't embarrass yourself."

"I'm literally the only person who got knocked out in the first round."

He shrugs out of his hoodie and tosses it onto the other bed, exposing his arms, which should be illegal. "You got up. Twice."

"Once. The second time I just flopped."

"Still counts."

He crosses the room and kneels on the bed next to me, hands on my back. I'm not ready for how good that feels, his thumbs kneading my shoulders, so I just lie there, face pressed into the white comforter.