Page 62 of Guarding the Singer

"You want to eat that here? Or should we take it somewhere else?"

She looked up, her cheeks heating up with embarrassment.

"I guess we should go somewhere with chairs?"

He shrugged. "I don't mind if we do. But you've had quite a day. If you sit on the floor-"

She laughed, nodding. "I might not get up again." She tipped her head toward the living room. "We can go in there."

She already had the bag open and a takeout container in one hand.

Before she could start to pack it up again, William reached over and picked up the bag. "Come on, Hangry. Let's get a move on."

She rolled her eyes but laughed as he stepped back to wait for her to precede him.

She edged by him and made her way into the living room. "Sorry. You must think I have the most horrible manners."

He laughed and set the bag down on the massive coffee table. "I think you're just hungry. You should be around me when I'm hungry and hanging out with friends. They're lucky if they get anything off my plate." He gave her a smile as she sat down, drawing a leg under her. "You, I might share with... Might."

She gave him a measured look as he pulled out one of the drinks from the carrier and held it out to her.

Selene took it from his hands and pulled the seal off of the lid and set it down on the table. "The other one is for you, unless you don't like Thai Tea."

He shrugged. "Sounds good."

"Oh," she nodded, her eyes wide, "it's goood."

They opened the rest of the plates and when they were done, William had to shake his head. "That's... a lot."

She was already sipping her tea. "It's enough for four. I thought it might be a good idea if Badger gets hungry."

He thought he heard a little hesitation in her voice and didn't want her to worry. "Hey. I can eat. You don't have to worry about eating in front of me. You could eat like a linebacker, and I'd be okay with it. I'm not here to judge you, Sel. If you're hungry. Eat."

She looked at him as if she wasn't quite sure if he meant it.

He didn't blame her for it.

He'd heard from Mary about people fat shaming Selene for having hips. There was an infamous bathing suit shot when she'd been on vacation and people thought they saw a little fat.

William's jaw tightened as he thought about it.

People could be so fucking cruel.

He looked up and saw the way she looked at the food on the table.

"Wow... That was a lot of food."

Fuck.

He didn't want her to think that there was a reason not to eat if she wanted to, but he had a feeling he could say it until he was blue in the face, but he didn't want to badger her into eating. That wasn't what he wanted to do.

So, he reached out and grabbed one of the spring rolls and pointed it at the sauce in the container. "What's that?"

She looked over at it and he saw the interest in her eyes and the little bite into her bottom lip before she answered. "That's sweet chili sauce. It's good."

He smiled at her tone. There was more life in it than it had a few moments before when she looked at the table with regret.

"Good, huh?"

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