Page 52 of The Jorogumo

I spotted Liam almost instantly, then frowned when I saw the smaller man practically wrapped around his front.

Liam stood frozen, the look on his face clearly displaying his discomfort, but the young man clinging to him paid it nomind as he practically climbed my mate like a kid's playground equipment.

Quickening my steps, I slid up beside him almost silently, and paid the other human no mind as I took Liam's face in my hand, turning his head so our eyes met.

"You okay, sweetheart?" I murmured, and I could feel the way his whole body relaxed into me.

Turning to look at the human who'd finally gotten the message and taken a step back, I raised a brow at him, making my claim on my mate clear.

He glanced between us, then grinned widely. "Ah, I see how it is. I don't suppose you're looking for a third?"

I shook my head, and he gave a pout. "My bad. Sorry for the jungle gym treatment, dude. You're both sexy as fuck."

Giving us a salute, the man took off into the crowd, and I watched him go with a shake of my head.

"Here." I held out the water bottle, and Liam stared at it for a long moment before taking it from me.

He gulped down half the bottle before he paused to breathe, and his eyes flicked between me and the bottle, hesitant.

"Are you okay?" I asked again, this time without an audience, and Liam nodded slowly.

"Sorry about that."

"Why are you sorry?"

Liam shrugged, eyes still not meeting mine. "I should've told him I was here with someone. Shouldn't have frozen up."

"It's okay. We don't know how we'll react until something like that happens. Not your fault."

"That's how Ialwaysreact. I should know better."

My brows furrowed at his statement, and I gave him a curious look. "Does that happen often?"

"Well, not that often, but I look like a bear, so," he said with a shrug, as if that explained everything. It didn't, not to me.

"How about we get out of here? We can take a walk and you can explain to me why you think you look like a wild animal."

Liam gave me a confused look, then snorted in amusement, which confusedme. "Yeah, okay."

Nineteen

Haruto

We strolled hand inhand for a few minutes, turning onto a less crowded street so we could talk.

Liam was lost in his thoughts, and I squeezed his hand, leaning into him. "Liam? You okay?" He hummed, but didn't speak, so I prompted him. "What did you mean back there?"

Liam sighed, like he'd been hoping I would forget, and I wouldn't have mentioned it, if not for how sad he'd looked when talking about it.

He'd frozen solid when that man started hitting on him, but while he'd looked uncomfortable, he'd also seemed sad, which I couldn't quite make sense of.

"I wasn't actually talking about wild bears, you know." His lips curved upward as he spoke, and I was glad to see him smiling again, even if it was nowhere near as bright as his usual smiles.

"No?"

He shook his head, then glanced over at me. "I love how eclectic your knowledge about human pop culture and slang is. It's fascinating."

I raised a brow at him, easily catching onto his deflection.

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