Page 39 of The Reality of Wanting Him (Love Without Labels #1)

BLAKE

Producer: Have you ever been in love before coming on this show?

Blake: Ha. Absolutely not.

L iam’s alarm wakes me up, and I want to chuck his phone.

The thing must be broken. It can’t possibly be time to wake up already.

I glance at the window and confirm that it’s still dark out and exhale a sigh of relief as I shut my eyes and settle back into Liam’s warm arms that are wrapped around me in his bed.

He must have set the wrong time. We should have another hour or two before we actually have to get up.

But then his arm slides away from me and he places a soft kiss on the back of my neck. “Time to get up, sleepyhead.”

He did not just say that.

I groan, rolling over to chase his warmth, and when I find he’s already abandoned the bed, I pull the covers up tight over my shoulder and squeeze my eyes shut.

I know he mentioned something about getting up early to do farm things, but surely this is a prank.

Some “welcome to farmlife” hazing. He can’t possibly expect me to get up when the sun isn’t even out, right?

“Don’t you want to go feed your babies, daddy Blake?” he teases, and that gets me to reluctantly open one eye, peering up at him skeptically.

“You’re serious?” I mumble, making him laugh.

“I warned you that we’d have to get up early, but it’s not even that early. It’s just winter so it’s still dark out at seven-fifteen. The cameras are probably already waiting for us outside.”

Goddamn those fucking cameras.

I finally force myself into a sitting position, opening both eyes to look around, half assuming the cameras would be in here to catch his cruel joke for the show.

Thankfully, though, it’s just us in here.

Fuck, I think he’s serious. Then what he said catches up to me, and I realize that means it’s time to go see my babies!

“Daddy’s coming,” I say as I throw off the blanket and jump out of bed.

I know they can’t hear me, but I don't actually know. Dogs have better hearing than people, maybe other animals do too. So, on the off-chance chickens have super hearing, I figure I should reassure them that I’ll be there soon.

It also makes Liam laugh, so today is already a great morning, despite the ungodly hour it is, even if it is after seven.

Liam also insists that I wear his clothes so my “fancy shit,” as he lovingly called it, doesn’t get dirty.

I love that we’re similar enough in size to do that sort of thing.

I’m also very into the hungry look he’s giving me while I’m wearing his old college T-shirt under one of his thick flannels that smells just like him.

Maybe he’ll let me keep wearing his stuff after I’ve moved in. Even if he doesn’t explicitly order me to. If it has him looking at me like that, I’ll gladly wear his wardrobe every day. Yep, it’s decided—I’ll still steal his clothes anyway.

There’s a slight sting in my ass as I move around, but I kind of love it.

The sensation is a pleasant reminder of what happened between us last night.

Liam fucking me was everything I had hoped it would be and more.

The feeling of him filling me up from the inside was unlike anything I’ve experienced before, and I already want more.

I know he’s mentioned something about enjoying both topping or bottoming, and if he wants me to, I definitely won’t say no to the chance to fuck him.

But, if I'm being totally honest, I’d be content to have him top me for the rest of our lives.

Even better than the truly mind-blowing orgasms, Liam told me he loves me.

No one has ever told me those words. I’ve never felt them for anyone either.

I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have met Liam the way that I did.

I don’t think I would have even thought to consider a relationship with a man if it wasn’t for the show, and it’s by far the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

I’m glad I wasn’t able to identify gender, and instead, just went with what felt right. Liam definitely feels right.

He even has an extra coat for me, so we head right for my babies, and as Liam predicted, the camera crew is outside waiting.

“With it being winter, there aren't quite as many daily chores to do this early in the season, but since my dad’s been on his own here, I want to check over some things, and maybe start knocking stuff off the list he’s got going for me,” Liam explains as we cross the field to the coop.

“Plus, we’ll want to make sure the animals have enough feed and water.

We’ll come back a little later in the day to get their eggs. ”

“And hangout with them?” I check, because I fully intend to spend as much of my day with the chickens as I can to get to know each and every one.

I want to help Liam with the other stuff too, but as much as I wish I could claim to know what I’m doing when it comes to fixing things up around the farm, or even doing the daily chores, I’m completely clueless.

I hope he’s ready to teach me everything he knows.

I don’t plan to stay as incompetent as I currently am for long.

I’ve felt a connection to this farm, a sense of home that’s been lacking in any of the other places I’ve lived since we first got here.

I want to be a part of it, to make my own impact on this place that feels so alive with the history of Liam’s family.

I want to help him make it into the best possible version it can be, the one he mentioned his mom dreamed of.

I wish that I could have met her, she sounds like such a wonderful person.

The total opposite of the woman who birthed me.

“You’ll have plenty of chicken-time today, I promise,” Liam answers with an indulgent smile.

He reaches down to interlock our fingers between us, and I swing our arms a little, trying to rein in my excitement over seeing them again.

If he wasn’t holding my hand, I likely would have jogged ahead by now, but I don’t actually know how to open the coop for the day.

Liam and his dad showed me how to lock everything up last night, but they’ll probably have to show me again because I was too bummed about saying goodbye to all the chickens to really absorb everything.

“Good morning, my sweet babies,” I sing off-key as Liam opens the coop and the chickens spring out to greet me.

Liam is laughing, saying something about them just looking for food, but I know they can sense how much I love them already, and that they want to spend time with me just as much as I do with them.

Liam walks me through everything that we have to do to get ready for the day, and I really do try to focus.

But between all the adorable chickens surrounding him, and how hot he looks confidently moving around the space as he lifts heavy bags of feed like they weigh nothing, it’s safe to say I’m distracted.

After Liam finishes everything with the chickens, he has to use his bossy tone that he usually reserves for bedroom activities to finally get me to agree to leave.

The cameras, which I kind of forgot about yet again, have been filming us since we left his house this morning.

They’ve been following us around the property as Liam seems to work through a mental checklist of the farm's equipment, making sure everything is working properly.

I have no clue what he’s doing, but he sure looks hot doing it.

How did I ever ignore how attractive men clearly are?

We’re in a barn, an “outbuilding” I think they called it, that looks like it’s used for storage.

He’s shed his layers and his farm-earned muscles are flexing, demanding all my attention as he looks at the engine of something that wouldn’t start.

Eventually his dad joins us, handing us each a cup of coffee.

We thank him, and Liam quickly sets his down to resume inspecting what Wyatt informs me is a driveable lawn mower.

I chug my mug, desperate for the caffeine to work its magic.

I’ll need to get Liam one of those coffee pots with a programmable timer if he’s going to wake me up this early on a regular basis so I’ll at least have hot coffee to look forward to at the ass crack of dawn.

Wyatt laughs, eyeing my now empty cup. “Want a refill?”

I glance at Liam, wondering if he’ll mind us leaving him. But I actually did want to talk to his dad alone. “Liam, would you mind if your dad and I got some more coffee and enjoyed it with the chickens?” I call out, and he waves us off, promising to find us when he’s done.

We detour to Wyatt’s kitchen for a refill, and he grabs his own mug before we head back outside. “You really seem to like these birds, huh?” he says casually after I call out to them, announcing our arrival. “Have you been around hens in the past?”

“Never,” I say with a huge grin. “But I love them already. I have a dog, Lucky, and she’s been the most important thing in my life until recently.

She’s really sweet with smaller animals and kids and stuff so I think she’ll fit in well here.

I know she’ll love all the extra space to run around and play.

I try to give her as much of that in the city as possible, but it’ll never compare to all this.

I’m hoping when I move here we can get even more animals, maybe some cows and goats.

I love the plans you guys have for the farm and bringing more people here.

It’s a really special place, and I’m excited to be a part of it all. ”

My answer must have been the right thing to say because Wyatt’s smile grows and his eyes seem to shine.

“That’s all we ever wanted for him, ya know,” he says, sounding like he’s far away, maybe lost in memory.

“Someone who could care about this place as much as he does. Or at least, because he does.”