AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The truth of it had me answering just a touch defensively. “Well, my best friend died in a car accident, and the guy I was dating at the time decided he didn’t want an instafamily, so my calendar has been a little light. Sorry I’m not a social butterfly, but I haven’t really been in the mood for it the last couple months.”
The moment I said it, I wanted to suck the words right back in. But that was the thing about words and how we say them to people. No matter how much we want to, we can’t undo them.
“That wasn’t fair,” I said immediately. “I shouldn’t have said it.”
Liam’s features were so immovable that it was easy to imagine an artist somewhere carving his profile into marble. He’d look harsh and unforgiving etched into stone. Like a warrior or a king.
And it was beyond comprehension to me that he was aiming that look in my direction because I didn’t get massages or go see my friends.
It was also beyond comprehension that I found myself feeling grateful for it. That he hadn’t backed down simply because I’d swiped at him unfairly.
“People say a lot of unfair shit when they’re hurt, yeah?”
I nodded.
“I might have done that a time or two,” he added quietly.
My eyebrows arched of their own volition.
He frowned. “Fine. I’ve done that a lot.” At his admission, I desperately tried to swallow down the lump in my throat. It was big. But he wasn’t done. “I’ve done that a lot to you.”
I sighed, rubbing at my forehead. “I know I don’t get out much. I just ... get really tired when I think about trying.”
Liam’s jaw clenched. “You need to get out of this house, Valentine. Go have some fun.”
Fun.My definition had changed the last few months. I wasn’t even sure I knew how to define it anymore.
If I was being honest, there had been a slow shift over the last few years. Amie had always been the one who pulled me out of my ruts, and if she were here, she’d smack me upside the head and tell me the man was right.
Finally, I nodded. “I think Rosa and her book club friends are going out tonight. I can probably join them.”
If possible, his already serious face flattened even further. “You are joking.”
“What?”
“I tell you to go out and have some fun, and you’re joining the local group of octogenarians while they talk about their Amish romances.”
“Please, you should see the books Rosa brings home.” I blew out a puff of air. “So much dirtier than what I read.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You taking notes, Valentine?”
“Like I’d tell you.”
Liam’s eyes held mine for a moment, and then he looked away. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Take care of what?”
He set his mug down and crossed his arms over his chest. Whenever he did that, it did horrible things to the muscles in his arms. Biceps weren’t supposed to flex that way. It wasn’t natural.
“Finish your work. If planning it makes you tired, then I’ll get it figured out.” Mira called his name from her bedroom, and he jerked his chin. “Coming, duck,” he called out.
With my jaw hanging open, I watched him stride from the kitchen and bound up the stairs.
Less than five minutes later, he sent me a text.
Liam:Be ready at 5:30. That’s when you’re getting picked up.
At the early hour, my head tilted in confusion. Liam Davies had planned a girls’ night for me?
