And all Elise wanted was for me to fall in love, get married, and have kids.
We grew up taking care of each other and this was the first time we were on different paths. She wanted me to have the same life as hers. But I wasn’t there yet.
“I told you she would hate it,” Jeff said.
“I didn’t say that,” I said.
“See?” Elise said. “Let me talk to her a little.”
“Sorry, Emily,” Jeff said. He smiled.
It was so fake.
I could read his eyes.
Piece of garbage…
“Come on, I’ll buy you a drink,” Dan said.
“It’s morning,” Jeff said.
“We’re in the city,” Dan said. “Someone is serving booze somewhere.”
“Don’t you dare come home day drunk,” Elise said.
“Emily, can I crash on your couch later?” Dan asked.
“Me too?” Jeff asked.
Jeff made the funny joke with my brother-in-law, creepy.
When they left the bakery, I looked at Elise.
“A guitar?” she asked like a judgmental mother.
“What?”
“When was the last time you played guitar?”
“Are you really turning into a judgmental bitch, Elise?”
“I’m trying to help you.”
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
“I’m watching my sister struggle and it fucking sucks,” she said. Her eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t stop you from getting involved with this place. But maybe I can get you out.”
“And pawn my ass off to a guy like Jeff? No.”
“Then who? Who, Emily? I just…”
“You just, what? This is where you tell me what you want.”
Elise touched the corners of her eyes. “I thought you’d at least show some excitement.”
I had no idea what to say.
She wanted to dive deep into this… she wanted to talk about family, feelings, and the future. And I understood why. Our family was all about drama and arguments.
Not that I was much better…
Hey, sister, guess what? Remember Liam? Yeah, he’s the one engaged to Miranda. Well… I’m falling for him. Again.
“I don’t know what to say,” I said. “I’m trying to figure it out myself, Elise. There’s so much happening. I want to tell you…”
My phone buzzed with a text message.
I instinctively grabbed my phone to look.
Because my happy world wasn’t the bakery or my sister.
I thought it was Carla and Faye.
But it was Liam.
I grabbed for the table to balance myself as I read his text message.
He and Miranda broke up.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Liam
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be upset or if I should celebrate.
The first thing I had done was get drunk and end up at Jackson’s. I sounded like a drunk fool, stumbling around his apartment, telling him I couldn’t marry Miranda. That was music to his ears (of course). Then I explained why I couldn’t marry Miranda. Which was some dumb poetic statement of how we broke up over the phone.
For the first time in my life, Jackson offered me water instead of more booze.
Callie joined the conversation at one point, telling me no matter how anyone felt, she was sorry to hear the news.
Jackson smacked her on the ass and she smacked him across the face.
They were great together.
I wanted something like that.
And definitely not with Miranda.
I knew the look in Jackson’s eyes. He would have rather been with Callie in bed than with me in the kitchen.
So I bounced from his place and hid in my place for a while.
Thinking.
Wondering what was next.
Fighting the urge to just show up at Emily’s apartment and have my way with her.
Me hiding was the best thing for everyone.
But I couldn’t hide forever.
I couldn’t ignore Emily forever.
At some point, I had to just follow my heart.
When Emily opened her apartment door, all I thought about was kissing her.
My hands sliding along her face, my lips closing in on hers. Gently kissing her… so fucking slow that chills would dance down her body to the tip of her toes. But then I’d kiss her in a different way, sending those same chills right to her-
“Hey,” she said.
I swallowed hard. “Hey.”
“Liam, come in,” she said.
I stepped into the apartment.
My heart danced like a kid in the rain. Telling me that I was single and what I wanted next was finally okay.
I wasn’t sure that was exactly the truth. The single part was. The other part…
“Do you want a drink?” Emily offered.
“Yeah. That would be great.”
“Soda? Water? Beer? Whiskey?”
“I’m not driving,” I said.
“You never drive,” Emily said.
“The beauty of the city.”
“So that means you want something good,” she said. “No problem.”
She walked to her kitchen and I looked right at the smoke alarm that had been going off the last time I was here. Her on that step ladder, waving a towel, trying to stop the thing from screaming.
Maybe that was the sign. The universe sounding the alarm that things were going to get crazy…
My eyes moved across the kitchen and I saw Emily at the counter, reaching up into a cabinet. Her shirt was pulled up, showing off her lower back. My fingertips ached to walk up to her and touch her. In my jeans, I felt something else happening. Like a giant beast stirring to life after the longest winter known to man, my dick slowly began to throb.
Another unpleasant reminder of just how unhappy I had been with that other person.
Emily got the whiskey bottle and reached for glasses.
“Skip the glasses, Em,” I said.
She spun around, whiskey bottle in hand.
In that moment, she was a dream come to life.
The face of an angel. Her hair slightly messy just because she didn’t really care. Which turned me on. Her t-shirt and jeans working simultaneously to announce all the curves she didn’t like but I already knew I loved.
I walked toward her, my heart no longer dancing but rather hitting like a sledgehammer to a wall.
I stopped with just inches between us and I looked down at her.
“I don’t know what to say right now, Liam,” she said in almost a whispering voice. “I’m so sorry.”
I nodded. “I hate to say this, Em, but it was a long time coming. I knew the writing was on the wall. I thought I could be the guy who could clean up that writing and salvage what was left. I thought I could keep some kind of image.”
“And what image is that?”
“I’m not even sure anymore,” I said. “That’s the problem. Sometimes I look out the office window and wonder what the fuck I’m doing. I got to spend time with you and next thing I knew…”
“You were trying to skateboard and sucked at it,” Emily said. “Have a drink, Liam.”
She put the whiskey bottle to my chest.
My hand quickly wrapped around her hand.