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“Have fun shopping.”
“I will.” It’s hard not to giggle the words.
Seriously. This is ridiculous. I’m acting like a lovesick fool, but it’s impossible not to.
Three nights with Liam and I’m a goner.
I’m kind of surprised by how not freaked out I am by it all.
Maybe it’s the bubble thing.
“Come on, lovebird.” Mick drags me away from the car.
“Like you can talk,” I tease her. “I’ve never seen you so happy.”
She grins at me, doing a giddy little skip. “It’s true. I’m in love with Ethan Galloway.”
I smile at her, my heart blooming. She deserves this. I hope she and Ethan last forever.
Yes, I’m still a romantic. Even after everything I’ve been through with Theo, I want to believe in love.
Glancing over my shoulder, I watch the car Ethan’s driving pull out of the mall parking lot and wonder if I’ll ever love Liam. Wondering if I already kind of do.
These feelings are similar to what I went through with Theo but more intense. The sex—not that I should compare, but what the hell—is off the charts. Theo never tried to make me come. He got in, he came, he got out. Not that it didn’t feel good for me, too, but Liam’s main purpose of sleeping with me seems to be “give Rachel multiple orgasms.”
And oh boy, does he pass with flying colors every time.
He keeps asking me what I want. It’s like he’s trying to study my body, figure out every one of my pleasure points. He wants to master me… in all the right ways.
And I want to let him.
But is this all too good to be true?
I’ve rushed headlong into a relationship before and gotten severely burned. And now I’m doing it all over again. I thought Theo was amazing and perfect. And sure, I think Liam is way better than him… but he can’t be perfect. No one is. So what are his flaws? What’s going to show up? And will it be something we can survive? Or am I going to give my heart to this guy only to be shocked by an ugly surprise I didn’t see coming?
“Ray-Ray!” Mick waves her hand in front of my face. “Focus up, sweet thing. We’ve got two hours, and you know I’m not the world’s best shopper. I need a new pair of jeans, and I want that to take like five minutes so we can then go hit up the mini golf course. It’s at the north end of the mall.”
Snatching my wrist, she pulls me into the heart of the mall, and it’s like competing in The Amazing Race trying to find her a pair of jeans she likes. The longer it takes, the shittier she gets. I’ve been through this before, so I end up leaving her in the changing room and scouring the store myself, stacking options over my arm and delivering them until I finally hear a “Yes!”
“Let me see.” I force her to model them, because she’s not always the best judge when it comes to clothing. But she passes the test this time around. The jeans hug her butt perfectly, highlighting her gorgeous legs before tapering in just above the ankle.
“Hot.” I nod.
“Perfect.” She grins, unzipping the fly and stepping back into the changing room.
Once those are purchased, she’s instantly in a better mood, and we head to the mini golf area, already hassling each other over who will win. Mikayla is stupidly competitive, but I’ve improved over the years, and now she really has to work hard to beat me. I love it when her face gets all scrunched up if I’m ahead of her.
“Should we stop for a quick sugar fix?” Mikayla veers left toward Shake Shack.
“Did all the shopping tire you out?” I tease her.
“You know it did.” She winks at me, then laughs… and I’m about to join her. But the air in my lungs freezes.
Like ice-cold, I can’t imagine ever breathing again freezes.
Because… no, this cannot be happening.
I can only see his profile right now, but I know it’s him. I can tell by his height, his build, the arrogant smirk I can see on half his face.
