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I bent over, leaning my forearms on the counter and met his gaze through the phone screen. “You’ll really come down here?”
“Yes, of course. That’s what I’m tryna tell you. I miss you, and I want to be with you.”
I considered him and his soft, pleading brown eyes, wanting—needing—me to forgive him. “Okay. How about next weekend?”
He grinned. “Definitely.”
The doorbell rang, and I picked up my cell phone, bringing Jordan with me as I handed out more candy. We talked about the coming winter season and his work schedule, about him buying tickets for my show, and a party he wanted to bring me to.
“You can stay at my place for the weekend,” he suggested, and I offered a shrug. Not because I was afraid or didn’t want to, but because I would rather behereinstead of a party.
Twenty minutes later, the door opened, and Finn came roaring in. “Hey, babes!”
“Who’s that?” Jordan asked.
I set the phone on the table and positioned Finn in front of me. “This is my friend Jordan. Can you say hi?”
He ignored my introduction and instead held up a king-size Kit Kat bar.
“Whoa.” I laughed. “Who’s giving out candy bars this big?”
“Mrs. Feldstein from down the street,” Liam answered, holding the door open so his friends and their kids could enter the house.
Jordan leaned forward as if to see who I was talking to, but I angled the screen away. Though, I wasn’t sure if it was because I didn’t want Jordan to see Liam or the other way around.
“Hey, I gotta go,” I said to Jordan, and he crimped his brow.
“But—”
“I’ll text you later.” I hung up without another word and faced the chaos of Halloween costumes, candy, and three exhausted dads. They each threw themselves down on the living room furniture, Liam closest to me on the couch.
“Who was that?” he asked, motioning toward my cell phone.
I waved my hand. “Just a friend.”
He seemed suspicious, but I offered him a smile, knowing for sure now that it was guilt that had me pushing my phone away so Liam didn’t see it was Jordan I was talking to. I didn’t want him to know I was talking to my ex. The same ex who Liam said didn’t deserve me.
Under his steady gaze, I felt ashamed. I had always been quick to forgive and forget. Life was too short to hang on to anger. But knowing Liam, living with him, seeing and understanding what it was like to be with aman, it was impossible not to think that maybe I was giving in too easily.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Just tired. Should I put on a pot of coffee?”
We both looked to the kids, all five of them splayed out on the floor, trading candy, and ripping wrappers off.
“Might as well,” Liam said and followed me to the kitchen while Jude leaned over Dylan’s shoulder, watching some video that appeared to be a guy fighting a kangaroo.
“How was it? Did you have fun?” I asked, putting on the pot and filling it with water.
He stripped off his dinosaur costume, leaving him in a T-shirt and thin pair of sweats. “Nobody got lost or hurt, so I’d say it was a win.”
“Pretty low standards there, Professor.”
“My objective in life is to keep Finn happy and whole. Other than that, the rest is gravy.” I glanced over my shoulder right as he pulled his T-shirt away from his body. It lifted a few inches, revealing his deceptively muscular torso. “Jesus, that costume was hot.”
I blinked a few times and focused on filling the filter with coffee grounds. He stood behind me, plucking at the goodie bags. “You made these?”
“Yep.”
