“Okay, first off, hate is too strong a word to describe my feelings towards anything Audrey Hepburn. I love ninety-eight percent of that movie, in fact. I dislike the ending because I’m a happily ever after or get the fuck out kind of gal with my fiction.”
I’ll never forget the one and only time I watched Gregory Peck walk down the long hallway, heart racing. I kept peeking at Nana.“She’sgoing to run down the hallway, right? Any minute now, she’s going to come.”But she never did, and no one holds a grudge formed at the age of seven quite like me.
Liam arches a brow while he’s scrolling. “And you don’t thinkRoman Holidayhas a happy ending?”
“No. The formula is simple and infallible. Does the couple end up together?”
“Well, no—but her speech about always cherishing her visit to Rome, that’s a happyish ending.”
“That’s an unsatisfying ending; that’s what that is. How would you like it if you ran around a city with someone, fell in love, and then all you had was a memory to look back on? No fight, no reason you couldn’t be together besides circumstance or duty or some other stupid thing like that. Love’s supposed to conquer all! Even the monarchy!”
Liam draws his lips together thoughtfully. “I don’t know. I think going about your life knowing someone loves you and living off that one perfect memory seems good enough.”
“In real life I could accept that, maybe. But a movie? When there’s a chance to control the outcome? I’m not settling for good enough.” I shake my head. “Life sucks hard most of the time. Let me escape into a promised land where everything works out in the end.”
Liam cocks his head, studying me.
“What?” I squirm.
“Nothing. I’m just not used to you sounding like me. That’s all.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I think you’re mistaken because I didn’t hear an ounce of unfounded arrogance in my voice.” I flutter my eyelashes, and he snorts.
“’Kay, smartass. All I meant is that the Evie O’Shea I knew thought life was this grand magical adventure, fully equipped with sparkles and rainbows, and that sounded more like something the brooding, life-is-pointless boy next door would say.” He presses play on the screen.
“Oh.” I shift in my seat, unsure if Liam’s disappointed I think like this now or if that even matters. “Consider it another win to add to your victory column, then, I guess.”
“That’s not something I wanted to win,” he mumbles, the beginning score toSingin’ in the Raindrowning out most of his soft reply. My eyelids flicker shut as the opening music lulls me close to sleep, but I fight the pull to dreamland. If I let my head drop, I’ll likely land on Liam’s lap the way I’m leaning.
“Let yourself fall, Peaches. It’s okay. I’ll catch you,” he says with an unfamiliar softness.
And against my better judgment and all my instincts screaming otherwise, I relent to the softness and give in to the lean, for now.
7
Sugar Pie Honey Buns
“Whywon’tyougivein and admit I’ve won, Peaches? Aren’t you tired of the chase?”
Liam’s breath falls hot against my ear and lights a fire deep in the pit of my stomach.
“Do you honestly think you can make it through all this without me figuring out the truth?” His body hovers above me, his right hand fisting the sheet by my head. A finger grazes my abdomen, and I shiver under the trail it leaves, fumbling for words. I try to open my mouth, but the three-word phrase that dances on the tip of my tongue isn’t meant for his ears, so I clamp it closed instead.
“It’s really cute you’re pretending like you don’t want this for real.”
He dips and presses his lips to the side of my mouth. I whimper, desperate to taste him for real. I’m famished—starved—I need his kiss.
“If you show me how much you want me, Peaches, we don’t have to do this dance anymore. The torture ends.”
His fingers brush against my waistband.
The fireworks I thought had long burnt out inside of me crackle back to life as his touch grazes along my skin.
I try to open my mouth to tell him I want him, that I need him right now—but I can’t find the words. Fear rips them away, and I just lie breathless on the bed.
“I can see how much you want me, Evie. Why do you keep trying to hide it?” I meet his eyes, shimmering brilliantly in a halo of sunlight. I don’t know where we are, but it feels dangerously like home.
The speed of my breath increases, and any form of communication on my part is completely eradicated. I reach for his lips, but he pulls away, a cocky smile spread wide across his face, dimpling his cheeks to catastrophic levels. “Say the words.”
