He leveled me with a look that clearly said how stupid he thought that statement was. “Of course I’m serious. If it makes you feel more comfortable, we can put a time limit on it. However long you think it would take you to save up money for first and last for a new apartment. If you can forgive me that is. Even if you can’t, you can stay here as long as you need to and I’ll keep my distance, I swear.”
It was the way he held himself apart that broke me. This isLiam. I knew he meant what he said. If I wanted to use his generosity to stay here and not talk to him again he’d let me. Because that’s just who he was. I pushed off the wall and crossed to the kitchen where I wrapped my arms around him. “I forgive you. Please don’t blame yourself anymore.” I was aware of his bare skin beneath my cheek, the thump of his heart in my ear, but I tried to focus on him, on not fucking things up more than they already were. “I’m sorry for being pissed off. It was just too much.”
His arms came around me and I felt his sigh of relief. “You don’t ever have to apologize to me, Char. It was my fuck up. Just tell me we’re okay.”
“We’re okay.” I felt such relief in his arms that I knew I made the right decision. I could never stay mad at Liam for long anyway and I knew he’d never do anything like that intentionally. “I really don’t want to put you out any more than I already have, but I have nowhere else to go right now.”
“You aren’t putting me out. I’m offering. Understand?” When I didn’t answer right away he tipped my chin up with a finger and prompted, “The correct answer is ‘yes, Liam’.”
I tucked myself back against his skin.Just one more minute. “Are you so demanding and obnoxious with everyone or am I just lucky?”
I felt him smile against my hair as he leaned down and pulled me closer. “I save it all up just for you. Besides, you’re not the only one in dire straits. My manager at the bar wasn’t too thrilled with me this weekend. I got fired.”
“What?!” I screeched. “Liam, no. You can’t be serious.”
“Don’t worry, shortstack. Jobs like those are a dime a dozen, but it’ll help me out to have you here for a bit while I look for another.”
I pulled back to frown at him. “Well now I feel like a little shit for being upset yesterday. You have every right to be mad at me, too.”
He shrugged and moved away to open the fridge for a beer. “Why don’t we just call it even? You can have the spare room, we can split everything else and maybe we’ll both get what we need. You get your overseas thing and I don’t have to spend any of my college fund for vet school.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Don’t worry, I plan on putting you to work.” He threw himself on the couch and turned on the TV. “Cooking, cleaning. The usual.”
Laughter bubbled out of me until he didn’t join in. “What? Wait, are you serious?”
“Of course not. We’ll split the rent and bills. Don’t be a slob and we’ll be fine. It’s not like it’s forever, Charlie.”
Too exhausted to think of an alternative, I plopped down on the couch beside him and propped my head on a pillow against his thigh as he flipped through shows on Netflix and sipped his beer. After selecting one, he began sifting his fingers through my hair until I purred in the back of my throat.
“That feels good,” I said sleepily.
“Just relax for a while. Everything will work out.”
Maybe everything had worked out for the best. It wouldn’t be a good idea to act on my attraction to Liam now, not when we would have to spend the next few months together. If one of us caught hard feelings and things ended badly, I’d be forced to move again and I’d have to sacrifice the volunteer opportunity.
Not only that, but I’d risk my friendship with Liam. It might survive a failed relationship, but it’d certainly never be the same. I already worried it was fundamentally different because of one kiss. After almost losing him because of this crap with Andrew, I knew just how much it could hurt me and I knew first hand relationships weren’t worth the risk. My own mother taught me that well enough. What I had with Liam was so much stronger…so much more important.
As he played with my hair and I drifted in and out to the sounds ofCriminal Minds, it was almost impossible to ignore how much I enjoyed him touching me, but I’d have to get used to being this close to him…and doing nothing about it.
If we were going to live together, anything more than just friends would have to be off limits.
Chapter Eleven
Liam
There wassomething that looked suspiciously like breakfast waiting in a covered dish on the island.
This was impossible for three reasons:
1. I didn’t have anything resembling cookware in my house (and probably hadn’t since I’d moved in two years ago).
2. I wasn’t sure anyone my age actually knew how to make food that didn’t require a microwave.
3. The last time Charlie cooked something, we both wound up with food poisoning.
It wasn’t until I spotted the takeout containers in the trash that I deemed the biscuits and gravy safe to eat and tossed them in the microwave to heat up as I got dressed. I didn’t have class until eleven, but I liked to get up a couple hours early to hit the gym for a quick workout beforehand. I wolfed down the biscuits and gravy and shot off a quick text to thank Charlie for the food. I felt a twinge of guilt that she not only stocked the cabinets and fridge the day before, but that she’d sprung for breakfast as well.
