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“It is,” he chuckles, refilling our glasses and hiding his laugher by taking a drink.
The next few questions are comical. Favorite foods, TV shows, last book we read. It becomes effortless because we both already know most of the answers. Just like this place, it seems a lot of things never change. We go through a pitcher and play a round of pool. I beat him, but I know he lets me win.
“Okay, my turn.” I sit back in my chair. The tension level is at zero, and the beer is giving me a loose tongue. “And you have to be honest.”
“Okay.” His chest rumbles.
“Do you eat small children for breakfast?”
His brows shoot up, and a beautiful laugh falls from his mouth. “What?”
“Come on! You’re huge. Like beast huge. Viking huge. The last time I saw you, you were kind of scrawny. Now, you’re like. . .meow—” I slap my hand over my mouth, and Liam throws his head back in amusement at my blunder. “I meant that in a friend way, of course. Friends compliment friends. It’s a thing.”
“Right. Friends.” We hold each other’s gaze, feeling like anything but friends.
Liam goes to refill my glass when I blurt out, “Where have you been all this time?” His hand jolts, and beer splashes outside my mug. It’s quick, the subtle change, then it’s gone just as fast. He sits down and takes a drink. “What I meant to ask was where has the time gone! Man, my parents are probably wondering where—”
“Are you happy, Holly?”
His question has me tongue-tied. The playfulness in the air shifts. He stares at me intensely, searching for truth. I chicken out and take a sip. He slides his fingers though his hair. “Tell me what you’re thinking about right now?” My body is on fire, and I don’t know if I can be just friends. But I’m not sure we can relive the past. We’re both damaged. We hurt each other in a way I’m not sure we can get over. I’ve never stopped loving you. Another sip. “Have you thought about us?” Every single day since we walked away from one another. Another sip.
So much for keeping it lighthearted. My heart is trying to break through my chest. I shoot up. “I need to use the washroom.” Without making eye contact, I hurry away.
“Breathe,” I mumble to myself. “One foot in front of the other.” Why did he have to go there? Ask me those questions? The answers are safe inside my heart. But if I said them out loud, I couldn’t take them back. And will him knowing how much I’ve missed him make it better? Will he feel justified knowing I’ve ached for him for years? And why did he have to come back looking so freaking hot?
I make it to the bathroom door, but before I push the door open, a hand braces on my shoulder, and I’m spun around. Liam, looking big, bad, and delicious, presses me up against the wall. “I need you to answer me one question.”
“Wh-What?” I can’t even hide how turned on I suddenly am with him so close to me.
“Is this really what you want? To be friends?”
“I—I don’t know what you mean.” I know exactly what he means. The way my body is trembling under his touch. The way I can’t fight it and suck in my bottom lip. I don’t think there was ever a day in my life that I ever just wanted to be friends with Liam Cody.
“Let me break it down for you. You may be locked lip on certain things, but your body language doesn’t lie. That dazed look in your eyes. You’re making it real hard to be just friends.”
My cheeks feel on fire. The ground below my feet is shaking at the anticipation of having him again. “I’m not sure what look you’re referring to… I was just…” I can’t even filter out a lie, my voice is dripping with arousal.
“Let me refresh your memory. That one time after football practice…you couldn’t even hide how turned on you were when I walked off the field. We had sex in my car in the parking lot. On our way to our sophomore dance, you made me pull over, and I tossed you in the back seat and ate you out. Almost missed the dance. How about the movies? We were in the last row, and no one was paying attention when you slipped on my lap and rode me—”
“These are all very fuzzy times. I don’t really remember—”
“How about that one time we fucked so hard against the wall in your living room, we accidentally knocked over the Christmas tree.”
“We did? Hmmm…don’t really—”
“I tried to catch it, but you threatened to cut off my balls if I stopped.”
I wipe at the sweat building on my neck. “Sure that was me?”
