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“You did,” she swallows, saying it like she forgot that memory.
“Birdie, I’m here to take care of you. Let me help if I can.”
Birdie’s features change and she stiffens. “You’re only doing this because it’s your job?”
This woman makes me want to scream. “Stop twisting my words, that’s not why I came to you.”
She throws up her arms. “Then why the hell did you?!”
Sweat drips down my face and into my eyes. My clothes are damp, and I’m fucking hot and uncomfortable. “You know what, I give up. I’m trying to be nice to you, even if you have given me no reason to since I got here. So, if you want me to treat you like a job, then I’ll treat you that way. But I’m trying to extend an olive branch. If you don’t want it, just say so. But stop being such a bitch!”
By the time I’m done with my rant, my chest is heaving, and I’ve stepped closer to Birdie than I should have. We’re close enough that I can feel the heat from her body and her chest is almost touching mine. I should take a step back. I should leave her here to think about how she’s been acting. But instead, I stay where I am. I stare into her beautiful hazel eyes and wait for her to say something, anything.
The air crackles with an energy I haven’t felt in a long time, and I push down my own impulse to run. Birdie Wilder makes me so angry yet turned on. I should hate myself for wanting to close the space between us and kiss her pouting pink lips, but I don’t.
In fact, the longer we stand this close, the more I start to think it’s a great idea. And no, I wouldn’t just kiss her lips... I’d suck on her neck, kiss the skin of her soft stomach, strip her bare and eat her like she’s my last meal. Fuck the people who work here, they could watch if they wanted.
I lick my dry lips, and look down at her soft blonde hair, then to her lips again. She holds her bottom lip between her teeth, and her body is taut, as if she’s waiting for me to make my next move. I tilt my head and lean down, but right before anything can happen, she clears her throat and takes a step back.
Her eyes move down to her bare feet. A drop of sweat falls from her brow and plops onto the hardwood floor. When she looks back up, I expect her to be pissed at what I just did… well, almost did. But instead, she lets out a breathy laugh.
“I don’t think anyone has called me a bitch to my face before.”
I can’t help it, but I smile. “Really?”
“Does that surprise you?”
I shrug. “I’m afraid to say if it does.” This time she really laughs, and it’s a beautiful sound. The dimple on her left cheek indents, and I want to reach down and touch it.
“Listen Liam…” She brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. “I still don’t really know why you chose to come here. I know Wren and Ben wanted you to, but you could have said no. And the way we are together, it’s, well it’s confusing me. This stalker business mixed with work and my music, it’s a lot. That’s why I’m having a hard time, I feel a lot of pressure. I needed to cry, okay? I thought nobody could hear me.”
“I think the entire state heard you,” I joke to lighten the mood.
“Ha-ha!” she retorts. But she smiles still. It makes my heart pang just a little. Then, she holds out her hand. “Let’s just move on, alright? Forget the past and just be friends. Shake on it?”
A knot forms in my stomach.Friends. I wonder if adult Liam can bejust friendswith Birdie Wilder. Not to mention, I don’t think she can forget the past, especially when she sings about it every damn night. Hell, I’m not sure I can either, but this is better than the anger and tension filled days we’ve been spending together. Part of me thinks if I get some peace with Birdie, it also might lessen my nightmares. So, I make a decision.
I take her hand, my large one engulfs her delicate fingers in my calloused ones. I want to say a million things, but instead, I say the only thing she’ll accept.
“Friends.”
seventeen
Birdie
TeenageBirdieishavinga moment right now. Scratch that. She’s been having a moment for two days now. After we left the spa, incident free, Liam and I rode back to the hotel in easy silence. I think we were both still digesting what took place. But it was nice to not be at each other’s throats.
I’ve been feeling slightly better after the spa treatment and my “cry heard around the world,” as Liam now calls it. I know he’s making light of it to make me feel less embarrassed, but honestly, how could I not be embarrassed? My old crush saw me ugly sob and then he almost kissed me while I was all sweaty and pissed off. Though we left the spa as friends, if you could call it that, I’m still very much confused by his behavior.
Does he want me? That seems impossible. His words, “I’ll never like you like that,” still haunt my heart and mind. The only sense I can make of it is that he was caught up in an emotional moment with me. That I felt familiar, safe, and available. From what I understand, he dates a lot of girls back in NYC. Maybe he just needs a release? God, I know I could use one, maybe… No! I can’t sleep with Liam. He’s off limits!
I shake my head and rub my temples. I can’t sleep with my bodyguard/ex-best friend/first love. It will complicate everything, and my life is already complicated enough. The tour bus goes over a pothole, and it startles me out of my thoughts.
My eyes find Kevin, he’s sitting across from me with a stupid grin on his face. Liam is next to him reading a book. It’s weird to have Liam on our bus, but he and Kevin are friends now. That means he invites Liam to play chess while we travel. Yes, chess. They must have finished their game, but I’d been too involved in my racing thoughts to notice.
“What are you grinning at?” I ask him.
“Writing something good, B?” he winks.
