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“I won’t, I won’t,” he said.
“How’s Gwen?” I asked.
“Beautiful,” he said, and I had to stop myself from squealing in delight.
“Is she ready to meet me yet?” I asked.
“Uh, actually she brought it up because she wants to meet you, I guess? I don’t know why,” he said, and I wanted to throw a taco at him, but that would be a waste of a good taco.
“Hey, I’m a fucking delight. She should want to meet me. I’ll bring her books too. Just tell me what she likes,” I said.
“She likes messed up shit. Lots and lots of horror.” That was slightly out of my wheelhouse, but I could make do.
“Cool, can do. I’ll grab a few things, and you can check and make sure she doesn’t have them already.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said.
“No, but I want to. It’s my way of welcoming her into the family.”
He snorted. “She’s not joining the family. We’ve literally been dating for a few weeks.”
“Sometimes when you know, you know,” I said.
“And sometimes you should date someone longer and find out if you actually like them before you marry them and spend the rest of your lives making each other miserable,” he said, giving me a significant look.
He was talking about our parents. They got married just a few months into dating and stayed married, in spite of completely hating each other. The next few decades were spent resenting each other and not doing anything to change or improve the situation. As far as Liam and I were concerned, they deserved each other.
“Hey, just because we had shitty role models, doesn’t mean that it can’t work out for some people. There’s lots of happy couples that got together quickly that are still happy.”
“Yeah, okay, whatever. I’m not going to rush, and I don’t think Gwen wants to either. So there.” He got up and grabbed another taco.
“Elote please,” I said, holding out my plate. He got it for me and then sat back down next to me in the lounge chair.
He couldn’t stop talking about Gwen and it was the best thing. We finished all the tacos and Liam dusted off his hands before hopping in the pool. I didn’t know how he could swim after filling up on tacos, but more power to him.
I watched him cut through the pool with practiced strokes and finished my food. The air had developed a chill, so as soon as Liam was done, he headed for my shower in the guest house and I put on my pajamas and made tea for both of us.
Liam came out in a different outfit and took the cup of tea I offered him.
“You can stay if you want,” I said.
He shook his head. “Nah, it’s not that far to my place. I’d rather sleep in my bed than on your couch. No offense.”
“Hey, it’s not even my couch. It’s Mark’s couch.”
“Not going to lie, it’s still weird that you live in his house, technically. I know it’s separate, but still a little weird, Layne.”
I shrugged. “It’s not forever. And it’s so much nicer than anything I could afford. Not that I am against getting furniture from thrift stores and the side of the road, but I’ve gotten used to this.” I gestured around me. “It’s almost like living in a hotel.”
“But it’s not yours.”
“I guess I don’t care about that as much,” I said. We’d had this conversation a few times before. Liam and I just had different values when it came to living spaces. Hell, I didn’t even know what I would want if I had a million dollars to decorate a place. One minute I liked lots of birds and flowers, and the next I liked something more geometric, and then I liked something sleeker, and then I liked antiques. I could never seem to make up my mind, so it was a good thing I wasn’t in charge of decorating. I’d end with a big old mess.
Liam hung around until he finished his tea and I sent him off again and made him promise me that we’d set up a time to meet Gwen in a non-threatening and lowkey way.
“Love you, baby brother,” I said, hugging him.
“I’m not a baby anymore,” he said as he leaned down to hug me.
