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A knock rattled the front door, prodding me off the couch. Who the heck was that? It came again.
I frowned. Was I expecting someone?
Oh, right. Liam. Dinner with my dad.
I rubbed my racing heart and went to the door. My hand slipped on the handle so I wiped it on my dress and tried again. This time, it worked.
“Hey.”
Liam was in a silk black shirt tucked into black dress pants and shiny black dress shoes. His face was clean-shaven and his hair was styled to perfection, as usual.
Despite looking like a dream come to life, the butterflies in my stomach weren’t for him.
“Ava?” His eyebrows pulled together. “Are you okay?”
“Mm-hmm. I’m excellent.” I back walked into the living room. “H-how are you? You good?”
He followed me inside and closed the door. The frown never left his face. “You sure?”
“Can’t you tell? It’s a beautiful day. I’ve never been this good.”
His face crumpled, sympathy lining his eyes. “Worried?”
I swallowed, my fake bravado falling apart. “Can’t we just say something came up and not go?”
“Ava, we agreed.”
“I know what we said. But I don’t want to face him. Do you?”
Liam said nothing.
I spun away from him. “I can already imagine how it’ll go. There’s no way he’ll be cool with it.”
“We don’t control his reaction. Just our own actions. That’s important to remember.”
“Well, his possible reaction scares me.” I paced the short length of my living room.
“Ava—”
“Liam, you know him. He won’t take it in stride. He’ll be upset. With me, with you…” I stopped and faced him. “W-what if he—”
The words stuck in my throat, unable to verbalize them. The last thing I wanted was a falling out between Liam and my dad. They were the best of friends.
And that friendship was ruined because—
“Ava.” Liam’s smooth, commanding baritone rushed over my senses and chased away that thought. “Look at me.”
I raised my gaze from my folded hands.
He’d come a step closer, and now every inhale carried his manly scent. If confidence was a cologne, it’d smell like that.
“It’s going to be alright.”
I tried to make myself believe that and it hadn’t worked. It still wasn’t working now. “He’ll be mad, Liam.”
“And?” He closed in on me, firm hands gripping my shoulders. “We hide forever because he’ll be mad?”
I swallowed. “Liam…”
