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“Sure.”
I lean down to kiss her cheek. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll have Uncle Danny follow me in the morning and I’ll bring it back with a full tank.”
“Love you, Liam,” she says as I’m heading for the door.
“Love you too.”
“Hey, did you forget someone?” my sister teases, tapping her cheek.
“Love you too, Lorraine.”
I’m back outside with the keys inside of two minutes. I’m about to open the passenger-side door for her but stop myself when I’m halfway around the car. No, I don’t want her thinking I’m some knight in shining armor. And I also don’t want to get too close again. She smells good. I had to stop myself from leaning in and smelling her neck in the back seat before. The back seat. Now I’m thinking about how she felt sitting on my lap.
Stopit.
When I went to make some room between us, I slid her forward with my hands on her hips. She’s small but she’s curvy, and I liked the feel of her in my hands. Liked it a lot.
There’s no sense in dwelling on any of it so I swallow it down. Any thoughts I had about being friends with Sarah, let alone being with her, were shot to hell the night of her birthday party. My hands grip the steering wheel hard when I picture his arms wrapped around her and the two of them laughing.
“Where to, Princess?”
I cringe when Mike chuckles—forgot he was even in the back seat. I’m expecting a scowl or some smart-mouthed comeback from her, but I get nothing. I look over to see her still clutching her middle. Sarah didn’t look wasted, but right now she looks like she might get sick right here in my mother’s car.Fuck me.
“I’m taking you home, right? It’s in the same direction as the club?”
It’s another full minute before she snaps out of the daze she’s in and looks my way. “Oh, yeah. I’m about ten minutes from the club. But I, uh, can’t go home yet so just take me there.”
“Where?”
“The stable.”
“I can’t.”
The snark is full blast when she snaps back, “Yes, Liam, you can.”
Chapter Fourteen
LIAM
If it was the middle of the day I’d drop her snarky ass and let her figure it out on her own, but it’s dark and her request isn’t rational, so I let the sarcasm slide.
“It’ll be locked up and deserted by now. I can’t just leave you there.”
“Why can’t you go home?” Mike asks from the back seat.
“My parents are home and they have friends over.”
“And?”
Sarah turns around to face him. “And I don’t feel like playing twenty questions with them.” Looking to me again, her voice is softer when she says, “Really, you can leave me at the club. I’ll be fine.”
Mike leans forward again, poking his head between us. “Drop me off before you head up that way.”
“You ruined my night and now you’re bailing?” I make it sound like I’m annoyed, when in reality I can’t wait to drop his ass off. I can’t be myself with Sarah in front of him. Being that he has no filter whatsoever, I’m surprised he didn’t press me on the fact that I called her by name back at the party. As far as he knows, Sarah and I are strangers. I’ve never mentioned any of our interactions.
Come to think of it, I’ve never said her name in conversation with anyone ever. Not that Mike or any of my other friends would bring her up. My uncle is the only one who speaks her name, one among the others he mentions when he talks to Aunt Maeve about the goings on at the club. I don’t chime in at the dinner table much, so my one-word answers and grunts don’t raise any suspicions. Yeah, I pretty much act as if she doesn’t exist when nothing could be further from the truth.
She pops into my head at the most random times. Yesterday I was helping my aunt get something from a high shelf in the kitchen, and when she remarked on how tall I was it brought me back to a time in the barn a few weeks ago. Back when Sarah and I were teetering on the verge of something that felt like friendship. It was short lived, but it was nice while it lasted.
