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Liam had a body count a mile long, and his bedpost was a pile of wood chips at this point.
“You’ve wounded me,” he answered with all the drama of a lost theater major. “As if I allowed her to spend the whole night. You know that honor is only for you if you ever see me fit.”
I rolled my eyes and finally closed the history book with a satisfying thud. “You’re such a slut, Liam. I know I’m just a challenge you haven’t won.”
“Your boyfriend is the challenge.” He wagged a finger at me. “You are the prize, darling.”
The pink on my cheeks encouraged him far too much. Harmless flirting wasn’t cheating on Duncan, I knew that. But if he ever heard Liam give me this sort of attention, he would volunteer every reason under the sun as to why I was no prize.
“Anyway”—I pushed three books from the table into Liam’s lap—“help me bring these downstairs. The coffee bar will be opening soon, and I need my second jolt before our first class.”
“I am here to be used by you.” He gave me an exaggerated bow of his head before picking up both of our bags and the pile of books.
I shook my head and made my way down the first flight of stairs.
“What did you end up doing last night?” he asked from behind me. “You were here when I left at ten o’clock.”
“The usual.” I took the corner down the second flight of stairs before continuing, “Researched until closing, drove home while listening to a murder podcast, got home in time to call Duncan to tell him goodnight, studied until my eyes ached, then studied some more.”
Duncan was gone for over a week on a trip to the archives at Boston University, and if I were being honest, I was glad he hadn’t been around while I got a grip on the monster who’d almost inspired me to make a mess of myself in public.
“I hope Duncan told you to hydrate and made you take a short fuck break when he got home.” He chuckled, but I cringed internally.
On the outside, Duncan and I look like the perfect academic couple. We met in graduate school, moved in together after six months, and had been applying for the same grants and internships ever since. But at home, Duncan could be abrasive. I never seemed to do the right things or say what he wanted to hear. When we both applied to the fellowship, he’d mocked the font I used for my entry essay. When his words finally brought me to tears, he held me close and promised that when he got the fellowship, he would help me during next year’s round.
I knew he was sort of an asshole, but he was my biggest supporter when it came to my studies. His brain was a sponge and took very little exposure to retain information that took me days to memorize. He also was caring and a great cook when he wanted to be.
“He hasn’t come home from Boston yet. He'll be back on Sunday. But I made tea before I went to bed,” I assured him.
Liam scoffed. “I’ll remind him in stats next week that tea doesn’t do the same as a good romp in the sack.” He took extra steps to overtake me on the last flight down.
“Please don’t. You know he doesn’t like it when other people comment on our relationship.”
Liam was the type to make a joke out of things but not accept the consequences if they went awry. Playfully expressing to Duncan that I needed a good fucking would be enough to set him off for days. He was the jealous type on a level that at times felt overboard. But it was better than being with a man like Liam, who didn’t recognize when a joke had been beaten to death.
“I won’t ruffle Duncan’s precious feathers.” Liam rolled his too-blue eyes then spun around with his face turned up to the gorgeous glass above.“But if you get lonely this weekend, you know who to call.”
He winked, but I didn’t answer.
I often wondered what type of woman Liam was actually interested in or if it mattered at all as long as they had a hole for him to stick his dick into. He had several dating apps on his phone and always seemed to have someone lined up for the evening. When I asked too many questions, I would get answers like, “Her husband is cheating on her so she thought a hookup with a younger guy would be a good way to get back at him.” Or, “We hooked up twice, but now she won’t stop calling and wanting more. That’s what I get for cuddling after the deed.”
Liam would never prescribe to the number-one rule amongst men: bros before hoes.
When Liam and I were paired up this semester, I was nervous about how Duncan would react to his generally loose morals. But to my surprise, Duncan had said that he preferred Liam over James Hannigan.
James Hannigan and I had briefly dated before Duncan and I had gotten together.
You could say I had a type: brainy, motivated, well-read, and, of course, assholes . . .
Yup. I let James treat me like dirt for two months before Duncan convinced me to dump him. Little did I know at the time that Duncan’s role in the demise of that relationship had been selfish. Duncan asked me out on our first date not a week after James and I had called it quits.
Liam was relatively harmless compared to James. When James found out that Duncan and I had started dating, he made it his mission to undermine me at any chance that was presented. During one of the interviews for our mentorship, he sabotaged my stack of talking-point index cards by spilling not one, but two cups of coffee on them. The first cup had drenched my cards, and the second had splashed over the front of my white silk shirt. I’d recovered from losing my notes—I’d memorized them anyway—but he’d started a rumor that I’d only gotten my mentorship because the professor had seen through my wet top.
It was safe to say that I preferred Liam to James as well. Liam was like a dog who hadn’t been neutered yet. Energetic, horny, and constantly seeking attention.
Like right now as he flirted openly with the barista who looked like she was regretting whatever life choices that lead her to the opening shift.
I shook my head and took the rare book—that I had at this point stolen—out of my bag to examine one last time before Liam returned with my triple-shot mocha. The feeling of being watched became much more intentional when my fingers slipped between the pages. Maybe whatever I was looking for was closer than I thought.
