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Liam nods gravely, pressing his lips together. “I know. We’ll have to tell him that we’re staying together, whatever the consequences to me are. Because I could never pull myself away from you again.”
“What if he benches you? Kicks you off the team?” It hurts me to even put those possibilities into words.
A wistful smile rises on his lips. “I won’t lie. It would suck. But it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as spending the rest of my life without you by my side.”
“The rest of your life?” I ask, wide-eyed, the words shocking me.
“That’s right. I want you forever, Zoey. You’re my endgame. Whatever else happens, I can figure it out as it comes. But I want you to be my rock. The foundation that everything else rests on, the one thing I’d forsake everything else for, the one thing I could never even dream of giving up.”
“Darn it, Liam,” I choke out between a broken sob of happiness, pushing my damp face into his chest again. “Stop making me cry.”
His left arm rings around my waist while his right hand presses on the back of my shoulder, hugging me tight against him.
Once I finally feel like I can speak without my voice warbling, I look up into his eyes again. “Maybe we could find a way to keep it a secret from my dad until …”
Liam shuts down that thought with a decisive shake of his head. “No way. I’m never hiding my feelings for you from anyone again.”
“We’ll have to tell him, then.”
Liam smiles. “Right,” he says, lacing his hand into mine. “Together.”
“Right now?”
He nods. “Can you think of a better time?”
Anxiety swirls in me, but with Liam’s hand in mine, I know that we can face anything together. I’m still worried for him, but I just have to trust that, as long as we follow our hearts, they’ll lead us in the right direction.
“Okay,” I nod. “Let’s go.”
* * *
There’sa bracing chill in the air, but it’s comfortable enough that Liam and I can walk leisurely through the streets of Ridley with our bare hands laced together.
Despite the stakes of the confrontation that we’re walking towards, especially for Liam, we’re strolling slowly and contently like a couple on a perfect beach vacation. Our fingers are snugly and securely laced together, and I lean my weight gently against the powerful tree trunk that is Liam’s torso as we walk side by side—open, in public, not hiding anything, for the first time.
There’s still a worry weighing on my shoulders, but that can’t keep the smile off my lips as I luxuriate in the happiness of not having to hide my feelings for Liam. Just being able to be out in the open, everyone able to see that I’m his and he’s mine, feels like a dream come true.
“Did you start watching the next season of Downton without me?” I ask cheekily.
The vibration of Liam’s laughter massages my shoulder. “No way,” he says. “But we’re starting it tonight. That is, if I can keep my hands off you long enough once we’re behind closed doors to reach for the remote. Which, right now, feels very much like an open question.”
His hungry gaze burns on me, sending a jolt of want zapping between my legs and a heated blush crawling up my neck.
Those feelings fly away when we turn a corner and I spot my dad’s house a couple blocks down the street.
The worry that I’ve kept at bay starts to rise in my stomach, but a supportive squeeze from Liam’s hand keeps it under control.
“You ready?” Liam asks as we step onto my dad’s block.
I nod. “Ready.”
His hand tightens around mine as we walk up the steps of my dad’s porch and approach his door.
We both take a deep breath and turn our heads to each other to lock our eyes one more time. Zero hesitation, zero doubts, lie in either of our gazes.
Liam rings the bell.
Here goes nothing.
