Page 61 of Veiled in Brick

Claire 10:35 A.M.: OH MY GOD.

My phone began to vibrate once again in my palm, and upon seeing Claire’s smiling face flash on the screen, I swiped to answer it and held the phone to my ear.

“Good morning,” I greeted her.

Claire hesitated before saying, “Good morning,” in a sweet voice. “You, ah…have work soon, yes?”

“Just finishing getting dressed—”

“Because you were undressed?” Claire asked me accusingly before I could even finish my sentence.

“Um—”

She nearly shrieked, “We heard you through the FLOOR!”

Luke’s apartment being situated directly above Liam’s, the realization that our moment had been heard by all was a hilarity that I couldn’t withhold. I let out a loud, “Ha!” and held the phone against my chest as I ambled back to the bathroom.

Liam remained where he was when I left him—sitting on the toilet seat casually—and he looked at me with a cock of his head.

“What?”

“Claire heard us fucking.”

Liam pressed his lips together tightly as he absorbed my words and looked to his hands that were knit in his lap.

“Oh.”

I squinted my eyes at his behavior curiously, slowly bringing the speaker back to my face before I told her, “Talk later. Liam’s walking me to work in a bit.” I asked him, “You have class?”

He nodded, speaking to the tile, “Won’t be back till late.”

I spoke to Claire, “Can Luke—”

“Yeah, yeah,” she responded, “I heard him. Luke’ll walk you home. All good?”

She must have sensed the apprehension in my voice, for her ever-present inquisition regarding my romantic endeavors was immediately dropped.

“Uh huh,” I reassured her as I watched Liam shuffle his feet back and forth along the tile. “I’ll call you later.”

I hung up and placed my phone on the white quartz counter by the bathroom sink.

“Lee?”

“Get dressed, Zo’, we have to leave—”

“Liam.”

He looked into my eyes and sighed. “What?”

“It’s like you’re a balloon and you just deflated,” I noted. “What gives?”

Liam shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Liam.”

“Okay, fine,” he muttered. “Fucking?”

I felt my eyebrows pinch together. “Huh?”

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