Page 71 of Veiled in Brick

I spoke, waving at my naked body, “This?”

Liam stated quietly, “Get dressed, Zo’,” and then redirected his attention to her. “What are you doing here?”

The way that he spoke the sentence set me on edge. He was now standing in front of me to shield my nakedness from her as I slowly pulled on my pajamas, and I could tell from his tone alone that his expression was one of…awe? Perhaps just simple surprise? Though, if that were the case, it was certainly a pleasant one at that.

“As I said,” she told him, “I called. You ignored. The fuck, Liam?”

Liam rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve been busy.”

“I can tell,” she returned with a raised brow.

“Uh—Liam,” I called to him now that I was fully dressed, and his head turned to me, carefree and oblivious to my obvious concern until I pressed, “Wanna elaborate?”

He cocked his head to the side. “Elaborate?”

“Pretty girl let herself into your apartment,” I noted through clenched teeth.

She stated with a laugh, “Is she going, or…”

“Oh, fuck.” Liam waved his hands between the two of us before speaking to me, “No, no—this, ah—Zoey, it’s not what it looks like—”

“Zoey?” the woman asked, her dark eyes now alight with what appeared to be understanding. She asked Liam, “Like—Zoey, Zoey?”

“Yeah, hi, who the fuck are you?” I snapped.

“Okay, okay,” Liam spoke down to me quietly. “Zo’—Cassie.” He pointed to the woman, and my stomach dropped to my toes. “Cas—Zoey.”

Cassie—sister. Cassie is his sister. His little sister, with whom I was now sharing one of the worst introductions of all time.

“Hello,” she greeted me with a more genuine wave and a smile—and what a smile it was. Her teeth were straight and white, but not unnaturally so. The grin caused her eyes to pinch into happy little slits. Her nose scrunched up in such a cutesy manner that I briefly wondered if I was bisexual as she stated, “Clearly, I’m here at a bad time.”

Her joke came with a lopsided smirk that embodied what I had seen on Liam’s lips time and time again, and I laughed for I suddenly realized why I found her to be so goddamn attractive.

“Ah—hi,” I responded to her. “Er—” I gestured toward my now fully clothed chest. “Sorry, um—”

“I barged in on you,” she reminded me. “Nice tits, by the way.”

Her comment disintegrated the ice that had settled on the room, and I laughed.

“Yeah, I do tend to get that,” I remarked.

She strode toward us with long steps, black high-top shoes leading the way until she reached her brother and held out a fist.

“Out of the friend zone, nice,” Cassie quipped.

Liam rolled his eyes heavily, ignoring his sister’s fist as he said, “I wasn’t friend zoned.”

“Sure, you weren’t,” she returned, still holding her hand up and waiting for Liam’s knuckles to tap hers.

“Been talking about me, then?” I looked to Liam with a raised brow, and he shrugged as he threw me a shy smile.

“Respectfully, guys, I can’t wait here all day,” Cassie noted, and I chuckled, bumping my fist to hers. She beamed at me, saying, “Thank you,” and glanced at Liam. “I like her.”

Liam smirked. “Uh huh. So…you drove five hours to see me because I didn’t call you back?”

His tone was skeptical, and she returned in a cringe, “My roommates may have kicked me out.”

“Cassie,” he whined, “when did that happen?”

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