Page 110 of The Wedding Engagement

Maya snuggled in beside her and gathered her up in her arms, stroking her hair. “I don’t think Arran would do that.”

“Me neither. But it did look very incriminating. Then he didn’t even mention it just now. Plus, if he does still have feelings for her, it would explain why he’s been giving off this whole holding-back vibe ever since we slept together.”

Her eyes stung, so she closed them to hold back the tears. “It really hurt, you know? Seeing her there in his T-shirt when that’s what he did with me. Gave me his shirt, and I was still wearing it when we…” She stopped talking because the words were like little knives cutting her vocal cords as she uttered them.

Maya gave her a squeeze. “I know,” she said softly. “Maybe you should call him back? Ask him now?”

Liv swallowed the painful lump in her throat. “I feel like I need to ask him in person. See the expression on his face. It’s an in-person conversation.”

Maya nodded. “Okay.”

“Maya?” Liv said, her throat pained by her own voice.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know what I’ll do if they’re getting back together.”

Maya rubbed her back. “I know. It’ll be okay.”

But she couldn’t help thinking that she’d blown it. She’d been afraid to tell him how she felt, so he’d have no idea that she didn’t just want something casual. Then, when the love of his life came along, wanting to rekindle things, of course he’d jump at the chance.

—

Arran paced the hallway, pausingevery so often to peek through the peephole to see whether or not Liv’s car had pulled up. He checked his watch. Any minute now and she should be there.

The noise of a car sounded outside and he zipped to the door again. It was her. The phone began to ring, but he ignored it in his hurry to unlock the door, opening it before she’d even reached it. She was wearing her faded jeans and a fur-lined jacket hanging open to reveal a T-shirt that said “Obstinate Headstrong Girl” on it.

She came in, and the pinched, anxious expression on her face made his mind race. She was clearly anxious about whatever she wanted to tell him, and it put him in mind of Dean, how Liv had been anxious about breaking up with him. And connecting those dots made him feel sick. “Tea?” he said, for want of a better greeting.

They went into the kitchen and she helped him make a pot, both sneaking glances at the other but not saying anything beyond functional phrases such as “here’re the teabags” and “I’ve got the milk.”

Once they sat down, he looked at her, and she met his eyes. It was like some sort of standoff, each one waiting for the other to speak.

Eventually, she spoke first. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

He raised his eyebrows. “I should ask you the same thing.”

She bit her lip, then pushed her glasses up her nose. “I came to see you yesterday morning.”

Arran frowned, trying to remember what day yesterday had been, because the past twenty-four hours had seemed more like two years. What had he been doing yesterday morning? He should’ve been home. How come he hadn’t been? “Oh yeah, I was out for a walk. Sorry I missed you.”

Why would she be upset that he hadn’t been home when she’d called? He studied the hurt expression on her face.

Then the penny dropped. Only it wasn’t so much a penny as a sledgehammer of epic proportions.

Jess.

He smacked his palm to his forehead. “Oh shit.”

She raised her eyebrows, as if to say, “Too damn right.”

He groaned, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead, which was actually a bit sore from the slap he’d given it. “She answered the door, didn’t she? And she would’ve been wearing that goddamn T-shirt because she wasstillfucking in it when I got home.”

Liv was looking at him as if her heart might break, and he was hit by conflicting emotions—hope that her being upset might mean she felt something for him beyond friends with benefits, and a gut-wrenching pain that she’d been inadvertently hurt by him.

He grabbed her hand across the table. “Liv, nothing happened.”

Her eyes were wide and he got the palpable sense that she wanted to believe him. “She didn’t tell you I came over?”

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