Page 49 of The Wedding Engagement

She nodded, taking a sip of her drink. “And who’s the lucky chap?”

He eyed her for a moment, eyebrows raised. “I knew I had a good feeling about telling you. Most people would say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were gay,’ at this stage, as if bisexuals don’t even exist.”

Liv frowned. “Really?”

“Yep. I haven’t told anyone here yet because of the mixed reaction I got back in Glasgow. One friend used to ask me on a regular basis, ‘So, are you still bi?’ ”

Liv coughed on her drink. “What? Were they straight?”

He nodded.

“And do you message them regularly to ask if they’re still hetero?” she asked with a grin.

Brodie laughed, smacking his palms gently on the table. “No, but now I’m totally going to do that.” He lifted his glass to clink with hers again. “To be honest, I even got microaggressions from some of my gay friends.”

She shook her head. “That’s shit.”

“Right?” He gave her a smile. “So is there anyone else you’re interested in? Male or female or otherwise?”

Liv shook her head. “I think I prefer to be alone.” She paused totake a drink, aware that she had spoken unfiltered. Then the image of being cuddled against Arran came to mind. Somehow, being with him made her question her solitary instinct.

Brodie was giving her a quizzical look, but her phone pinged with a message before he could speak.

She lifted the phone from the table and her stomach turned to ice as she clocked the name on the screen. Her horror caused her to speak without processing her thoughts properly. “Shit. It’s from Dave.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Who’s Dave?”

Liv stared at the message, hovering her finger over the phone as she attempted to decide whether to open it. “Dave is the man whose genetic material makes up fifty percent of mine.”

Understanding melted the frown from Brodie’s face. “Ah. I’m guessing this is a man whom you don’t wish to refer to as a father, which speaks volumes.”

She swallowed, her mouth dry. “Indeed.”

“I take it you don’t really hear from him?”

“Nope,” she replied, still eyeing the name on her phone screen—Douchebag Dave. “On account of him being a total scumbag.”

He shot her a sympathetic look. “You can read the message. I won’t ask for any details.”

She tried to put the phone down; after all, this had been a really cool and fun evening so far. But she’d only worry about what the text said; then the night would be ruined anyway.Why didn’t I block him? Oh yeah, that’s right. Because deep down, I always held out that naive hope that one day he’d call and act like he actually gave a shit about my life.

Liv took a breath and opened the message, unable to stop herself from telling Brodie the contents. He was too easy to talk to, and he’d already confided something personal. “For fuck’s sake. He’sasking why I didn’t tell him about Sam’s wedding.” She glanced up to meet Brodie’s gaze. “And that’s it. Not a word about me. I could be maimed or in prison for all he knows.”

He smiled. “I can’t imagine you going to prison for anything.”

Liv grabbed her cocktail and took an aggressive sip, which nearly caused the contents to slosh out of the glass and drench her in tasty French martini. “I dunno. Maybe father-icide.”

He reached over to give her arm a brief squeeze. “Please do tell me to fuck off and mind my own business, but is your dad the reason you said that you’d rather be on your own?”

Glancing up to meet his gaze, she realized she didn’t have the energy to suppress it or lie about it. Maybe it was the alcohol, or the unexpected jolt of emotion at hearing from Dave. Or perhaps it was because Brodie was a safe, objective ear. She didn’t need to worry that confiding her feelings would upset him the way she constantly had to with everyone else. “Maybe.”

He gave her a soft smile. “Is that because you worry that all men will turn out to be like your dad—I mean, like Dave?”

Liv returned his smile, appreciating his correction. She paused to assess her tangled mess of emotions. It was like the viper’s nest of cables that she hid behind her TV stand. “I’m not sure.” Dean, her ex, floated into her mind.“For fuck’s sake, Liv. You’re just like your dad.”A wave of nausea washed over her, driving her heart rate up a notch.“Just like your dad.”She closed her eyes, Dean’s voice morphing into her grandmother’s. And then her mother’s.

She cleared her throat. “Anyway. I’m not interested in a serious relationship.”

He nodded, studying her face. “You only do short-term, casual stuff?”

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