Page 73 of I Can't Even

A shrill voice to the left interrupted our pace as we both glanced in that direction. Standing there looking shocked was a woman with long straight black hair, wearing a body-hugging yellow dress and sky-high heels. In her hand was a tall frosty pink beverage with an umbrella in it. Her brown eyes went wide as she noticed Liam holding my hand.

“You bastard!” she cried. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the beverage at Liam, a strawberry concoction judging by the smell, hitting him square in the chest.

In a flash of recognition, I knew this was Courtney. The beverage-tossing-anger helped me put her into context and I recognized her from the pictures I’d seen on the internet.

“Yow!” Liam sucked in a breath as the frozen drink soaked his shirt in a frosty deluge.

“Hey!” I shouted. I got that she was upset but seriously do not throw things at my man. “That was totally uncalled for!”

“It’s okay,” Liam said as he swiped chunks of strawberry off his shirt.

“It is not okay.” I stepped forward, ready to rumble, but Liam held me back.

“Jules,” he said. “I love that you want to kick ass on my behalf, but I got this. Just give us a minute.”

“Fine, but if she does anything else...”

I let the threat linger there and Liam’s lips twitched. He pulled me close and kissed me quick. I glanced over his shoulder to see the other woman wince. Okay, I felt a little bad about that.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.” He turned to her and said, “Courtney, can we talk about this?”

Courtney dropped the empty plastic cup and covered her face with her hands, starting to sob. And, yeah, now I really felt bad. I knew from personal experience how hard it was to get over Liam. How could I blame her for being upset?

“I’ll just wait over there.” I gestured in the direction of my family and Liam nodded.

As I turned to walk away, I noticed that the hoodie guy wasn’t in the booth anymore. Damn it. I had been so close to confronting him and finding out what he wanted and with Liam at my back, too. Had we gotten to chat with him, he would have left with a clearer understanding about boundaries and personal space.

I scanned the area. No sign of hoodie, but I found my family at a food truck. Shocker. This one had churros. Yes, please! While we loaded up on deep-fried cinnamon sugary goodness, Soph plucked a chunk of strawberry out of my hair.

“Saving it for later?” she asked.

Em snorted and I said, “No, that little gift came from Liam’s ex-girlfriend.”

“What?” Em glanced around. “Where is he? I assumed he just went to the bathroom.”

“No, they’re talking,” I said. “We bumped into her, and she threw her daiquiri at him. I suspect she has some things to get off her chest.”

“And you left him alone?” Soph looked stunned at both revelations.

“Sure, why not?”

“Because she’s probably trying to win him back right now,” Soph said. “And you left the gate wide open.”

“I’m not worried about Liam.” I waved her concern away.

Soph smacked her forehead with her palm as if she could not believe that I could be this stupid.

Em took a bite of her churro and through a mouthful said, “Jules is right. I’ve never seen a man look at a woman the way Liam looks at her.” She patted my arm. “It’ll be fine. They’ll talk and he’ll come running back to you.”

“Sorry but in my experience, men can have their heads turned in a blink.” Soph bit her churro as if it had done something to piss her off.

I frowned. I hated that Soph’s doubts were making me edgy. I knew she was just looking out for me but still I couldn’t stand to think that after all we’d been through, Liam would dump me to go back to Courtney. But really, what did he have with me? A fresh start? Great. But he’d never let me explain why I’d left to begin with, and I really felt that he needed to know.

I bit my churro. It tasted like deep fried paste. I scanned the throng to see if he was coming back. There was no sign of him. I tried not to worry and failed spectacularly.

Harry and Hannah had found friends of theirs and zipped by to shake Soph down for money before they disappeared into the crowd. Em, Soph, and I wandered through the rest of the art show. Still, there was no sign of Liam and my phone remained ominously silent. I was just beginning to think I was going to ditch the sisters and head back to his house to do boyfriend recon when my phone chimed. Yes!

Had to take Courtney home. She’s in no state to drive. Text you when I get back.

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