Page 11 of Izzy and Her Off-Limits Love

It’s all I can do not to run to the bathroom and call my Aunt Eloise—the one with all the best gossip—right this minute to demand answers. If not for my conversation with Merritt this morning, I might not believe the family could have kept breakup news from me. But clearly, a pinky promise is no laughing matter. It wouldn’t surprise me if Merritt held her sisters to the same commitment.

“Wow,” Liam says. “You’re giving a lot of serious thought to letting me buy you a drink.”

I force a smile I hope looks natural and shake my head. “Sorry. Got distracted by this terrible version of ‘Last Christmas.’” I nod toward the stage, and Liam grins. “Don’t fight Alisa on this,” I say. “It’s her love language, and Derek loves to spoil her. Plus, he works in finance. He can definitely cover our drinks tonight.”

“Fair enough,” Liam says. “What would you like? I’ll at least order for us.”

I stick with wine because I need to keep my wits about me. One margarita and I told Alisa about Liam. Tonight, I need to hang on to every shred of my self-control.

Liam places our order with the bartender, and we chat for a few minutes while we wait for our drinks. As soon as we have them in hand, we make our way toward Alisa and the rest of the group. Liam keeps his free hand pressed against my lower back, steering me through the crowd, leaving what feels like a brand on my skin.

I still remember the first time Liam’s touch impacted me this way. I was nineteen, one year of college behind me, and the whole family was out on Oakley for a beach day. Liam was playing with the little kids, chasing them up and down the sand,letting them climb all over him. I was stretched out on a blanket reading a book. Only … I couldn’t focus on more than a word or two before my eyes were drawn back to him.

Eventually, the kids moved down to the water to jump over the waves, and Liam came and dropped onto the blanket next to me. “You’re getting crispy, Iz,” he said.

I tilted my head and looked up at him. “Am I? I put sunscreen on.”

He shrugged easily. “Maybe you missed a few spots? Your back looks really red.”

I sighed and sat up, trading my book for the sunscreen tucked into my bag. “Okay. I’ll go get Merritt to help.”

“Here, I’ll just do it,” Liam said, holding out his hand.

And so I let him. Holding my breath while he rubbed sunscreen onto my back and shoulders, sliding his hands over my skin like it was no big deal.

It wasn’t, really.

But every brush of his fingers lit me up from the inside out. It was a good thing I already had a sunburn to disguise the lobster red of my blush.

The thing is, he’d probably put sunscreen on me a thousand times before, with all the times we were at the beach together. But I’d never registered his touch like I did then. Like I have every time he’s touched me since.

Alisa waves from the middle of a crowded table. I’m less nervous than I should be to join a group of mostly strangers. Despite the current civil war situation happening inside my heart, one sideforLiam feelings, one side against, his presence makes me feel safe. It always has.

As we sit, I lean a little closer. “I don’t know half of these people. That’s Alisa’s boyfriend, Derek.” I point to the guy in a seersucker suit and bow tie smiling shyly at us across the table. He’s Alisa’s polar opposite and somehow exactly perfect for her.

“Nice suit,” Liam says to me. “Not many guys can pull off seersucker. Especially in winter.”

“I know, right?” My eyes drift to the clean-cut blond guy next to him. The one looking at me with sad puppy dog eyes. “That’s, um, Chuck.”

“Umchuck?” Liam asks. “Is that his full name or a nickname? Is there a hyphen, or is it just one word?”

I can’t help it. I cackle. Which draws nearly every eye at the table to us. I cover my mouth with my hand, cheeks flushing. But this reminds Alisa to do introductions, which allows me to take a sip of wine.

Chuck’s shoulders continue to droop while Alisa is talking. I feel slightly bad since he’s clearly misreading the situation, but also, this might get me out of having to let him down easy. We’ve only had drinks one time, but he’s texted me several times since then. If the number of times Chuck has frowned at Liam is any indication, he definitely came here with expectations.

Alisa finally makes it around the table, and I immediately forget everyone’s names because Liam has his arm slung casually over the back of my chair.

If I leaned back, would he move his hand away? Or would he maybe brush my neck with his fingers? I’m frozen, angled slightly forward in my chair. Torn between relaxing into his arm and keeping my distance.

This is going to be a long night.

It’s like someone backed up a truck and dumped all the self-consciousness of my middle school self right into my lap. Now, I’m a weird blend of confident Izzy and stressed and overthinking Izzy, hung up on every word and every movement.

Alisa claps her hands. “That’s you, Izzy!”

Apparently, I zoned out and missed something. “What’s me?”

“This next song. It’s you … and Liam.” She grins mischievously and points to the stage. “Get up there, you two!”

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