Page 21 of Izzy and Her Off-Limits Love

His desk is perfectly neat, the couch looks soft and comfortable, and the double window provides the same view he has in the living room.

I turn to face Liam, who is watching me warily from the doorway. “You know what? This is perfect,” I say. “I would rather sleep in here.”

“Izzy, you don’t?—”

“I want to,” I say. I plop down onto the couch. “This is perfect. You’re too big for this couch anyway.”

I cross my fingers that Liam won’t fight me on this.

I don’t know what it was about standing in his bedroom, but the weight of everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours dropped onto me like an anvil.

This time last week, I was snuggled under a Christmas blanket in my newly decorated apartment, eating reindeer gingerbread cookies, convincing myself I would, once and for all, make letting go of my crush my New Year’s resolution.

Now, I’m in his apartment, he isnotproposing to Natasha, and he’s flirting with me like he might have the same crush I do.

It’s everything I’ve wanted, but my brain can’t seem to compute. I have no idea how to switch the traffic signal from red to green.

But I might be able to switch it to yellow.Proceed slowly. With caution.

Sleeping on this couch instead of in Liam’s bed definitely feels like theyellowchoice.

“Okay,” Liam finally says. “Let me grab you some clean sheets.”

He reappears moments later and drops a set of pale gray sheets onto the couch cushion beside me, followed by a blanket I’m pretty sure he just pulled from the foot of his bed.

“Are you sure?” he says. “I just want you to be comfortable.”

“I will be. I promise. And we don’t even need to pull out the bed. I’d rather just sleep on it like this.”

“All right. At least let me make it for you.”

I nod, letting him nudge me out of the way as he tucks the bottom sheet around the cushions. My phone dings with a notification, and when I look, Sadie has sent an obscene amount of money through Venmo. The note saysSorry for the issues! Grab clothes and whatever else you need. Consider this a prorated rent for the month and a bonus for your trouble.

“Whoa,” I say. “This is ridiculous. Look what she sent me! I swear, if it weren’t for Ben’s billions, I’d send this right back.”

I hold up my phone, and Liam whistles. “But you know he enjoys giving it away. They both do. Camden is the same way. He made a lot in hockey, especially his last two years when he played in New York, but even that was nowhere near the kind of money Ben has.”

“It’s honestly weird to think of Camden having money,” I say. “He doesn’t give off rich guy vibes at all.”

“You’re right about that. He buys his clothes at Costco.”

“Shut up,” I say through a chuckle. “Seriously? Does he have to buy his jeans in a twelve-pack?”

“It’s not so bad,” Liam says, sounding a little too defensive.

“Liam—do you also buy your clothes at Costco?”

“I mean … it’s great quality at a great price.”

I can’t help it. I throw my head back and laugh. I’ve never seen Liamnotlook great. But when I think of Costco, my brain imagines pallets of canned goods and twenty-five-pound bags of rice. Not clothing.

“Laugh it up,” he says, his lips fighting a smile. “But where do you think the jacket you’re wearing came from?”

I stop laughing and stretch out my arms, looking at the suit jacket I’ve had on since earlier tonight. I never would have guessed. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“Did it come in a set with nineteen others just like it?” I tease.

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