Page 67 of Changing Tides

“Sounds great.” I hang up and smile over at Liam who is punching the address in his GPS. I grab his thigh and give it a squeeze. Everything feels right.

He glances over at me, a mischievous look in his eyes. “Should I find somewhere to pull over?”

“No!” I laugh. “We’ll be late. There will be plenty of lovin’ when we get home.” I lean in for a kiss. Home. That sounds right.

* * *

Lunch is perfect.The conversation is good, and the margaritas hit the spot. I am so happy that this little trip worked out for Liam to meet my family and for me to see Claire. I think I actuallycanhave the best of both worlds.

We’re standing outside of the restaurant and the guys are talking about the Phillies lineup while Claire and I hug goodbye.

“Before I forget,” she says, pulling back, “please call Trevor. He needs to know if you’re interested and if you want to meet with him. I don’t care what you decide, but just call him so I don’t look like a jerk.”

“I promise, I will.” I give her one last squeeze. “Come down and visit soon!” I say as I climb in the truck. “The beach misses you.”

We’re quiet for the first few minutes of the drive, I’m humming happily to the radio, and Liam is focused on the road. I glance over at him and notice he is a little tense, so I reach for his leg and rub it. He doesn’t look my way.

“Everything okay?” I ask him.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” His reply is curt.

“Really? Because you don’t seem fine.” I press, pulling my hand back. “Your body language changed completely.”

Liam ignores that and sighs. “Who is Trevor?” he asks brusquely.

“I didn’t think you heard that,” I mutter under my breath.

“What was that?” he asks, glancing at me and then back to the road.

Okay so we’re doing this now.

“Trevor is Claire’s old intern. He is opening a practice back here in Scranton, and he asked if I would be interested in working out of it.” I sigh. I glance over at him waiting for his response.

“You told him no though…” It’s a statement, not a question. Followed by, “Right?”

I don’t like Liam’s implication that I should have definitely told him no or the direction this conversation is going. We haven't had any sort of conversation about a serious commitment since the night we first got together. “I haven’t told him anything yet,” I admit with a shrug. “I haven’t even called him.”

Liam exhales like he might be relieved to hear this.

“But I have to call him,” I say, like he should already know that.

“To tell him you aren’t interested?” Liam glances over at me. I’m quiet for a minute thinking about what I should say. Liam seems bothered by my hesitation. “Sophie, you aren’t interested in moving back here, right? I thought you were staying in Cape May.” His voice wavers.

“I don’t know, Liam. I don’t even know the details of the job yet.” I lean my head back against the seat. This is not how I saw this conversation going.

“What about Lucy?” he asks warily. But what he really means is ‘what about us?’

“I have to take the call, Liam. I promised Claire I would. And we haven’t even had a conversation about where we stand.” There, I answered both the spoken and unspoken questions.

“Where we stand?” Liam scoffs.

“There is plenty of time for us to discuss this,” I say calmly. “I wasn’t even sure if we are awe. That’s why I didn’t bring it up yet.” I pause and wait for him to reply.

Liam swallows and pulls the car over to the shoulder. He puts the car in park and turns to me. “Sophie, I’m not good at confessing feelings, as you have probably figured out by now.” He licks his lips and reaches for my hands. “I’ve spent every free moment I’ve had with you so maybe I just thought it was obvious but Sophie, I’m totally gone for you.”

My breath hitches in my throat. “You are?” I whisper.

Liam’s lips curl up lightly and he kisses my knuckles. “I am. I’m sorry if I scared you. It scares me to think of you leaving.”

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