Page 84 of Lessons in Heartbreak

“No.”

“Yes,” Marcus replied.

Turning slowly, I held his gaze before reaching up and yanking on his skin in the approximate location of his nipple.

He yelped, batting at my hand. “Ouch, you fucker, that hurts.” Then he pointed a finger accusingly in my direction. “See? This is what I needed your help with. He’s acting like she’s not, but she is,” he hissed quietly, like he was afraid Ruby could hear us fifty feet away. “And he’s gonna do something stupid unless he figures it out.”

“No I’m not,” I hissed back. “We’ve ... we’ve got an agreement.”

Liam sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to regret this, but here goes.” When he dropped his hand, his face was serious. “You think about her when you’re not with her?”

I cleared my throat, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. “Sometimes.”

All the time.

Liam nodded. “You worry about her?”

Before answering, I pushed my tongue into the side of my cheek. “Sometimes.”

All the time.

God, I didn’t even believe myself with how flimsy that sounded. I worried about her all the time now.

Liam’s eyes sharpened. “What would you do right now if this redheaded twat—”

“Hey,” Marcus said in an affronted tone.

“—walked over to her for a good snog.”

Marcus leaned in, whispering, “I don’t know what that is.”

Liam didn’t take his eyes off me. “Kissing, you nob. It means you try to kiss her. You all right with her having a go with one of your mates?”

My body went hot. Despite the fact that Marcus wouldn’t, and he was ass-over-tit obsessed with Ruby’s best friend, the thought of him attempting anything with her made me want to rip his balls off.

When I fixed my glare on his stupid face, Marcus held his hands up and scoffed. “I’m not actually going to do it, quit looking at me like that.”

Liam smiled serenely, patting me on the shoulder with a truly impressive amount of condescension. “Right, then. She’s your girl, even if you don’t want to say it. Now, this is the important part—”

I sliced a hand through the air. “Hang on. I met you five minutes ago; why are you giving me relationship advice?”

“You’ll get used to it,” Marcus said. “We have no secrets in this locker room.” He widened his eyes meaningfully. “And now that Liam has fixed all his rage issues and is blissfully pussy-whipped for his wife—” His words cut off in a choke when Liam snapped a hand out and covered Marcus’s mouth.

“What have I said to you about mentioning any physical features on my wife’s body?” Liam asked quietly.

After Liam dropped his hand, Marcus sighed, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling. “Sorry. I wasn’t speaking about hers specifically; it was more of an observation of your general relationship status.”

Eyes darting between them, I rubbed the back of my neck and wondered if it was too late to back out of this transfer. “You know, we really don’t have to talk about this. Ruby and I are friends. We just ... do other stuff too.”

“That’s a bunch of bollocks, and I’ll tell you why,” Liam said, fixing his attention back on me. “You can’t do the other stuff without your feelings changing. They either change for the bad—where you start getting annoyed by all the stupid little shit they do and wonder why they breathe so loud and how come they can’t just be a little different ...” His voice dropped a touch. “Or they change for the good. And you get obsessed with all that little shit. Why does her hair shine in the sun? Why does she smell so good? Isn’t it cute how she walks and how she laughs. Why can’t she just be around you all the bloody time?”

My mouth went dry. “I don’t think I want to have this conversation anymore.”

“’Course you don’t,” Liam said evenly. “Because she’s your girl and you haven’t been able to admit it. You sleep with her yet?” When I shook my head, he gave me an assessing look. “What’s she want out of this?”

“Nothing,” I heard myself say. “Sh-she doesn’t want a serious relationship. She just wants ... she wants some experience because it’s been hard for her to feel comfortable around men.”

Marcus nodded, emitting a smarmy little hum that made me want to punch him. “Maybe Ruby’s feelings are having good changes too.”

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