Page 218 of Delicious

Liam sinks into me, holding me tightly as he buries his face in the crook of my neck. He inhales and makes a happy humming sound. “I missed this so much.”

“Me too.”

Marco joins the embrace, draping himself over Liam from behind. The three of us stand like that for several minutes, just holding each other, and honestly, I don’t know if a hug has ever been better.

I force myself to release Liam and step back enough to see his face. “Do you need a drink or something?”

He shakes his head, dragging a hand through his damp locks. “I’m good. Sorry I took so long. I went to my place to shower and change first.”

“Worth the wait,” Marco says. “Want to sit?”

“Yeah.”

Marco leads the way to our large sectional couch, and once again, a flood of memories rushes back. Nights cuddled on this couch watching horror movies that Liam endured even though he was scared out of his mind. He’d wrap himself around Marco like an octopus, but always keep one hand entwined with mine.

Then there were the lazy Sundays we spent, sometimes watching football and other times watching cooking shows, eventually ending up in a tangled, hot mess of naked bodies.

Liam’s cheeks flush and I know he remembers too. Those were the best days, and I never thought they’d end.

“Thanks for having me over,” Liam says before turning to Marco. “I can’t believe I’m really here.”

“I tried to follow your career,” Marco says. “I knew about London but not California.”

Liam nods, reaching for Marco’s hand and mine with his other. “I didn’t always update my employment. It was embarrassing after a while, even though it’s pretty normal in this industry to hop around.”

“Then why was it embarrassing?” I ask.

He shrugs, glancing down at our hands. “I was supposed to be this big shot chef, running his own place in a desirable city, all before the age of forty. There were articles about me in Singapore. I was gunning for that Michelin star until all crumbled thanks to bad financial choices I wasn’t even part of. How could I look everyone in the face and tell them I’d failed?”

Marco’s brow creases, but he doesn’t say anything.

I rub his hand. “Your parents? That’s who you were worried about?”

Liam shakes his head. “No, Des. You and Marco. I blew up the best thing I ever had to chase something that wasn’t even real.”

“But you didn’t know that,” Marco says. “You would have regretted not trying. Eventually, you would’ve resented us.”

“Is that why you let me go so easily?”

I scoff at that. “Easily? Liam, babe, nothing about losing you was easy. We’ve clearly not gotten over it. You think we wanted to let you leave?”

He searches my eyes before shaking his head and looking away. I grab his chin, pulling his gaze back to me.

“Talk to me, Li. Please.”

“You guys didn’t even try to get me to stay. I thought…” He shrugs. “I guess I thought maybe you’d had enough. Or you were ready to be a twosome again.”

“Jesus Christ,” Marco mumbles. “Are you serious right now?”

“Am I wrong?”

“So fucking wrong,” Marco says. “It was the hardest thing we’ve ever done to this day. Des could barely eat for two weeks, and it took us months to be able to sleep through the night without you. The first six months we tortured ourselves, looking at every picture posted and wondering if you were happy, or if you found someone else to warm your bed.”

“I had to block you,” I whisper. “I couldn’t take it anymore. It was like stabbing myself every time I saw your face, knowing you wouldn’t be coming home later. That’s why we stopped communicating. I literally couldn’t take it.”

Liam’s face goes blank. “You blocked me? I thought…” He shakes his head. “I blocked you too. I thought I was the one that dropped the communication ball.”

“You blocked us?” Marco asks. “But I was able to look you up.”

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