Page 15 of Off The Ice

Liam’s frown deepened.

“Everyone except your sister, that is,” I told him, biting back a smile. “She shoved her way right between us, staring up at this big guy who towered over both of us, and she told him off.”

Liam’s posture relaxed slightly, his grip on the coffee mug loosening. “Oh yeah?”

“Uh-huh.” I nodded. “She was all, ‘Get your hands off of her. Can’t you see when a girl isn’t interested?’ And then, when the guy tried to brush her off, she really let him have it. Started flipping out on him in Russian.”

Liam raised his eyebrows in genuine shock. “Maggie speaks Russian?”

“Not really!” I burst out laughing, “She was taking some beginner class, so she was spewing out a bunch of random phrases. Like, ‘Hello, goodbye, nice to meet you.’ But the point was,hedidn’t speak Russian, so she looked terrifying, staring him down, yelling in another language. He took off, and I didn’t see him again for the rest of the night.”

Liam snorted. “So she just scared him off with some introductory Russian phrases? Sounds like my sister.”

His face was softer than it had been the night before, and I could tell some part of that invisible wall had come down an inch or two.

“Yup.” I wiped the tears away from my eyes, “And when I asked her what she said to him, we both laughed until we nearly peed our pants. Said she didn’t know any threats yet, so she had to wing it and hope for the best. We were inseparable after that for the rest of college.”

“I’m glad she was there for you,” Liam said, surprising me with this different version of him from the one I’d met the night before.

“Yeah.” I nodded, strangely forlorn. “And ever since then, she’s been helping me out whenever she can. I’ve never met anyone like her.”

I looked down at my fingers tracing circles around the coffee mug, needing something to focus on besides her brother and his attentive gaze.

“You’re lucky to have her for a sister,” I admitted, feeling too exposed to meet his eyes. “I wish she was mine.”

My heart ached at the familiar sting of missing something I’d never had. As an only child, with one dead parent and the other one hardly present, being lonely was something I’d grown hauntingly used to. At one point, I thought that maybe Dave’s family would take me in and treat me like one of their own, butwhen that didn’t happen, I realized that family was something I’d have to live without.

Until I had my own. That hope was one I clung to, maybe a little too tightly—dreams of a life and family I could finally call mine. But now, it seemed just as far away as everything else I wanted.

I looked up to find Liam still staring.

“I am lucky.” He nodded, his eyes a bit distant, as if he were in the process of realizing something. “And for what it’s worth, I think you mean a lot to her, too. I mean, I can’t imagine her sending any other friend to live with me unless she considered them family.”

I felt warmth bloom across my chest as I smiled up at him. “Yeah? For real?”

He laughed at my expression. “Yeah. For real.”

I forced myself to look away when I realized I’d been staring into his eyes too long. Here I was, telling the guy about how great his sister was, and meanwhile, I was basically swooning over her brother. Pretty sure Maggie wouldn’t love that.

My eyes drifted to the clock above his stove, and I jumped. “Oh my God, I’ve got to get going before Dave wakes up!” I picked my bag up off the floor and darted toward the door. “Thanks for the coffee!”

“Wait, Cassie,” Liam said, his arm extending out to stop me in my tracks.

“Are you sure you want to go there? I can give you money to buy new clothes for the day.” His face contorted awkwardly. “Then, you can go get your stuff when you know he won’t be home?”

My face flamed crimson, knowing the absolute last thing in the world I’d ever do was take a handout from this man.

“Oh my gosh,no,” I said quickly. “I mean, thank you. So much. That’s really nice. But I’ll be fine.”

“Cassie,” he said firmly, disapproval evident in his voice.

He looked down at me with those sea-glass eyes, and despite the tone, I couldn’t help but think it was kind of sweet that he cared, even a little. It said a lot about how much he loved his sister and that he’d even extend a little of that protectiveness to me.

“You’ve done plenty.” I smiled up at him, noticing just how much taller than me he really was. “And I’ll pay you for letting me stay in your guest room last night. Is it okay if I send it when I get paid on Friday?”

I’d always been proud of myself for paying my own way. In our whole relationship, I never let Dave pay for a thing for me. I liked being independent and hated the idea of anyone begrudgingly feeling responsible for me, monetarily or otherwise.

Liam, however, did not find it amusing. His face contorted in confusion. “What?” He scoffed, slightly irritated. “You’re not paying me for sleeping in a room.”

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