Page 40 of Off The Ice

He leaned forward, eating his food over the table, settling into comfort quickly, which allowed me to do the same. He ate, and I watched him, almost in awe of how this could be my life, sitting here beside him.

Despite everything that happened in the past few days, I couldn’t find that sense of heartache that had been plaguing most of my moments. In fact, I felt strangely settled in a way that scared me because I knew that feeling couldn’t last for long.

We finished our plates, and Liam brought them to the sink for us despite my protest that I would clear up. He gave me a stern look that kept me in place.

I sighed contentedly, feeling the exhaustion of the week washing away as I curled into a relaxed position on the couch. I figured that since Liam had gotten up, that was all the interaction I’d get from him for the night, but after the sinkturned off, he made his way back to the couch, leaning against the back of the couch with ease.

I sat in the silence, my eyes fixed on the television. I didn’t dare to speak and break the moment, as if he were an animal that might be frightened off by sudden movement.

Eventually, he pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over me.

“You looked cold,” he said when I looked over to him with a raised brow.

I had been a little, but I didn’t know how he could possibly notice that. Still, I felt myself dozing off, strangely at peace in the foreign environment I’d been suddenly transplanted into. And in that safety, sleep came quickly.

Liam

I had never resented the sound of a knock at the door more in my entire life.

Sure, I’d never been the type of guy to respond well to unannounced visitors, but at that moment, with Cassie sleeping on the couch, the sound of a fist banging against the door getting louder with each second, I found that there had never been a time I wanted a guest less.

I sprang up from the couch toward the door, determined to send whoever it was away when Maggie piled in as soon as the tiniest crack presented itself.

“Maggie, what the hell do you need?” I groaned, trying to stifle the volume she’d brought with her.

The sound of her purse and keys rang out against the countertop she’d dropped them on, and she was already talking a mile a minute about how she couldn’t possibly understand why it took so long to open a door.

“You know, you should really tell someone before you show up at their house at ten o’clock at night.”

“Well, I’m here for Cassie, not you,” she said with a hand on her hip. “Where is she?”

With a clenched jaw, I nodded toward the couch. “She’s sleeping. So, keep it down.”

“Well, that explains why she wasn’t answering my texts.” Maggie nodded, making her way toward the living room.

“Oh, Cassie,” she said in a sing-song voice as she approached her sleeping form.

“What are you doing?” I hissed, walking faster to catch up with my little sister before she woke Cassie up.

“I’m here to take her out,” she said, exasperated. “What’s with you?”

“She’s sound asleep. What makes you think it’s a good idea to take her out at ten o’clock at night?”

“Oh, please. It’s the weekend. The bars are open, and the night is just getting started.”

How Maggie and I were related, I’d never know. We had totally opposite ideas of how to spend our time. What could possibly be appealing about sitting in a dark barroom while drunk strangers spilled drinks on you, trying to strike up conversation all night long?

“She’s tired. Just come back another night.”

“She can wake up.” Maggie tsked. “What’s it to you, anyway? I figured you’d jump at the idea of having your apartment back to yourself for the night.”

“I’m just saying that after the week she’s had, don’t you think she just needs to relax?”

“No, I think after the week she had, she needs to hang out with her best friend instead of the random brother I’ve left her alone with all week.”

“What’s going on.” Cassie sat up, blinking in confusion as sleep still clouded her eyes.

She looked exhausted, and my chest tightened at the sight. She was obviously in no state to go out to the bars with my rambunctious sister, who probably had all types of schemes up her sleeve.

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