Page 105 of Liam

“I don’t.”

He smirks, reaching out to grasp my ankle. “Okay, Baby Baker.”

Lincoln’s phone rings through the speakers, and he’s quick to answer it. Before he can get a word in, a feminine voice says, “Come over and fuck me.”

My eyes widen, jaw unhinged.

“Uh,” Lincoln says. “You’re on speaker, and I’m not alone.”

“Oh.” I assume it’s Julie. “Hi, Liam.”

“Hey,” Liam responds.

“What are you boys doing?”

“One second,” Lincoln says, putting the call on mute. He turns to Liam. “She’s going to ask to hang out with us, so I’ll just tell her we’re filming.”

“You don’t want to see her?” I ask, like the nosy little back seat passenger I am.

Lincoln faces me. “No, it’s just you said you don’t want to show your face in public, so…”

My chest warms when realization dawns. “I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but I don’t want you lying to her for me.”

“Yeah, but—” Linc starts.

Liam cuts him off. “Here’s the plan,” he says, eyes shifting between Linc and me. “We pick up Jules and finish our errands. She loves doing that shit for us anyway, so it saves us having toget out of the car. Then we grab some food, take it back to the house, and hang out by the lake for the rest of the day. Fuck work.” He switches his focus to me. “Jules is chill, Addie.”

“Incredibly so,” Linc adds.

“I wouldn’t even suggest it if I thought she’d make you the slightest bit uncomfortable,” Liam says.

“Plus, you’d be doing me a favor,” Linc chimes in. “I can finally give her that double date she’s always riding my dick about.”

Liam faces his brother. “You have such a way with words.”

Linc smiles from ear to ear. “Thanks.”

“So?” Liam asks me.

I’m still stuck on the double-date thing. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

39

Addie

We spend the next few hours doing exactly what we’d planned. Julie ran around doing whatever the boys needed, and when that was done, we got food from the diner, then went back to their lake to have lunch, where we stay for most of the afternoon. As amazing as it is to be out of the house and around other people—realpeople, not just the ones in my head—being with them all made me realize just how different our worlds were. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful they’ve accepted me, especially after everything I’ve done, and I’m grateful that no one brought up the whole Wyatt thing, but…

I don’t know.

I love being around Liam… when it’s just us two. But with others, even Lincoln, sometimes… I feel like I don’t belong. Like I’m on the outside looking in.

After being at the lake for a while, Lincoln takes Julie home, leaving Liam and me alone. We sit on the dock together, our feet in the water. He doesn’t speak, and I don’t knowwhatto say,so we just sit in comfortable silence until my phone goes off. “That’ll be Roman,” I tell him. “He’ll be here soon.”

“Tell him not to come,” he says. “I can give you a ride home later.”

I turn to him, my eyebrows raised.

He smiles to one side. “I want to take you somewhere.”

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