Page 35 of Liam

“Your foster dad?” he guesses.

I nod. “He bought her one as a joke, and now she’s obsessed with them. I think she enjoys collecting them just as much as using them. Anyway, she found this subscription thing, and every month, she gets six different ones in the mail. All a surprise. She lets me choose one, and I change them out of my master set. It’s kind of ourthing.” It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud, but we get a kick out of going through them all once a month.

Liam stares at his hand as he clicks away, but I can tell he’s listening, because he asks, “Does she still bite her nails?”

I laugh once. Not because of the question, but because I’ve never even thought about it until now. “No, actually. She doesn’t.”

Liam nods, glances up at me, then right back down. “So…”

“So…?”

“Roman packs your lunch every day?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s kind of sweet, though.”

“Speaking of sweet. Your niece? Adorable.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty cute.” His chest rises with his huge inhale, as if he’s preparing for his next words. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“About what?”

He keeps his head ducked, but his eyes lift, meet mine.Hold.“About seeing Miss Harden just now.”

Oh. “Do you want me to talk about it?”

“Only if you want to.”

I shake my head. “I don’t.” The truth is, I haven’t thought about it since we left the store, but I can imagine how Liam must’ve seen it, as if it’s some life-changing moment for me. Maybe it is, and maybe I won’t realize until later.

We both sit back when Barb returns with our food—a BLT sandwich and vanilla shake for me, two burgers, two fries, two drinks for him. Liam looks confused as Barb places the food in front of us. “Oh, I didn’t order two,” he tells her, his brow furrowed in the most adorable way.

“Yeah, you did,” she answers, chewing, chewing, chewing away.

He looks to me for confirmation, and I scrunch my nose, nod once. He did order two, but I assumed he meant to.

“Would you mind?” he asks Barb, pushing one of each item toward her.

“To go?”

“Yes, please.”

We wait until she leaves with all his extras before starting our food. Well, he does. I’m too busy watching him, fascinated by his every move. He removes the top bun, removes the pickle, then scrapes off the onions before stopping himself and putting the burger together again. He glares at his fries, his eyebrows drawn. On goes the salt. Then the ketchup. Then he sighs, grabs his drink, looks up at me, as if waiting for something. He lowers the drink again, then rubs the back of his neck, his look of confusion causing my lips to tick up. “So weird,” he murmurs, more to himself than to me, so I don’t know what he means, and I don’t ask.

Instead, I take a page from his book—a leap of faith. He asked me to join him for a reason, and if that reason was to get to know me, then I should offer something more than fidget clickers. Ipick up my sandwich, saying, “You know, we’re kind of the same in a way…”

He was halfway through biting into his burger, so he chews and swallows before speaking. “How so?”

I lower my sandwich back on the tray, more interested in him than I am with the food. “When I first moved in with my foster parents, they were so nice and welcoming. And at first, I didn’t really understand why, but I knew almost immediately that I didn’t want to disappoint them. I didn’t want to give them a reason to question how, after treating me so well, I could let them down. So, I set out to be this… Golden Child, I guess. And for the most part, I succeed, but man, when I don’t… when something changes, that’s out of my control…”

Liam nods, understanding.

“Anyway, Griffin—he calls it my pursuit of perfection.”

“What’s the pursuit of perfection?” A carbon copy of the boy sitting opposite me interrupts. Lincoln’s standing beside the table, a girl by his side, and he doesn’t wait for my response before sliding into the booth next to me. I scoot over, giving him room.

“Addie!” the girl exclaims, forcing Liam to move so she can take the spot next to him. “Lincoln told me you were back!”

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