Page 77 of Rejected Heart

I couldn’t allow myself to get distracted by my feelings for Layla. I could love her all I wanted, but I needed answers. Plus, if Layla didn’t feel the same about me as I did about her, if she didn’t want the same things, it was better for me to know that now. If that was the case, at least I could go into this knowing the outcome.

Then again, considering Layla hadn’t intentionally sought me out in either instance—she wasn’t even back in Landing for me—maybe I already had my answer. Perhaps that was why I hadn’t been so eager to stop her from kissing me last night and why I allowed things to progress the way they had.

“I’m going to figure it out, Ivy. It’s just a bit terrifying, too.”

She offered a sympathetic look. “You know we’re all here for you.”

I smiled at her. “I know you are. Now, let me get out of here, so I can try to sort this all out.”

“Okay. Good luck.”

Turning away from the reception desk, my eyes landed on the front entrance. I took two steps in that direction before Ivy called out to me. “Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re here for you, but we’re also here for her, too. If you want that, if she wants that, we’re all here.”

Warmth moved through me.

My family loved me, so they had every reason to hate Layla for what she’d done. But they didn’t. Not once had they ever spoken poorly about her. Even in my darkest days, they never took that path. Sure, they were heartbroken about it all, but they did what they could to support me. And it was at this very moment that I realized how much I appreciated that.

Because if there was any hope of me ever being able to work things out with Layla, if there was even a remote chance of us being able to have a future, I’d want my family there when it happened.

Maybe they always hoped for the same.

“Thanks, Ivy.”

She grinned at me. Then I turned and walked off.

When I met my brother in the chocolate factory,it was clear he was concerned. “Everything okay, Liam? Your text was unexpected.”

“I need a favor.”

“Sure. What’s going on?” He was focused on the machine he was fixing, but his tone indicated he was curious and engaged in our conversation.

What I loved most was that, without hesitating, Cooper was ready to lend a helping hand. Maybe that was because I didn’t often come to him needing anything.

“I saw Layla last night.”

Cooper stopped what he was doing, his eyes shooting to mine. “What?”

“I guess she had gone to visit Jules, who subsequently told her to visit Ivy at the hotel. Ivy had been busy in the ballroom when Layla showed up, so they told her she could wait in the bar.”

My brother’s brows shot up. “Let me guess, you happened to be there?”

“Yep.”

“And she approached you?”

“Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

Cooper abandoned the machine entirely and walked toward me. “What happened?”

I went on to explain to him what happened in the bar, some of the things we’d said, and how we’d wound up in my hotel suite last night. Of course, I also shared how Layla had left without saying a word.

“So, where do you think things stand with her? Was last night just nostalgia for her, or was there something more there?”

I sighed. “That’s why I need a favor from you.”

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