Page 61 of Hired By the Enemy
We are actually still tormenting each other, but in a different way now.
I’m tormented by thoughts of Liam.About the way we traded insults and laughed together. The way we talked about everything and confided in each other.
The way Liam gets me more than anyone ever has.
How is that even possible?
I retreat from the window and head to my room. I hunch over my high school study desk and try to do some work, but I can’t escape the past. How many hours did I spend sitting here plotting ways to get revenge on Liam Jamieson when I was growing up? Back when all I wanted to do was to make his life miserable.
And now I’m sitting here simply wanting him.
It’s like my thoughts summon him because a car pulls up outside Liam’s house and my breath catches in my throat.
Liam gets out of the car, and my stomach lurches.
He’s so familiar to me. The shape of his body, the way he walks, the set of his shoulders. He’s too far away from me, so I can’t see his expression. But I do see him turn his head toward my house, then glance away.
Oh, holy hell.
Somehow, seeing Liam here in Bainfield, entering the house where he grew up, reinforces all the history between us. All those pranks we played, the way we spent years battling each other.
It makes what happened between us in Hawaii seem even more unbelievable.
He disappears inside his house.
I slump back in my chair.
Liam’s here. So close, but yet so far.
And I want to see him more than I’ve ever wanted anything.
What the hell should I do?
In desperation, I video-call my friend Andrew.
Andrew and I first met at a CEO tech conference a fewyears ago. Being both under twenty-five and gay established the initial bond between us, and our friendship grew from there. He’s proven to be an invaluable sounding board for issues in my business and personal life.
He answers my call with a smile.
“Hey, my brother by another mother.”
Despite myself, I snicker because Andrew is the last person you’d expect to engage in slang idioms. “Have you ever actually been able to pull off saying that?” I ask.
Andrew laughs. “That was my first attempt. I’m taking it was a fail?”
“A truly epic one.”
He shrugs. “You can’t win them all.”
I settle back in my chair. “How’s retirement? Decided what to do with the rest of your life yet?”
Andrew recently sold his company for a ridiculous amount of money and has based himself in London for a couple of months to do some traveling while trying to decide what to do next.
“I’m still working on a plan,” he says easily. “How’s everything going with you? How was your retreat?”
“The retreat was fine,” I say. “But it caused a dilemma I’m struggling with, and I wanted to talk it through with someone.”
“Fire away,” he says.
