Page 91 of Missed Sunrise
I stealthily moved my foot to search the space beneath the booth but met only the table leg and air surrounding it. “It is,” I agreed as I slipped my foot out of my slide. “But the prize will be so worth it.” I found my target then and pressed my foot onto Liem’s shin, internally reveling in the slight twitch in his upper body and the way his fingers briefly clenched his water tighter.
“What’s the pri?—"
Bree’s question was cut off by the waiter returning with a platter filled with piping hot bowls of pho, and as soon as everyone’s attention was diverted to it, I slid my foot all the way up Liem’s shin to the inside of his knee.
And then, just to see what he would do, I pushed my foot against him.
I should’ve known better.
His eyes darkened, and there was the smallest smirk playing around his lips as he picked up his chopsticks and speared them into his bowl. He never broke my gaze, not for a moment, even as the billowing steam hazed his features when he raised his noodles to his lips.
And let his legs widen. Letmewiden them.
Hot broth splashed across my hand as I dropped my soup spoon into my bowl. When had I even picked that up?
Bree dropped a cloth napkin onto my leg without a word, and I grabbed it, keeping my gaze averted as I quickly wiped off the broth, barely registering the heat. I dropped the napkin back onto my lap and peeked up through my lashes, my neck heating as Liem delicately tucked his hair behind his ear and dunked his chopsticks into the bowl again.
My foot retreated back into my slide, sufficiently chastised.
I needed to regroup and strategize.
Thankfully, Vinh surprised me for the third time today—the first being when he called me family and the second when he made his expertly timed ass joke—by launching into enthusiastic conversation.
By his standards, that was.
He went into detail about his plans for some updates to the cottage and building plans he had with his Uncle Gil, drawing all of us into the conversation often and easily.
Liem piped in with ideas about design, and at each turn of conversation, I realized there was an ocean of things I didn’t know about him.
I hated that.
It should have been obvious, as our relationship was born online and had barely bloomed in person, but still. I’d selfishly shared so many deep, dark truths with him last year, yet I didn’t even know how he started tattooing or why he stopped. I knew the feel of him pressed against me and the shape of his lips, but nothing of his dreams.
It needed rectifying.
As dinner went on, I learned even more new things about Vinh and Liem as I continued to endure the multi-act show that was Liem Lott turning the ordinary into the painfully erotic.
By the time the curtain on our Mardi Gras meal closed and we were all stuffed to bursting, I’d barely tasted the last few bites of my food because I was too busy strategizing the best way to exit this booth with my dignity intact.
24
Liem
“Areyou sure you’re up for this tonight?” Bree asked as she collapsed onto the bench seat Vinh had produced from their bedroom. “It’s Friday night. If you wanted to go check out the chaos at one of the casinos, I would understand.”
I smiled as I opened the sketch pad that sheltered her design. “Don’t worry,” I assured her. “My wandering days aren’t behind me. I’ve just found somewhere new to go looking.”
“Where?”
The Earth just about shook beneath us at the combined deep tones of Cody and my brother as they asked the question in stereo.
Cody’s here.
I hadn’t seen him in two days. Two painfully long days.
Bree moved her attention to the awning between the kitchen and living room and smiled, but I had to allot myself a few timed breaths before I could do the same.
When I finally looked up, they abandoned me anyway. Cody was leaning against the wall, his bare feet crossed at the ankles.Vinh stood beside him, hands stuffed in his pockets and his sassy eyebrow demanding answers, but I’d all but forgotten the question.
