Page 89 of No Way Home
I growled at the thought.
“He wouldn’t,” I told myself.Wouldn’t he?Liam acted like a playboy—blowing through girls faster than I blew through felt tip pens—but the truth was, he was perpetually on the hunt for The One.
He wanted what his parents had. Talked about it all the time. No doubt, if he found the right woman, he’d snatch her up and never let her go.
What if he decides Magnolia’s the right woman?
Jealousy raged inside of me like an angry sea. Liam posted everything on social media. So I tapped on the Instagram appand went to Liam’s profile, hopingnotto find Magnolia there. The very first reel made my molars grind so hard my jaw cracked.
“Are you kidding me?” I breathed. “What kind of moron takes his phone on the water?”The kind who has enough money to buy a brand new phone every day of the year and not even notice the damage it does to his bank account,my snarky brain retorted.
I pressed play on the reel of him and Magnolia paddleboarding. It was a boomerang-style video, no words. He stood behind her, arms looped around her tiny waist, grinning for the camera. Then he pressed a kiss into the center of her velvety cheek. All while she closed her eyes and leaned into it, smiling like she was the luckiest woman in the world. Over and over and over. The worst part was that Liam had the camera angled down, giving the entire world a close-up of her very ample cleavage.
Fantastic. Now I had to murder my cousin.
The description on the reel read:
Perfect day back home in Seddledowne, visiting the fam. Too many blessings today. BOTD: Got to spend the afternoon with this cutie.
BOTD stood for Blessing of the Day. Liam was as good at social media as he was at juking defenders. I usually loved catching up every evening to see what he’d been up to. But the fact that he’d made Magnolia his BOTD was justhateful.
I scrolled through the comments, wondering if Griff had seen. I caught these two going at it online all the time. Sure enough, five comments down was Griff’s ‘Finsta’ handle: 22Shades_ofAverage. He’d made the account for the sole purpose of heckling Liam. Liam’s jersey number was twenty-two, so basically, Griffin was giving him a one-two punch every timehe commented. First with his handle, second with his hurtful words.
22Shades_ofAverage:
Real classy—dating your best friend’s ex. Guess she’s all that’s left since you’ve blown through every eligible woman within a five-hundred-mile radius.
Liam had already replied with the Finsta handle he’d made just to respond ‘anonymously’ to Griffin’s jabs.
all.smoke.no.show:
Ex best friend.
“Wow.” Their animosity was getting worse. But I was jealous of Liam. At least Griff responded to him.
I scrolled back up, ready to head out of this mess, when a snarky comment at the very top of the post caught my eye. It was from Liam’s favorite sports reporter—a big blue check mark next to her name.
Sariah_Morgandale :
A shirtless boomerang? Bold choice. Did the middle school girls you’re marketing to eat it up?
Dang. We needed to make sure she and Griff never met. Together, they might destroy Liam online.
Liam responded to her with his public handle, which was saying something. He never did that—just posted and jetted out of Instagram, only to return with his fake accountifGriffin made an appearance.
LiamD_22:
Nah, just the bitter reporters who watch it 17 times before commenting.
Oof.
I watched the boomerang again, the fury I felt at Liam’s hands and lips on Magnolia, returning full force.
I shot to my feet and checked their location through the window. “No loyalty whatsoever,” I growled. He and Magnolia were on the ‘beach’, feeding each other grapes like they were auditioning for aBridgertonspin-off. “All right,” I seethed. “Time toshut this down.”
I jogged through the house and outside. When I got to the top of the hill, Liam had one arm around Magnolia’s shoulder, toying with the ends of her damp hair. My cousin had a freaking death wish.
Jaw set, I strode in their direction, a growl ready in my chest. My uncles and Blue golf clapped when they saw my purposeful walk and determined expression. Charlie fought back a smile and gave me a covert thumbs-up. Cash, still solidly Team Griffin—because, as Charlie said, somebody had to be—looked seriously worried.
