Page 23 of Looks Real Good Now
“Thanks, I think you might owe me more than just the one snark-free film. I remembered while you were in there that my parents do that Christmas Eve lock-in at The Seamus Pub every year, which means I was getting the house to myself until one a.m. Instead, I have to go off and be social.” I took a long sip of my coffee and let the warmth soothe me from the inside out.
“Oh yeah, mine are doing that as well. I forgot about that. Were you not going with them?”
“I wasn’t supposed to be here, so it was too late for me to get added to the list, which meant I was going to be alone.”
“I would have been there,” he said.
“Alone. Locked doors, big lights off,Jingle Jangle,and the fancy whisky from the back of the cupboard.”
“They never changed the locks,” he replied casually, which meant he still had his keys. The keys to a childhood home that wasn’t technically his, but also very much was. “And anyway, wasn’t Aaron gonna be at home?”
“No, he spends Christmas Eve with his friends somewhere not in the house.”
We started walking down Main Street, our feet carrying us on autopilot to our favourite bench. It wasn’t anything special, but it had the best dedication we had ever found.
For our Dad, who would have hated being surrounded by this manypeople.
Liam looked around before we sat down and I watched several pairs of eyes flick away, a terrible attempt to cover up the fact that they were staring.
“Are you stared at wherever you go?”
“No. I mean it happens, but not in the way it is happening here. Although I think it is less about me and more aboutus.”
That made no sense. “What about us?”
“We haven’t been seen together around here since our senior year.”
“And that warrants them staring at us like we’re giraffes at the zoo?”
“No, but I also can’t say I blame them,” he said with a shrug.
“I think you broke Chantelle’s heart, though. She probably saw those shoulders and thought she was finally getting to shoot her shot with her high school crush, only to be denied once again.” I changed the subject before I was forced to confront feelings that I was not in the headspace to deal with.
“Chantelle asked me out every month for two years and I never said yes. My answer to that question twelve years later is still no. She’s not my type.”
“Really? Because she looks an awful lot like Mel—” I cut myself off, but it was already too late.
“You been checking up on me, Lenny?” The smile on his face was downright sinful. Teasing always was a good look on him. At least to me.
“I might have cast an eye over your Instagram when I couldn’t sleep last night. You haven’t culled her from your page yet,” I admitted. I’d been surprised when I saw her in his photos. I’d deleted all traces of Kai from mine while I waited for mybirthday cake to bake.
“I announced my retirement and stayed clear of social media. Given that she broke up with me not too long after that, I haven’t had the chance.”
“Whatever. What I was saying still stands. Physically, they are very similar. You can see why I would think Chantelle would be your type.”
“That’s fair, but that wasn’t what I meant when I said she wasn’t my type.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“I don’t tend to want to spend time with people who make it a habit of talking shit about my best friend,” he said.
“Who, Teddy?” From what I remembered, Chantelle got on just fine with Teddy. In fact, I always got the impression that if Liam didn’t exist in all his glory, then Chantelle would have been all over Teddy.
“No. You,” Liam said simply.
“Oh,” I replied, sending us into a comfortable silence for a moment while we ate.
“Still got it?” he asked as I scrunched up my empty bag and licked the sugar from my doughnut off my thumb.
