Page 22 of Looks Real Good Now
However, I couldn’t say that I wasn’t happy about the fact that he never did. I had always been secretly happy that I never had to see Liam date anybody. Why that was, I didn’t know until that night in my kitchen, when it all started to make sense. When he told me that he had a date for our high school prom, it ruined me. I changed my moving date to prom day, so I didn’t have to deal with witnessing that in any way. It was the one and only time I had utilised the fact that my dad was revered at that school. It meant that the principal just accepted that the senior valedictorian wouldn’t be finishing out the year or attending graduation.
Liam let go of one of my hands and turned around, managing to shift me so that I was pressed against his chest with his arm around my waist.
“Oh, and Alana? I thought you weren’t coming back this year.”
That was the problem with this place. Everyone knew everyone else’s business even when I told no one except my parents of my original plans for the holidays.
“Plans changed and now I’m here.” I shrugged.
“But what happened?”
“How are you doing, Chantelle?” Liam cut in, and I watched her face change as she dragged her attention away from me to something lighter. Something flirtier.
“Good. What about you? Must be nice to get a whole Christmas off now that you’re out of the game.”
It never ceased to amaze me how obsessed with Liam’s career people were. It shouldn’t, because he was kind of a big deal, but I had never been able to see him as the NHL’s Golden Boy because even if we were no longer in each other’s lives, he was still just…Muller. A guy who could tell you the most random facts about obscure Greek mythology and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of flowers. Someone who watched Mufasa die once, couldn’t cope, and from then on, always walked out of the room when Scar started to take Simba to the gorge. He would come back just beforeHakuna Matatastarted with a Mars bar because I always used that part of the film as a chance to cry. I was always aware that he belonged on and to the ice, but whoever Liam was once those skates were laced was not the same person I got.
“I always got three days off, although it is nice to get a full two weeks with this one,” he said as he squeezed me in tighter to him and suddenly, I remembered that we were supposed to be dating. I wasn’t just standing here waiting for someone to ask Liam out before he politely turned them down and we carried on with our lives. For all intents and purposes, he was mine.
“When did this happen?” Chantelle asked, her eyes finally noticing Liam’s arm holding me against him. His fingers had managed to find a space between my coat and sweater, and I could feel the heat of his palm on my stomach. The touch was making me feel tingly.
“A few weeks ago,” Liam replied easily.
“How?” I heard the disbelief in her voice, but it was alsoborderline angry. Judging by the brush of lips against my temple, Liam heard it too.
“Sweet Nothing was having a little birthday party and that seemed like the perfect opportunity to thank Len in person for making my birthday brownies. I asked if she wanted to hang out and hanging out turned into dating, and now here we are.”
“Stassie mentioned that you had a bakery in Detroit, Ally. Congrats.”
She sounded sincere, but she’d used a nickname I had never given her permission to use, so I knew she wasn’t.
“It’s Alana,” Liam said before I even had the chance to think about correcting her.
Chantelle carried on like he hadn’t said anything.
“Listen, Eddie is having a party at his parents’ house on Christmas Eve. It’s a lot of the old gang and I’m sure he would be happy to see you. Both of you,” she tacked on at the end.
“We’d love to,” Liam answered just as Chantelle reached the front of the queue. As she stepped into the bakery, she turned around to give us one last look.
“Starts at seven. I trust you still remember where the house is?”
Everyone knew where Eddie lived. It was called The Big House because, well, it was big.
“Yeah, I remember where Eddie’s family lives,” Liam answered and the door closed behind Chantelle, putting a blissful barrier between us for a short while.
“Is there a reason you just signed us up to a party? I only agreed to four dates and now you want to bump it up to five,” I teased as I turned around to look at him. His arm didn’t leavemy waist.
“It might be nice to see everyone for a bit. I’ll make it up to you. You can make me watchBreaking Dawnand I won’t make a single disparaging comment.”
“Wait, if you’re going to give me one film where you don’t make a single snide comment, then I am making you watchBatman and Robin.” Liam rolled his eyes just as someone walked out of the bakery, and he freed me. I tried to ignore how cold I felt without him pressed against me.
“Wait here, I’ll be back when I’m back,” he said as he stepped inside the bakery before I could say anything. I could see through the window the way people’s eyes snapped to him, Chantelle’s included. I watched in real time as he morphed into Liam ‘Gunner’ Mulligan. The easy smile, and the open body language, exuding almost puppy-like energy, but a line of tension ran through his shoulders. I could see people talking to him, getting just a little too close. The woman behind the counter batted her eyelashes and would not stop smiling while he placed his order. I turned away from the window and pulled my phone out of my pocket, busying myself with checking my email. It was a pointless task. No one was emailing me. They were under strict instructions not to bother me unless there was a legitimate emergency. And they wouldn’t tell me that over email.
I was reading a book that I had abandoned over the summer when I felt Liam return.
“One praline and coffee doughnut and a flat white, milady.”
I locked my phone and looked at Liam. His shoulders were looser, the performance now dropped, with my favouritedoughnut and my go-to coffee in his hand. Clearly, at the airport, Liam hadn’t just heard my name, seen me standing there not hearing it and brought me my much-needed caffeine, he’d noticed my coffee order as well. Herememberedmy new coffee order.
