Page 122 of Feels Like Love
Liam turned to Mrs. Beaudin. “You didn’t tell mehewas coming.”
“Now, Liam. I think you should give Bennett a chance. Don’t throw away a lifetime of friendship just because—”
He headed for the gate, his shoulder jostling mine as he passed.
“Liam,” I called, following him out front.
He paused, then turned to face me and marched closer. We were standing in the front yard at this point, and I was positive this would end up inThe Vine.The neighbors were probably eating this up.
“What do you want?” he spat.
“To talk. I want to apologize. Clear the air.”
“Why? So you can feel better about yourself?”
“No.” I stepped closer, despite the looming threat of him hitting me. “Because your friendship is important to me.You’reimportant to me.”
He scoffed. “You sure have a funny way of showing it.”
“I love Wren, and I really hope you can accept the fact that we’re together. If not for the sake of our friendship, then for the sake of your relationship with River.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I’d finally gotten his attention.
“Well…” I scuffed my fingernails on my shirt. “I am his favorite, especially now that I got him a dog.” I was teasing, but he didn’t seem to realize that.
Liam clenched his jaw as he stared across the yard. “I was here first. I was here when he was born. And I will be here for the rest of his life.”
“I hope I will be too,” I said in a more serious tone. “And I’m fucking jealous that you got those years with him. I’ll never have those memories, those experiences of what he was like as a baby.”
He turned his head slowly to look at me. “Wow. You’re serious?”
“I am.” I nodded. “And I’m serious about us moving past this. I want your support. I want your friendship.”
“Too bad I’m not friends with cowards who lie.”
“I didn’twantto lie.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “But you had so many opportunities to tell me.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But you didn’t exactly make it easy.”
“Yeah, but if you’d just told me… If I’d known you were in love with her and not just fucking around, maybe I would’ve been—”
“What? Supportive?” I barked out a laugh. “Liam, I’ve lost count of the number of times you told me or any of us that if we touched your sister, we’d die. Not to mention the things I’veseenyou do to sabotage her dates.”
He grumbled, but I couldn’t make out any specific complaint. Just his general displeasure regarding the situation. I took it as a good sign that he was talking to me, though I assumed Wren and Mrs. Beaudin had played a role.
He was silent, so I finally said, “What’s really going on? Is it the lies? Is it that you’re worried about us breaking up? What?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked to the sky. “You’remybest friend.” When he met my eyes, his were full of anger and sadness. And when he jabbed his chest with his finger and said, “Mine,” it finally clicked.
Oh.This wasn’t about me dating his sister, though I knew he still wasn’t entirely thrilled about that. Liam was afraid of losing me. We’d been each other’s number one for years. Single. Living life. But now I was settling down—with his sister. And if he was worried that our relationship would shift, I wanted to reassure him that he was still just as important to me. Maybe even more so.
“I’ll still be your best friend. And one day—hopefully in the not-too-distant future—I hope to become your brother.”
His eyes flashed to mine. “What?”
I nodded, knowing full well he understood my intent. “I want to marry Wren.”
