Page 181 of Between Secrets and Obsession
Thankfully, Lennon starts talking more about the wedding and the venue that Sophie chose. We’ve only seen photographs, but it’s going to be absolutely beautiful with the large windowsthat overlook the lake. Considering it’ll be December, she’s hoping snow will lightly dust the surroundings to make it even more magical.
I love the way Sophie lights up when she talks about marrying Mason. I can tell it comes from a real place in her heart and it’s genuine.
Once we’re finished eating, we leave a tip for our waitress, then head toward the spa. After we each have a mimosa, we get one-hour hot stone massages. The whole afternoon is complete bliss as the masseuse works out all the tension and stress from my muscles. By the time we walk out of the building, we all feel like jelly.
“We need to do that at least once a month,” Lennon says with creases on her forehead from the massage table.
“Oh, definitely.” Nodding in agreement, I realize how great a deep tissue massage would be when I’m overly sore from dancing.
Sophie hasn’t stopped grinning since we walked out. “I feel like smoosh.”
I burst out laughing. “Smoosh? What does that even mean?”
Lennon snorts and it causes me to lose it to the point of tears rolling down my cheeks.
“I’m gonna pick up Aaron from Mrs. Locke, but she begged to keep Alison tonight. Hunter is at your house hanging out with the guys, so I’ll meet you there for some afternoon coffee.” After we exchange hugs and thank Lennon for treating us both, Sophie and I head home.
“Sorry you were put on the spot at lunch,” Sophie says.
“Pfft. I’m used to it with you two, but I’m not disagreeing. I want to graduate first and enjoy kissing a man who isn’t married before we jump to the next step. I’ve been waiting for years, and I don’t want to rush.”
Sophie tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, because we all know I didn’t approve of your relationship when I thought he had a wife, but it seemed to all work out even though you lied to me.”
I scrunch my nose because we’ve already talked about it several times, but she’s not going to let me live it down. “I had to, Soph. For your protection.”
“Mm-hmm,” she tells me.
Last weekend, Liam went back to Vegas to finalize the divorce with Victoria. I was hoping this day would come though I was weary it never would. My trust when it comes to her is zero. Liam made sure to text and call me as much as possible while he was there because my nerves were wrecked when he left. He was confident everything would be okay, and it was, but I couldn’t help but worry it was a trap. Thankfully, it wasn’t.
Now that mostly everything has settled down, Tyler decided to go back too. We asked him if he wanted to stay longer, but he insisted on going home so he could get back to work and sleep in his own bed again. Considering he lives in the same city as the mob does business, it makes me concerned, but he knows what he’s doing.
Tyler has connections with all sorts of people, and sometimes gets caught up with some shady shit, but he’s used to taking care of himself, so I didn’t push it. I did force him to keep in touch with me no matter what because I care about him and he promised he would. We were all starting to get used to Tyler being around too. While I was sad to see him leave, because he quickly became a friend to me and was there to help when I desperately needed it.
A smile fills my face when I think about Liam. It’s a relief knowing he’s not legally married anymore and can be open about how we feel. We don’t have to worry about wandering eyes and hiding from guards. Something I’ve desperatelywanted for so long. Liam’s taken every opportunity to take me out in public, hold my hand, and kiss me with no fucks of who’s watching. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. Now that he’s no longer Victoria’s bitch, we can have the life we’ve always dreamed of, one I almost thought we’d never have.
We pull up to the house, and I’m so excited to see Liam. I’ve been thinking about him all day. We walk inside where the guys are drinking beer and hanging out in the living room. Liam’s eyes meet mine, and I could get lost in them. Rushing to him, I happily hop on his lap, and press my lips to his.
“Well, good to see you too,” he says, nuzzling his nose against mine.
“Aww.” Hunter chuckles and Liam smacks him on the arm with his free hand. I hear a car door close and know it’s Lennon so I get up to meet her. Sophie follows behind me and we watch as she gracefully takes Aaron from his car seat and places him on her hip. I reach out to grab him, giving him all the love as we walk back inside the house.
“There’s my boy,” Hunter says, stealing him from me, but I can’t deny how adorable Aaron is when he sees his daddy.
“Did you have fun today? Oh look at what Mommy dressed you in…a Green Bay Packers shirt.”
“Eww!” I say, knowing it rubs Hunter the wrong way because he’s in love with Aaron Rogers. “Green Bay. Barf.”
“Better than, oh wait, Utah doesn’t even have an NFL team,” he teases.
“Who cares. Football isn’t my thing anyway, I just enjoy messing with you.” I shrug, and he knows his insults are wasted.
“Go figure since football is actually hard and ballet is easy,” he throws out, purposely pushing my buttons, but it’s what he does best. Hunter has taken his big brother role seriously since marrying Lennon.
My eyes widen, and Liam pretends to hold me back when I lunge for Hunter.
Sophie gets up and makes a pot of coffee and gets me a cup of tea as the boys continue sipping their beers and talking shit to each other. Looking around, I’m in complete bliss. Being here with my sisters and the man I love is the perfect and simple life I’ve always dreamed about.
“Oh, I got you something the other day,” Liam tells me, grinning and standing with me. “It’s in the G-Wagon. Wanna go see?”
