Page 31 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“Fuck,” I muttered, returning my useless pieces of plastic to my wallet. “Thank you.” I was a second away from breaking into a cold sweat.
We stepped aside to wait for our order.
“Of course, no worries.”
Our order was called, so we grabbed our coffee and cinnamon rolls and left the shop. Aaron had brought the car around and was waiting out on the curbside.
“Liam?” I said the moment Aaron shut the door behind us.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think my father just cut me off.”
Tobias texted us on our way back to New York to tell us he was free all afternoon and wanted to hang out, so when we arrived, he came over to my apartment. Earlier, I had agreed to meet up with Nina, so she was on her way to my place as well. William said he would be busy all day and would probably arrive later in the evening. I decided to wait to tell him about my declined credit cards until later.
We were hanging out in the living room when the doorbell rang.
“Who’s that?” Liam asked.
“It’s Nina. I’ll be right back.”
“You didn’t mention she was coming,” he said, his eyes widening as he tossed a piece of cinnamon roll into his mouth.
I stopped to reply. “Did I have to run it by you?” I chuckled. “You know this is my apartment, right?”
“Not appreciating the feisty attitude, dear,” Liam said playfully.
“He thinks Nina’s hot and thinks it’s wise not to interact with her,” Tobias tossed in, his gaze locked at the TV screen and grabbing a handful of popcorn. “You know, for technical reasons.”
“I don’t …!” Liam stopped and lowered his voice. “Tobias is a child. Forget I said anything.”
“Right.” I walked away to get the door. “And please turn down the volume, Tob! That commentator is giving me a headache!”
“Hey!” Nina walked in and hugged me. “You have company?” She squinted at the living room while she shrugged off her light jacket.
“Yeah, Liam and Tobias.” I shut the door. “Do you want anything to drink?”
“A beer?” Nina dropped her bag and jacket on one of the foyer chairs and followed me to the living room. “Hey, guys!”
“Hey, Nina.” Liam jumped to his feet, running a hand through his hair, and Tobias chuckled. “Shut up.” He pointed his finger at Tobias in a threatening way.
Nina frowned with confusion.
“O—kay. I’ll be right back with your beer, Nina.” When I walked away, Liam had already approached Nina to greet her.
“Billie!” Tobias shouted from the living room. “Can you bring me another beer too?”
“This was the last one!” I shouted back, closing the fridge and grabbing a few napkins.
My phone vibrated in my jeans pocket when I walked back to the living room, so I pulled it out to see who it was.
Dad:I just closed the deal for the apartment. Contract
has been signed. You need to move out by November 1st. The apartment was sold as is, so all you need to pack
is your personal belongings. You are still welcome to
move in with me. Your credit and debit cards will remain
