Page 14 of Deadly Promise
“Call it intuition.” Liam guided him around a cooler someone had left in the middle of the path. “Plus Hayden nearly took that asshole’s head off last night when he grabbed you. That’s not roommate energy.”
Teagan’s knees threatened complete structural failure. Or maybe that was Liam’s hand still pressed against his back, warm through the thin cotton of his shirt.
“Plus, you get this look when you talk about him.”
Heat crept up Teagan’s neck. “What look?”
“Like someone describing their favorite thing in the world.”
Words failed Teagan completely. Standing this close to Liam, he could see flecks of green in those impossibly blue eyes. His body leaned forward without permission.
The music changed from classic rock to something with more bass, the kind that vibrated through the ground and up into your bones. Someone had cranked the volume, and conversations rose to match it.
“Want to grab a drink inside?” Liam had to lean closer to be heard, his breath stirring the hair near Teagan’s ear. “It’s quieter.”
Following Liam into the house meant leaving Hayden’s line of sight and being alone with this man who made his brain short-circuit. Smart money said to decline, make an excuse, find Hayden, and stick to him like industrial strength velcro.
“Sure,” Teagan said instead, because apparently his mouth had declared independence from his common sense.
The temperature dropped fifteen degrees the moment they crossed the threshold. After the chaos outside, the kitchen felt like a sanctuary, all clean lines and gleaming surfaces that belonged in a magazine spread. Copper pots hung from hooks above a massive island, and the refrigerator could’ve doubled as a bank vault.
“Iced tea? Soda? Water?” Liam opened the fridge, revealing shelves that looked like someone had organized them with a ruler.
“Whatever you’re having.” Teagan hoisted himself onto the counter, legs swinging slightly. From this height, he almost reached Liam’s eye level. Almost.
Two bottles of iced tea appeared, caps popping off with practiced twists. Liam handed one over, their fingers brushing in the exchange. That same electric feeling from this morning shot up Teagan’s arm.
“So.” Liam leaned against the opposite counter, which put maybe four feet between them. The distance felt simultaneously too close and too far. “You and Hayden. How long?”
“Officially? Since last summer.” Teagan picked at the label on his bottle. “Unofficially? My whole life. Just took me a while to figure it out.”
“Sometimes the best things are right in front of us.” Liam’s eyes held steady, that gaze doing something complicated to Teagan’s ability to form coherent thoughts.
Condensation from the bottle made Teagan’s palms slick. Or maybe that was nerves. “Speaking from experience?”
“More like current observation.” Liam set his bottle aside, moving closer. One step. Two. Three. Until he stood directly in front of Teagan. “Can I be direct with you?”
Teagan managed a nod, hyperaware of how his knees had spread slightly to accommodate Liam’s position between them.
“I’m interested in you.” Liam’s hands came to rest on the counter, bracketing Teagan’s hips without quite touching. “And before you say it, yes, I’m interested in Hayden too.”
His brain blue-screened completely. Teagan.exe. Files not found.
Both of them? Liam wanted both of them? That wasn’t how things... People didn’t just announce their interest in couples like they were ordering a combo meal.
“Both of you.” Liam leaned incrementally closer. “That a problem?”
“I don’t understand.” His voice came out embarrassingly breathy, completely forgetting the conversation he’d had with Hayden earlier that morning. Who could blame him? Liam was a walking sex god, and he’d just confessed to… Oh hell.
“It’s not that complicated.”
“I don’t know…” Teagan whispered, being completely honest.
“Fair enough.” Liam’s thumb brushed against Teagan’s hip, the lightest possible touch, which still somehow lit up every nerve ending. “But can I try something? You can say no.”
Saying no would be smart. Saying no would be safe. Saying no would keep his life from combusting into chaos.
“Okay,” Teagan breathed.
