26. Liam
CHAPTER 26
Liam
“William! Catch!” Harrison throws me a football without warning from ten feet down the beach.
I drop the towel in my hand so I can jump a foot to the right and reach for the ball.
Sports weren’t really my thing as a kid but I’ll do just about anything to look good in front of Harrison.
It’s a problem.
Or is it?
I don’t know.
“Yes!” he calls out with a fist pump when I manage to catch the ball. “I knew you had it in you!”
I smile in spite of myself. Harrison might drive me fucking insane, but he also makes me feel lighter. I’m starting to figure him out more, too. He presents himself to the world as a carefree fuck boy, but the truth is he cares deeply about the people in his life, Raw, and this town.
Even though I grew up in California, my family was working class, and we lived far enough away from the beach that I haven’t attended a lot of beach bonfires.
None, as a matter of fact.
This is my first.
The fire hasn’t been lit yet because the sun’s still out, but it seems like half of Honeysuckle Harbor has shown up today. We’ve been swimming and kayaking and picking at a massive picnic spread all day with a dizzying number of Harrison’s and Ford’s friends and relatives.
“I’m full of surprises,” I call back. I toss the football a foot in the air and twirl it in my hands, enjoying the view of Harrison shirtless in swim trunks and Ivy sprawled out on the sand to my right in a bikini.
I wasn’t the quintessential California teen partying on the beach that you see in movies. I started working at sixteen as a busboy in an Indian restaurant across from our apartment building to save up to go to community college and studying around the clock for my AP exams.
It was the total opposite of Harrison’s high school experience but I don’t resent him for that or wish my own was any different. I’m grateful for my parents and for the work ethic they instilled in me. I’m thrilled I have my dream job—as long as the show continues, anyway—and I’m damn proud of the life I’ve built for myself.
Harrison has a lot to be proud of as well. Sure, he was given a trust fund, but he’s leveraged it into multiple businesses. He has rental property, the restaurant, and has Raw’s bourbon butter sauce in production for distribution by the new year. He works hard, and he’s generous. I’ve seen how he tips excessively, how he treats his housekeeper like family, and how he’s respectful to his parents and grandparents.
He’s way more than a fuckboy.
In general and to me.
I’ve fallen in love with him.
There’s no denying it anymore.
He jogs over to me. “You’re supposed to throw the ball back. That’s how catch works.” He holds his hand out.
I let the corner of my mouth turn up. “Maybe I just wanted you to come over here.”
“Ah. And why is that?”
“So I can tell you I can’t stop thinking about the expression on your face when you were fucking Ivy last night.”
His eyebrows raise. “Jealous?”
I shake my head slowly. “Watching the two people I care about get each other off is my new favorite thing.”
“You care about me?” His voice is husky and his hand drops onto my waist.
He’s going to kiss me.
But I shove the football into his chest because my emotions are too close to the surface to allow him to touch me. I’m not a fan of making out in public, and if he lays one fucking finger on me, that’s going to happen. “Yes. Told you I’m full of surprises.”
“I’ve loved you since that first night. Why do you think I ghosted you?”
That makes me snort. “You’re ridiculous.”
But I understand Harrison now.
I’m actually not that much different from him.
I’ve been holding back from him just as much as he’s been holding back from me.
Partly because I was angry and hurt he didn’t return my calls after our first night together. And then partly now because of both Ivy and the fact that Harrison lives here in South Carolina.
I wasn’t sure it would be possible to have a relationship with both Ivy and Harrison at the same time, and the physical distance was daunting.
But now Ivy has proven herself to be the perfect girlfriend—she doesn’t care if I’m with Harrison, too. In fact, she’s encouraging it. She knows how I feel about Harrison and she’s enjoying Ford.
The four of us are having a great time together and I’m not going to worry about the fact that we live on different coasts.
“I’m ridiculous? You tell me you care about me and that I’m ridiculous ten seconds later. You’re ridiculous.”
“You knew I care about you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been so angry with you.”
“Yep.” He grins and turns. “Now have a seat and look pretty while you watch me kick Ford’s team’s ass in football. My family versus his.”
He doesn’t wait for a response but I don’t have one, anyway.
I’m just amused. At him. At myself.
At fucking fate.
A week ago, I was grumpy as hell, convinced Ivy was lost to me forever and that Harrison was an asshole who didn’t know a connection when it hit him in the face.
But now I have…this. Whatever this is and whether it can be anything long-term, I don’t know. Right now, I’m just enjoying the hell out of myself.
I plop down on the sand beside Ivy. She looks a little pink. “You need more sunscreen. Where’s the bottle?”
“In my bag.” She rolls onto her side, which gives me a great view of her chest spilling out of her black bikini top.
“Can you do that again?” I joke.
“What?” Then she realizes where I’m staring. She makes a sound of approval and preens a little. “I love when you look at me like that.”
The look shoots straight to my cock. I clear my throat and adjust myself in my trunks that I just purchased at a local shop. I’m trying not to think about my bank account or the fact that the lead writer on My Fellow Aliens emailed me, asking when I’ll be back in the writer’s room.
Fortunately, being surrounded by three dozen people serves as a distraction.
“How’s that?” I tease, reaching out for the sunscreen.
Ivy slaps it in my hand. “Like you want to suck on my nipples.”
“You’re very good at reading my expressions because that’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“It doesn’t take an instructional manual to figure you out,” she says, laughing. “Even if that wasn’t totally obvious, I know you too well.”
“Better than anyone.” I squirt some sunscreen into my palm and tell her, “Lay flat on your stomach.”
She folds her arms in front of her head like a pillow and rests her face on them. “This is nice, isn’t it?”
I smooth sunscreen over Ivy’s shoulders, massaging the muscles as I go. She sighs contentedly.
“Laying in the sun or being in Honeysuckle Harbor?” I still have a hard time saying the name of this town without a healthy dose of big city cynicism. It’s just so foreign to me, the southern charm, the fact that everyone knows everyone, and that people look after and out for each other.
I’ve lived in my apartment building for three years and I’ve never spoken to a single neighbor except for the woman who is always drunk at the pool and thinks I’m Timothee Chalamet. Three years ago, I would have loved to be him. Now? I’m fucking thrilled to be me.
“Both,” Ivy says. “This is so relaxing and I love the vibe here. The pace is slow and everyone is so damn nice.”
“They are, aren’t they? I haven’t had anyone cut me off or swear at me yet.”
As if to prove our point, a young girl runs up as I’m massaging down Ivy’s back, dipping my fingers under the string of her bikini top.
“Hi, are you Liam?” she asks, putting her hands behind her back and rolling her shoulders back and forth. She’s wearing a one-piece swimsuit and a cover up, the hood flipped up over her damp hair.
“Yes, I’m Liam. Can I help you?”
“I just wanted to tell you that the episode of My Fellow Aliens that you were lead writer on, Season Three, Episode Eleven, was my favorite episode of all time. The character development was extraordinary. You brought Sante to a whole new level.”
I’m impressed with her understanding of what I was aiming for. “Wow, thank you. That’s exactly what I was trying to convey, so thank you for recognizing that. And I can’t believe you know which episode I wrote.”
“Ford is my cousin. Sometimes we watch the show together and he knows that’s my favorite episode, and he told me you wrote it and I honestly can’t believe it.” She gives me a grin, flashing braces. “I want to be a writer someday, too. I’m Emily, by the way. I’m ten.”
“It’s very nice to meet you Emily. This is Ivy.” I gesture to my girlfriend. “She’s worked on the cooking show Southern Charm as a stylist, so she’s in the TV business too.”
“Hi, Emily,” Ivy says. “It’s lovely to meet you. Liam is a great writer, isn’t he?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Emily nods eagerly. “I’ve watched your show, too. I prefer adult programming because I’m a ‘miracle baby.’” She uses air quotes. “My parents are fifty-five and fifty-seven.”
That explains her aura of mini-adult. “You said Ford’s your cousin?”
“Yes, sir. His father and mine are brothers. Okay, bye!” She runs off, kicking a little bit of sand over Ivy’s back.
I shake my head, amused. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called sir in my life.”
“She called me ma’am. That was definitely a first. It’s charming, though it makes me feel old.”
Sliding my hands down her thighs, I lean forward and murmur, “You’re not old, but even when you are, you’ll still be gorgeous.”
“You must be Liam and Ivy.”
The unexpected woman’s voice startles me. I jerk back guiltily, since I was dangerously close to squeezing Ivy’s ass. I turn and see a tall woman wearing a floppy hat, a flowing dress, and a lightweight sweater. She’s nailed the coastal grandma fashion look.
She elegantly drops into one of the four beach chairs Harrison set up. “I’m Daphne, Harrison’s mother.” She drapes her hand out for me to take.
I scramble to my feet, wiping my hands on my trunks.
My heart is beating unnaturally fast and I feel like I’m seventeen, for whatever reason.
Then I realize I know exactly the reason—I want Harrison’s mother to like me because Harrison is important to me. Really damn important.
After I lightly shake her hand and say something I hope is polite, I turn and help Ivy into a sitting position.
“Are you enjoying Honeysuckle Harbor?” she asks, eyes masked with giant sunglasses so that I can’t read them. She does smile though and her voice sounds friendly, so I relax a little.
“Yes, we are, very much, thank you. Great food, even better people.”
She nods in approval. “Excellent. I understand you’re staying with Harrison. Is he being an adequate host?”
The image of Harrison naked in the shower sucking my cock leaps into my mind and I can’t get rid of it. “Excuse me.” I cough into my hand and turn and reach for a water bottle.
Ivy raises her eyebrows at me and assures Daphne, “Yes, of course. He’s been very accommodating .”
My cheeks feel like they’re on fire. For fuck’s sake, I think I’m blushing .
Oh, Ivy’s getting my hand on her sweet little ass for that later.
I clear my throat and face Harrison’s mother again. “Yes, especially on such short notice. We’re appreciative of his hospitality.”
She lowers her sunglasses a hair and gives me a wicked grin. “I bet. I have eyes and ears. Anyway, Ivy, I just wanted to let you know that we have an offer on your house for twenty-five thousand over asking price, no inspection and no other contingencies. Cash, with a seven day close.”
Ivy blinks. “Oh. Wow. That was fast.”
That was fast.
I know the market is hot, but it was only listed two days ago.
“You don’t have to be here for the closing. Everything is electronic, so you can return to L.A. whenever you’d like.” She rises to her feet. “In the meantime, enjoy your time here. I look forward to having more time to chat with you both.”
Then she’s walking away, and Ivy and I are left staring at each other.
“I guess you sold the house,” I tell her, surprised that I’m not more excited by that news than I am.
It was Brad’s stupid wedding gift that she didn’t even want.
I should be thrilled that it’s being taken off of her hands and she’s going to receive a large amount of money.
But she doesn’t look any more excited than I feel. “That was fast,” she repeats.
Her gaze drifts to the right, and I follow it.
Harrison and Ford are giving each other a one-armed friendly hug, the football tucked under Ford’s arm.
“You don’t want to leave, do you?” I ask.
“Not yet,” she admits. “What about you?”
“No. Not yet.” I sit down next to her on the towel and pull her into my embrace. “We don’t have to leave right away. We were planning to stay another week anyway, right?”
“Right.” She’s watching Ford and Harrison intently.
The guys are lining up with various relatives in a football play. The center passes the ball to Ford and yells out, “Go long, go long!”
Go long.
I wonder if our foursome could do just that.