Chapter 21 #2
A hand smacks against the window of the car, snapping me out of the illusion that Liam and I are the only people in this moment. “Stop swapping spit and help your dear sister,” Layla shouts.
I jerk back from Liam in surprise before glowering at my sister. “I think… we’re needed.”
“I suppose we are,” Liam agrees.
“Should I feel guilty?”
“I don’t know what that feeling is,” he says, and I realize that he might not be lying.
The only time he ever seems to feel more extreme emotions is when it comes to dealing with me.
Quite often, he seems to know how to mimic emotions that he feels like he should show in order to blend in.
But the longer I’ve been around him, the better I’ve gotten at identifying which are fake and which are real.
I get out of the car and Layla looks over at me. There’s something in that look, and I realize that Liam had to have asked someone about the stunt Tom pulled on me in high school, and Layla would have known the most.
“I sent pictures that Liam acquired of Tom cheating on his girlfriend to her just now.”
Her eyebrows perk up. “Oh?” A grin forms on her face. “Liam gets him fired, and you ruin his love life. Karma really is a bitch. I fucking love this. Oh damn, that’s good. Liam… I like you.”
“Thank you,” Liam says, looking pretty proud of himself as he walks into the house with us.
Mom peeks around the corner and beams at us.
“My babies!” she exclaims. She gets to me first, and I see Liam trying to make his escape to avoid the hug of holiday cheer my mom is currently inflicting on me.
He’s decided that petting my parents’ dog Buddy might make him appear distracted enough to not get pulled in by my mother.
My mother is relentless, though, and grabs Liam before he can escape. She scoops him up and squeezes him in tight. “It’s so wonderful getting to share this holiday with you! Christmas is just going to be filled with holiday cheer with you here!”
“Is it?” Liam asks as he looks me in the eyes. “Is it?”
I grin at his misery. “Of course it is, honey!”
Liam’s expression tells me that he thinks every part of this is dreadful and is giving me “remove this parasite from my body” eyes.
I really don’t know why he thinks he can’t simply tell my mom that hugs are comparable to soaking in acid for him.
He’s vocal about everything else in his life.
Mom pulls back but doesn’t let go. Instead, she just beams at him and does some like…
cheek smack thing that is supposed to be affectionate. Liam looks significantly more confused.
Mom turns to look at me. “Did you hear about Tom?”
“I sure did,” I say.
“Got what he deserved,” she decides. “I’m hoping my sister and her dreadful husband won’t show up, but you know how my mother is. She’s always trying to pull us together as a family while I’m doing my best to just scrape them off. They’re like gum that gets stuck on your shoe.”
“I can get rid of them for good,” Liam says.
Mom just laughs, having no idea Liam isn’t joking.
“What do you need help with, Mom?” I ask.
“I need tables and chairs set up,” she says as the timer goes off. “Whoops. I kind of forgot about that.”
“I can help,” Liam offers before heading to the kitchen where he’s most at home.
“I kind of want him,” Layla teases.
“You have your own!”
“Yeah, but he’s never hunted down my childhood bully and made him regret his life,” Layla says. “That’s sexy.”
I grab her wrist. “I’m… honestly a bit worried about the presents, though. If he whips out a ring…”
“A ring? You guys have been dating a couple of months. He’s not going to whip out a ring.”
“He bought Mom a blanket from Tiffany and Co and me a house,” I remind her.
She has a look of understanding on her face. “Say no more.”
Layla and I swiftly put the tables together and Mom comes over to toss tablecloths on them, seeming to have given up on whatever is going on in the kitchen.
“We’ve got this if you need to be in the kitchen,” Layla tells her.
“I think I was just getting in Liam’s way,” Mom says.
I glance at the kitchen. “If he’s being too much, I’ll kick him out. He likes it when I’m violent.”
Mom laughs. “I am so tired and things haven’t even started. If he wants to work his magic in there, I am thrilled to let him. Maybe he’ll turn my dry-ass turkey into a lobster or something. There’s no consuming that turkey without a glass of water.”
I grin. “He’s good, but I’m not quite sure he’s that good.
” We finish up, and I head into the kitchen to see Liam setting things here and there, pleased to be in an element he’s comfortable with.
And given the choice, I bet he’d stay here all day if it meant not having to interact with anyone but me.
“What do you need help with?” I ask as I see my other aunt and uncle come in. They are the nice ones who have no children to ruin my life.
“Nothing. Wait, yes, taste this,” he says before he scoops up some mashed potatoes and aims them at me.
“Ooh, that’s good.”
“Your mother’s turkey is as dry as Matthew’s sex life,” Liam mutters.
“She’s hoping you’ll turn it into lobster.”
He pushes a piece in my mouth, and I start chewing and question when I can stop chewing. It’s sucked all of the moisture out of my mouth as I look at Liam in concern.
“I can’t swallow it,” I whisper.
Liam hands me a glass of water to help wash it down.
He gazes at the turkey for a moment then sets to work with a pan on the stove. “Can you cut the turkey while I get this started?”
“Yeah, of course,” I say as I grab a knife and stare at it. My plan was just to start hacking at it, but I realize now that if I do, Liam will just take over, and I’ll have caused him more problems.
“You’re fine. Just thin slices this way,” he instructs, wrapping his hand around mine and making the first cut. “We’re just wanting enough meat displayed that we can get some liquid soaked in there.”
The moment his hand leaves mine, I’m left missing his touch.
Would it be all that bad if he got me a ring?
What the fuck am I talking about? Of course it would be. We haven’t even been dating very long. We just moved in together. Things are still…
My eyes drift up him, pausing at the way his hands move, arms exposed from where he’s rolled up his sleeves. He’s focused, and even though he’s so quick to wander off and play Minesweeper, when the man is focused on something, he’s determined.
And he got back at Tom. Something I’ve dreamed about doing since I was fourteen and the bullying started.
It’s like all of the good things make me bury the worst thing of all: the fact that I’ve literally let a serial killer into my family’s home. I’ve drawn him into my life. I know that one simple mistake could lead him to going to prison and tear him out of my life.
“You’re really fucking good, Gabriel, but your superpower doesn’t seem to be strong enough to cut that turkey.”
“My superpower?”
“Well, you’re not using a knife and are just staring at the turkey, so I thought maybe you were trying to manifest a superpower using your eyes.”
I laugh as I nudge him. “I was contemplating life.”
“Yeah? And where did that lead you?”
“Always back to you,” I say.
He grins at me. “My, Gabriel, you sure know how to snag my heart.”
“Yeah?” I ask before I lean into him and give him a little peck on the cheek.
“Maybe this holiday shit isn’t all bad. Just mostly bad.”
That makes me chuckle as I hear someone enter the room and turn to look at my grandma. “Hey, Grandma.”
“I’m just excited to see that your boyfriend is cooking,” she says while hugging me.
Mom comes into the kitchen behind her. “Don’t be too excited. He’s trying to salvage my turkey. When I pulled that thing out and forced the meat thermometer into it, I realized that I should have checked it about half an hour… or so ago.”
“It’ll be fine,” Liam says as he starts ladling whatever he’s warmed up on the stove all over it. He soaks the turkey some… and then soaks it some more before he turns his attention to the next part.
“Tom’s parents are here,” I whisper into Liam’s ear.
“Would you like me to toss them out the door? I can do it with muscles or words. Your choice.”
I grin at him and kiss his cheek when they look our way. “Nah.”
“What else needs to be done?” Mom asks.
“I think everything is ready,” Liam says.
“You’re such a life saver,” Mom declares. And Liam gets a hug for that.
He grimaces and looks pleadingly at me.
I laugh and draw him over to me. “We kind of forgot to bring presents in. Liam, I know you grabbed the food you made and I just made a mad dash for the door.”
“I’ll go get them.”
“I’ll go with you.”
The two of us leisurely wander out to the car, knowing it’ll take a bit for people to get through the line.
“I really appreciate you coming with me,” I say.
“I shall be tortured as much as you’d like.”
I open the back of the car and pull the box of presents out.
We didn’t have much time this morning—mostly because Liam decided to make extravagant dishes to bring—so we decided we’d open presents here.
Although… now that I’m thinking about what Liam might give me, I’m not quite sure how good of an idea that is. I cringe a bit at the thought.
I see a present on top and look at it. “You got Buddy a present?”
“Sure did.”
“What’s this stuff?” I ask as I pick up something that I know I didn’t wrap for my mom, but oddly enough, it says my name on it and not his.
“Looks like a present you got for your mom.”
“Should I be scared? I’m pretty scared,” I say. “And this is clearly a fishing rod. I thought I said we weren’t getting my dad that fishing rod because it was super expensive?”
“Gabriel, I must make your family love me through monetary means because my personality sure isn’t going to,” he informs me.
I give him a look. “They already love you.”