Chapter 14
POV: Maeve?
Liam insisted on walking me home. He also tried to insist on making me something at the pub.
I took him up on one of the two. The walk home.
First of all, I need to take my birth control pill. Then second of all, I need a long hot shower, and some time to properly process what happened between us. We just had sex. But it wasn’t just sex. It was far from normal sex, actually nothing about it was normal. It was rough. It was possessive. It was long overdue. We acted more like animals than anything else during it. It’s like something overtook us…emotions.
The walk home was endless and mostly quiet. But the silence between us wasn’t awkward, it was more like…comfortable and that scared me even further.
After essentially having sex with a stranger, I should feel a bit uncomfortable. And beyond that, I should feel a bit of regret, maybe even embarrassed that this was a one night stand.
But I knew two things—-
1. He didn’t feel like a stranger.
2. I knew this wasn’t a one time deal.
We came to a stop in front of my rented cottage, the night air cool against our faces, and the air heavy with unspoken things—things I knew neither of us would admit tonight. Not yet.
Liam turned towards me, on the verge of a sentence, but stopped himself from speaking.
I decided to speak for him.
“Goodnight, Liam.” I turned on my heels and towards the cottage, saving us both from making things more complicated then they already were tonight.
“Goodnight, Maeve.”
I didn’t turn to look at him.
That night, I showered, almost immediately, trying to wash away the memories.
But the water didn’t wash away anything.
In fact, it felt like it soaked the memories right into my skin.
Him inside of me. The way he said my name. The way there was a spark between us that wouldn’t dull.
And somehow, I knew that things would be different tomorrow. I knew he’d pretend or ignore me, just because he couldn’t deal with his own feelings. I knew there was more to Liam than he let on, that he had his demons, a love that wounded him, and that’s why he was hiding, something hurt him and I just knew deep down that, that something had to have been a woman.
That night, I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling as the moon casted shadows through my window.
Ireland had so far given me more than I bargained for.
I hadn’t expected to find a man I was interested in, much less one so complicated.
I drifted to sleep to the thought of that—that Liam was undeniably complicated and so was my journey here in Ireland and so was this bestselling book I hoped to write.
At least I had something and someone to inspire it.
That morning, the sun shined brighter than usual, and as I walked to The Crow’s Nest with my laptop tucked in my bag, ready to write, I felt….hopeful?
And I wasn’t sure if it was about Liam or the book.
But as I swung the door open to the bar, eyes immediately landed on me, mostly locals. And I knew someone had to have seen something.
Oh no, I thought, trying to avoid their heavy gazes.
I offered a small smile and some of the locals nodded back, but the women—god the women, they looked like they were going to murder me.
I snuck into a corner booth, facing the bar and saw that Caitlin, Liam’s sister, was working.
I smiled warmly at her, and she waved and hurried over.
“What are you in the mood for today?” she asked.
“Surprise me,” I shrugged, pulling out my laptop and setting it onto the table.
Just as Caitlin was mumbling off the options anyways, Liam walked behind the bar and into my view.
I think my face maybe gave it away because Caitlin noticed.
“I hate to get involved…” she paused. “But that—”
“What?” I asked abruptly, trying to hide my preoccupation.
“Oh love,” she paused, giving me a concerned look.
“What, Caitlin?”
But my face must’ve given it away.
“Love, I know my brother and—”
“And there’s nothing going on.”
She raised an eyebrow.
I bit my lip. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well, I would’ve figured he would’ve gotten his claws into you. Pretty, blonde, feisty.”
“He hasn’t gotten his claws in anything,” I corrected.
“Right, you Americans are so independent,” she gave me a knowing look. “But I know, love.”
“You know?” I almost gasped.
“All the locals know,” she shrugged as if it was like talking about the weather.
“How?” I whispered in a rush, trying to hide my face with my hands.
She paused, wondering if she should actually tell me.
“Tell me, Caitlin!”
“Well, someone saw you leaving The Crow’s Nest last night…” she trailed off.
“So? Everyone goes here.” I shrugged.
“Well, not when it hasn’t opened yet for the night. Considering the beer tent was still up at the fest….”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Well love, they saw you with Liam…and he walked you home.”
There it was.
The damning factor.
He walked me home and someone saw.
Shit.
I groaned, placing my face in my hands in self-initiated agony.
Now, Declan definitely won’t call.
But I guess that’s one way of letting him know I’m not actually interested.
Still, I felt like a fool with the whole town knowing my personal and extremely intimate business.
“What am I going to do?” I asked in a heavy sigh.
“Well, for starters don’t get your hopes up,” Caitlin said quietly.
I didn’t respond, I just looked at her with a look of hope.
“Liam, he’s complicated and with relationships….he’s even more complicated.”
“I’m not expecting anything,” I lied, forcing a smile.
She offered me a smile, but there was strain beneath it. “Oh, well then, good. I just don’t want to see you have your hopes crushed.”
“No hopes to crush,” I shrugged.
She walked away smiling, though internally all I could think about is those very hopes I said that were not there, actually being crushed.
And as my gaze connected with Liam, I expected a smile, a wave, even an acknowledgement, instead he tore his gaze away from me as quickly as he could and walked out of view.
Hope…maybe crushed?
But the only one to blame was my hopeless romantic self.