Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
LARK
I ’ve always heard that grief comes in waves. I’ve been incredibly lucky so far that in my twenty-eight years of life I’ve never lost someone I was close to. Sure, I’ve had friendships drop off or fade out, and there are some family members I don’t talk to because of their reactions when Keelan came out to the world as bisexual, but I’ve never truly lost someone I love.
I expected to feel some form of grief after Jake broke up with me, but here we are on day 4 and still…nothing. I mean I’m a little bit sad and mourning the man I thought I knew, but I don’t feel devastated or like I lost my one true love.
Maybe that means I didn’t love him as much as I should have, or maybe I was actually a bad girlfriend and never knew it. He did cheat on me and then leave me for that girl, after all. Maybe the lack of emotion is my mind’s way of laying the blame for our breakup at my feet.
“You alright, Lark? You’ve been eerily quiet since we left the house.”
Liam’s deep voice startles me out of my self-flagellation, and I turn guilty eyes his way. “I’m sorry,” I sigh. “I probably don’t make very good company right now, I’m just still tired and kind of reeling, I guess.”
He nods in understanding. “Breakups are never easy, and it’s understandable that you would be sad.”
Shaking my head, I sigh again and drop my head into my hands in shame. We’re outside at a cute little diner just down the boardwalk from my salon, Wild Waves , so thankfully I don’t have to worry about being overheard.
“Does it make me completely terrible that I’m not, though?”
He raises his brows. “Not what?”
“I’m not sad. I’m angry . I mean sure we might have had an on-again, off-again thing going on. But we dated for over a year and then he has the audacity to break up with me in my salon , while I’m doing his hair!”
Liam’s jaw drops, and I nod emphatically. “So not only does he dump me mid-highlights, but he also drops the bomb that he’s been seeing someone else!”
The waiter comes and drops off our drinks, and I smile kindly at him in thanks, but as soon as his back is turned I feel my signature scowl drop back in place. “And do you want to know why he broke up with me?”
My dinner companion’s head rests in one hand as he listens with rapt attention. “Of course.”
“He said, and I quote, ‘I’m just a townie and he needs someone better suited to his personal and professional needs.’ He told me I embarrass him, and his coworkers have been asking him why he can’t control his woman.”
At that, Liam cringes, and I nod before slumping back in my seat. All the wind has been knocked from my sails now that someone besides Keelan knows the story, and I feel strangely lighter .
“That’s…” He scrubs the back of his neck with a hand. “I honestly don’t even have the words. That’s so 1950’s I’m honestly angry for you. I’m sorry you had to deal with a douche canoe like that in the first place.”
His creative insult makes me snort. “Thanks, plant boy. I guess in the grand scheme of things I’m glad he showed his misogynistic colors before I did something truly awful like marry him, but I hate that he gets to move on with this side chick while I’m here basically starting over with no romantic prospects. Not that I would want one right now.”
Liam hums, tapping his fingers on the table. “I get that. I felt the same way after my last breakup, but lately I’ve been thinking ten years is more than enough time to live in solitude.”
My eyes bug out. “You haven’t dated anyone in ten years ?”
He shrugs defensively. “Not for lack of trying. But when you walk in on your ex fucking her stepbrother it kind of turns you off dating, you know?”
I gape at him in shock, and he snorts derisively. “Yeah, so not only did that happen, but then she had the gall to invite me to play . I’m standing there in our fucking apartment, listening to my girlfriend of three years fuck another guy, and then she invites me into bed like I’m some random hookup and not the guy whose name was on the lease.”
I can’t help it. Hearing the monotone way he tells the story with a hint of amusement in his eyes has the dam bursting as I break out into a fit of giggles.
Liam manages to hold his composure for another thirty seconds until the first chuckle slips free and before long, we’re both bent over the table cackling like one of us just told the world’s funniest joke. Which in a way, I guess we both did .
“Life certainly picked an interesting way to test both of us, I guess. So tell me, did you join in?”
He finally calms down enough to aim a non-threatening scowl my way. “No, smartass. I did not join in. I picked up my bag and walked out. Hired movers to get all my shit out the next day and paid my half of the rent for the remaining two months on the lease.”
A deep sigh escapes his plush lips. “The only good thing about the whole situation is that I got sick and had to come home early from that tattoo expo. If I hadn’t, like you, I might have married her none the wiser of what she did each time I was away.”
For the first time all week, I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Not that there are many similarities in our situations, but clearly Liam was able to move on and create this whole new life for himself in Echo Cove. Maybe with a little time, I’ll be able to do that too.
Smiling at him, I sip my drink as the waiter sets down our meals. I nearly drool when the smell of Sullivan’s famous crab melt infiltrates my nose. Like a weirdo, I lean close to the plate and take a huge inhale, groaning in delight.
When I glance back up, I see Liam’s heated gaze locked on my face, but with a blink the heat is gone and replaced with amusement. Maybe I’m imagining things.
“You do know you can do more than just smell the food, right, Red?” he asks sarcastically.
Glowering, I point my fork at him. “I don’t want to hear it, plant boy. I bet you do the same thing when you pass a plant shop or a rose bush.”
Liam snickers, holding his palms up in surrender. “You got me. I have so many flowers all around the outside of my shop and I have to stop and smell them every day on my way in or out of the building. It’s practically a ritual at this point. ”
His description of the building clicks in my mind, and I gape at him in delighted surprise. “You bought the old law office and turned it into a tattoo studio?”
A proud grin lights up his features and steals my breath. Liam is incredibly handsome with his normal stoic expression, but when he smiles? You could knock me over with a damn feather. Plush dark pink lips stretch over perfect white teeth and the expression lightens his eyes to the most stunning shade of amber I’ve ever seen. And don’t even get me started on his tattoos.
Every inch of visible skin is covered with the most insane collection of colorful and intricate tattoos, and if he did even one of them himself? Then I may just listen to Keelan and have Liam do me.
My tattoo , that is. No other kind of doing here.
The clearing of a throat knocks me out of my appreciation, and my cheeks instantly flush hot when I realize I’ve been caught staring. I have no memory of what we were just talking about, so I blurt the first thing that comes to mind.
“Will you do me?”
Oh good god.
“I mean my tattoo! Not…You know what? Never mind. Pretend I didn’t just say that.”
He doesn’t bother to hide the smirk that steals across his face, and it makes me scowl even harder at him. The look doesn’t deter the smug asshole, though, and he keeps on smirking as we eat.
By the time we’ve both finished our food, he’s still smirking like a jackass and stealing glances at me every few seconds. Fed up, I stand up and mutter something about using the bathroom before stalking off to the tune of his laughter.
Before going to the bathroom, I stop off at the cashier and take care of our bill, determined to pay back Liam’s kindness in whatever ways I can. Hopefully he isn’t one of those macho alpha male types that gets offended when a woman pays for a meal. This isn’t a date, so even if he is one of those guys, he doesn’t really have a leg to stand on.
When I get back, that smug smirk is still firmly planted on his handsome face, and it makes me irrationally annoyed. Cocking my hip, I plant my hands on my hips and tap a single foot, giving my best death glare.
He chuckles, smiling brightly at me. I open my mouth to deliver a scathing remark, but then he stands up, rendering me silent. At 5’5, I would say I’m of pretty average height for a woman, but Liam makes me look like a damn shrimp.
Just another point in the negative column.
I’ve always gone for guys who are the complete opposite of Liam, so my attraction to him is surprising to say the least. And yet, I can’t seem to stop the pesky little butterflies if I try. Every time he looks at me with that smile, it’s like my entire body melts and I have to fight to keep it from showing on my face.
Liam holds out his arm towards me, bent at the elbow, and I quirk a brow at him in suspicion. He chuckles again, taking my hand and placing it in the crook of his elbow. “I’m not going to bite, Red. We’re friends now, right?”
Again with that damn nickname. I should probably snap at him or try to figure out what he means by it, but against my better judgment, I kind of hope he keeps using it.
Shrugging to hide my thoughts, I briefly glance up at him from under my lashes. “Friend-adjacent. Maybe. If you behave.”
His snort almost cracks my facade and makes me smile, but I hold steady in my resolve. Liam Blackwell is dangerous, and if I’m not careful, I could see myself developing an unfortunate crush on the man. I cannot allow that to happen, so I’ll do what I do best and continue to play my role as his best friend’s bitchy sister.
“Alright, so we’re friend-adjacent then. Unfortunately for you, that means you’re stuck with me, because when I decide I like someone, I’m told I can be quite the barnacle.”
“Barnacle?”
I risk another glance at Liam and see a wide grin stretching his lips, giving me a peek at his perfect teeth as they dig into his perfect bottom lip. “Yeah, Red. A barnacle. Because you’re stuck with me even when you don’t want to be and I’ll probably annoy the hell out of you with plant facts and my insane work schedule.”
It sounds like he’s trying to make light of it, but there’s an underlying thread of insecurity in his voice that he can’t mask, and it makes me wonder how many people have teased him for his… idiosyncrasies throughout his life. Suddenly, I understand Liam just a little bit better.
The driving force behind his need to excel may not be cut from the same cloth as my own, but it’s there all the same. The hectic work hours, the semi-intentional social isolation, surrounding himself with things that soothe him and hyper-fixating on little things outside of his work. I relate all too well.
Shifting the barest inch closer to him as we walk down the boardwalk, I thread my other hand over his muscular forearm. He stiffens slightly in surprise, but quickly relaxes into the touch.
There couldn’t be a better backdrop for this conversation. Echo Cove’s boardwalk is made up of wide, light wood planks, stretching from the long line of shops right up to the edge of the beach. The gentle lap of calm waves against the sand soothes me just like it always has, and from the relaxed set of Liam’s often-tense shoulders, I’d wager he feels the same.
“Do you want to know a secret, plant boy?”
He shakes his head with a huff. “I’ve been told I’m an excellent secret keeper, so yes, I would love to know a secret.”
I pull us over to a bench on the beach and kick off my sandals, digging my bare feet into the cool sand. Liam drops down next to me, and seeing his large frame on this small bench is almost comical.
We’re quiet for several long moments, staring intently at the incredible sunset laid out in front of us like a watercolor painting. The sun is just beginning to set in earnest, so half of the sky is still a brilliant blue. But cotton candy strands of pink and purple streak across the sun just above the horizon, casting a glittery golden glow over everything.
“I’ve always had…Well, let’s just call it what it is. An attitude problem . From the time I was old enough to take a pair of safety scissors to my Barbie doll’s hair, I knew what I wanted to do with my life, and I was almost too fixated on making that goal happen. Often at the detriment to my mental and physical health. I got my very first job at fourteen as a shampoo girl in the next town over, and from the first day, I thrived. ”
Liam watches me with rapt attention, his buckwheat honey gaze locked firmly on mine as I tell my story. “I always knew I wanted to run my own salon, and I saved every single penny from that job and every job after, but when I graduated college with my business degree at twenty-one I still didn’t have enough capital to do it on my own.”
I start to open my mouth to tell him about Daniel, but my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, preventing me from digging up that particular mistake right now.
“Anyway.” I clear my throat. “Let’s just say there was a potential investment that didn’t work out, and since then I have been extremely careful of who I spend my time with. Ex-boyfriend notwithstanding, of course.”
That gets a snicker out of the man next to me, and I crack the tiniest grin. “The point of that long-winded story is that as long as you’re honest with me, can handle a bit of attitude now and then and don’t mind me being a workaholic myself, we’ll get along just fine.”
Liam sticks his hand out for a handshake and meets my eyes, his dancing with mischief in the fading sunlight. “I accept your terms, as long as you’ll accept one of my own.”
I stare at him in silence, waiting him out, but his grin just grows bigger the longer I stare.
“I want us to be more than friends,” he murmurs.
I choke on my own spit as he casually leans back against the bench, tossing his arm over the back behind my shoulders. I momentarily let myself consider his words until I remember our argument from this morning and understanding dawns.
“Liam…”
His eyes widen at my tone before darting to the side. It only takes a moment and without my smartass comments to embarrass him, he doesn’t seem nearly as flustered as this morning. A flush still creeps up his neck before settling on his cheeks, but he meets my eyes without hesitation.
“That’s not what I meant,” he grunts, folding his huge arms over his chest as he pouts sullenly.
I bite my lip to hide just how fucking cute I think he looks right now, and do what I can to keep my unaffected mask in place. “I know. That’s why I waited for you to replay the words in your own head before I said anything.”
His scowl softens some at the lack of judgment in my tone, and I allow a small smile to slip through. “I really am sorry for giving you shit this morning, Liam. I was exhausted and stressed and way out of line. I hope you know just how grateful I am that you’ve given me a place to land while I find my bearings again.”
Reaching out, I grab hold of his massive hand and clasp it between mine. “You didn’t even know me and you still opened up your home. I can’t think of a single better human to be my friend.”