Chapter 2
Kendall
Iglare at Liam, annoyed at how smug he looks right now.
I shouldn’t be surprised. He always looks like that when I’m around.
That taunting look in his blue eyes. That satisfied smirk that always drives me crazy. The way he teases me, like we’re old friends, even though he knows we’re not.
I think back to that house party junior year of college, the night that changed everything between us.
The night I overheard him shit-talking me to his teammate…
An ugly feeling rips through me. I push it away.
I’ve relived that moment a million times. I’m not doing it again.
I roll my eyes at him, which only makes him laugh.
“Aww come on. I know you’re excited to spend the next few months planning Aidan and Micah’s wedding with me,” Liam says through that cocky grin. “I have incredible event planning skills, remember? Also, you’re looking hot tonight.”
I glower at him and ignore his “hot” comment. I know he doesn’t mean it. He’s just fucking with me, like he always does.
“You’ve never once planned anything in your life, Liam. Unless you’re talking about those house parties back in college.”
“Admit it, they were epic. And tons of fun.”
I scoff. He just laughs. The annoyance inside of me intensifies. I take in the smug look on his handsome face, how his smile is as obnoxious as it is handsome.
Liam Scott has no right to look this hot. A guy as thoughtless and obnoxious as he is should be ugly to match his personality. But life isn’t fair. Sometimes the most insufferable people are also the best-looking.
And that’s exactly what Liam is: ridiculously, unfairly handsome.
His face is irritatingly pleasant to look at. That square jaw, those full lips, those soft blue eyes that are the same color as the sky. And his hair. It’s thick and wavy and golden blonde and always perfectly messy since he’s constantly running his hands through it.
And his body.
I look off to the side so he doesn’t give me shit for staring at him too long.
He’s a professional hockey player so of course he’s ripped. And huge. At six-foot-three, he’s almost a foot taller than me.
I huff out a breath, hoping it sounds as annoyed as I feel. Because Liam is my exact physical type. He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. In college, I had a major crush on him.
And even though I can’t stand him, I can’t lie to myself. He is the hottest guy I’ve ever seen in my life. Too bad he’s a jerk.
When I look back over at Liam, he’s still grinning at me. “You loved the parties I threw in college, Kendall. Don’t lie to yourself.”
I shake my head. “God, you’re such a cocky bastard, Liam.”
His grin widens. “Cocky, huh?” Excitement flickers in his gaze. “I like hearing you say the word ‘cocky’ when you talk about me, firecracker.”
The frustration inside of me shifts to anger. He gave me the nickname firecracker in college because I’m small, but when I get upset, I get loud. I used to love it. I hate it now.
“Jesus, would you knock it off?” Aidan says to his brother.
Liam holds up both his hands in mock surrender as he chuckles.
Aidan sighs and looks at me. “Sorry, Kendall. Want a beer?”
I sit down next to him and thank him when he pours me a glass from the pitcher at their table, ignoring Liam’s gaze on me.
I remind myself why I agreed to do this.
Because Aidan is one of my best friends.
We’ve known each other since we were students at Vanderbilt together.
He helped me study for my grad school entrance exams because he’s a few years older than me and knew the process.
He helped get me my job at East Nashville College.
He let me take over the lease for his duplex when he bought his first house.
And he always volunteers to cover for me when I have to miss class to take care of my aunt.
He’s one of the kindest and most generous people I know.
And I’ve noticed how stressed out he’s been these past few months, balancing his work at the university with his work as an author.
Whenever I asked him about wedding planning, I didn’t miss the look of panic in his eyes. The poor guy is drowning.
So when he asked me today at work to be his best woman and plan the engagement party, bachelor party, and rehearsal dinner, it was easy for me to say yes to him.
Even if I have to do all that with his asshole brother.
Aidan turns to me. “Thanks again for agreeing to do this.”
I smile at him. “You’ve helped me out more times than I can even remember. This is the least I can do.”
I set my glass down and pull up the Notes app on my phone. “Any specific requests that you and Micah have for the engagement party, since that’s the first event?”
Aidan shakes his head. “Just something low-key and laidback. Nothing stuffy. Drinks and good food would be perfect.”
He tells me the budget for the engagement party, and I toss out the names of a few local restaurants and bars that I think could work. Aidan says he’s good with any of them. He tells us that he and Micah would like to have the party the last weekend of this month.
He winces. “I know that’s only a couple of weeks away, but since the wedding is this fall, we wanted to have the engagement party as soon as possible. Sorry this is all last minute. I’ve been so focused on grading and keeping up with writing and deadlines. Micah’s been swamped too.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “I promise we’ll pull it all together.”
Aidan checks the time on his phone. “I gotta go. I’ve still got a bunch of work to finish tonight.”
“Yeah, of course,” I say. He stands up and pulls out his wallet. He starts to dig out cash, but Liam stops him.
“Nope, I’ve got it.”
Aidan nods at his little brother. “Thanks.” He looks at both of us. “Look, I know you two don’t really get along, so I really appreciate you putting your differences aside to help Micah and me.”
I smile, despite how annoyed I am at the thought of having to spend time with Liam over the next couple of months.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say.
“Yeah. We got you, big brother.” His teasing gaze cuts to me. “By the time your wedding rolls around, Kendall and I are gonna be best friends.”
I roll my eyes. Aidan makes a scoff-laughing noise.
“Right.” He walks off, still laughing.
I look across the table at Liam, whose smile is dialed back as he gazes at me. He looks more amused than smug now.
“We should come up with a schedule for us to meet to plan out all the events,” I say.
“Yeah, okay.”
I tap away on my phone screen, surprised that he didn’t say some smart-ass comment.
I’m quiet as I type up a to-do list. I turn my phone and show it to him. “These are all the things we have to do before the engagement party. I’ll take the top of the list, and you can take the bottom. Does that sound okay?”
He blinks at the list, his mouth a straight line, almost like he’s surprised at what I’ve put together. “You thought of all that stuff just now?”
“Yeah. It’s a pretty standard to-do list for an engagement party.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “You’ve done this before?”
“I’ve helped friends plan wedding stuff a few times.”
“Oh. Cool.” He clears his throat. “I haven’t. I’ve mostly just gone to bachelor parties.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
I type a few more things on the list, expecting Liam to make a joke, but he’s quiet.
“I’ll text you your to-do list.” I say. “Wanna meet next Wednesday evening so we can go over everything and make sure we’re on schedule?”
He frowns at his phone. “Yeah, that should work.”
“Okay. Great.” I take a long pull of my beer and check the time. “It’s getting late. I should go.”
“Hold on. We should toast before you leave.”
I raise my eyebrow at him. “Why?”
The corner of his mouth hooks up in a lop-sided grin. There’s a flicker in my tummy. I forgot how sexy he looks when he half-smiles.
“Why not?”
I sigh. “Fine.” I pick up my beer glass and hold it up. “What are we toasting to?”
He holds up his beer glass. “To our new partnership. I think we’ll have a lot of fun together these next few months.”
I let out an exasperated laugh before tapping my glass against his. I down the rest of my beer and set the empty glass on the table.
“Wow. That’s optimistic,” I say.
Liam leans back in his chair and rests his hands behind his head. “I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy.”
“Whatever,” I mumble as I grab my bag.
I walk out of the bar, certain that these next couple of months with Liam will be the opposite of fun.