Chapter 12 Liam
Liam
While Benson was out of town tending to his family, Liam was dealing with something else in the city.
And all the better to get this out of the way before Benson came home, probably muttering about his parents, his sister, and his sister’s good-for-nothing husband and two grown “idiot” children who relied too much on him for help.
(Same as it ever was.)
He knew this had to be done… delicately. And nobody, especially Benson and Eden, could know about this.
And maybe Sydney, too. That would be a headache. The woman hated Liam.
So, a coffee shop was out of consideration. He probably shouldn’t go for some other loud public space, either. A casual Mexican place on the corner would do.
To her credit, Drew pretended to be ecstatic to see him when she arrived without her cabal of friends.
Well, maybe she was excited. She certainly didn’t hesitate to order something from the counter before slamming her butt down in the booth Liam had held down for them in the back of the dining area.
While mariachi music played above their heads, he offered her his selection of chips and salsas. Drew helped herself while waiting for her order of tacos and Spanish rice, all the while babbling about the train ride from Providence.
Liam started light. He asked her about school, her classes, and the Italian major she had recently declared.
That was enough to get Drew rattling off every little thing that happened in college, and – dare he admit it – he forgot to ask about Rush Week!
Everyone would be soooo happy to know that Drew had gotten into her first-choice sorority.
Actually, those girls he had seen her with were some of her new sisters who found out how much she loved zoos and decided they should all go when they had an afternoon off from class.
“I remember,” Liam said, keeping things light. “I used to hold you up so you could see the lions.”
She lightly gasped. “You do remember?”
“Of course. That was a great day.”
Drew’s visage grew more serious, more mature as she sat with that while staring down at the Formica table.
She really has grown up. Men like Liam didn’t need such obvious passages of time thrown in his face.
Because while Benson could dye his hair and act the same as always, his daughter couldn’t stop growing taller, heavier, and more weighed down by the realities of the world.
Poor kid. Liam had been more optimistic about things the last time he saw his future stepdaughter.
“I’ve got questions,” she said.
“Undoubtedly.”
When they unceremoniously bumped into each other at the zoo, Drew had been aghast – mostly at Eden, whom she had already decided she didn’t like for whatever arbitrary reason.
Too young to be dating her father, I guess.
Liam had stepped in to say hello, introduce himself to her sorority sisters, and to explain that her father knew what was going on and she shouldn’t concern herself with gossip – especially since her aunt was in the hospital, didn’t she know?
(She did. She had hoped the red pandas would take her mind off it.)
He also promised they would discuss this later and got her number. That same evening, he asked Drew to meet him for lunch at this Mexican place as soon as she was back in town.
So, here they were. Sitting awkwardly. Because, unlike Benson, Liam was not old enough to be this girl’s father. Not unless I had her at like… fifteen. No way. Suddenly, those weird age gaps made sense from Drew’s perspective.
“I’m dating Eden,” he told her when she returned with her order. “So is your father. Yes, he knows about this.”
Drew pretended that this was a very mature discussion for her to have as she added salsa to her tacos. “I see. Daddy certainly has his… appetites.”
She said that so cutely, yet Liam couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose. Suddenly, his enchilada sucked. “What do you mean by that?”
Drew glanced up at him before rolling up her taco to take a bite. “I know a lot more about your engagement than either Mom or Dad thinks. I wasn’t exactly blind, Liam.”
That bite sure was… big.
“Well, what did you know, exactly?”
She methodically chewed while looking up at the palomino sconces. After swallowing, she said, “I know he was still dating women while with you. Saw the same chick a few times.”
“I was probably dating her, too. Your father never cheated on me.”
“Oh, I got that. Took me a hot minute because I didn’t get into romance novels until I was in high school, but you guys were hooking up with the same girl, weren’t you?”
“Well… we are both bisexual, Drew.”
“Doesn’t mean you date both men and women at the same time! Way to be a couple of stereotypes.”
Yes, Liam was very familiar with the stereotype. No, he didn’t think it was his problem, as long as he was fair with the people he dated.
“Are you and my dad back together or something?”
Liam didn’t have a ready answer for her.
It’s not my place to tell her. At any rate, Liam didn’t know for sure.
We hooked up, still love each other, and are dating the same woman for the foreseeable future.
That didn’t mean they were back together.
They certainly were not engaged again. Benson had made that clear.
He might marry someone, but it’s not me.
For the best. But could Drew, their biggest cheerleader, understand that?
“Your dad and I still love each other,” he said. “Beyond that, it’s a discussion for you to have with him.”
Drew chewed on that for a moment before sipping her soda and saying, “He won’t talk to me about it.”
“Do you think he’s any better with me?”
She leveled her gaze at him, eyeliner thickly sweet in a way Liam hadn’t seen in years. Must be coming back around again. Either that, or she was still being hazed in her sorority. “Why did you two break up?”
Liam shrugged. “What did he tell you?”
“Just that it didn’t work out. Which is the same thing he said about his divorce.”
Can only imagine what Sydney’s told her. Oh, no, none of the super personal stuff. But still, Liam couldn’t imagine that woman having a heart-to-heart with Drew about… well, things that weren’t any of her business, let alone when she was much too young to handle it.
“I’m sorry it was sudden. It was for me, too.”
“Did you move back here because of him?”
“No. That was entirely coincidental. Anyway, I invited you out to check in with you, I guess. And because of what happened at the zoo. Eden’s said that you don’t seem to like her.”
“I’ve barely met her.”
“Believe me, it was enough to leave an impression.”
The dramatic sigh could have only come from a teenage girl, which proved to Liam that there was fundamentally no difference between being nineteen and twenty.
“Can you blame me? She’s barely older than me.”
“May I remind you that I’m a full decade younger than your father? We’re all thinking about what home we’re gonna put him in one day.”
Drew snorted her soda, and Liam didn’t care. “Rude!” she said with a big grin. “That’s my job!”
“Like I said, we all. And since I’m only ten years behind him, we’ve gotta make sure it’s a good one.
Anyway, the point I’m making is that your dad happened to start dating a twenty-five-year-old woman.
I’m not going to give you bullshit about how Eden is very mature, but trust me when I say that your father isn’t someone to date a woman just because she’s young.
If anything, he’s gone through a lot with Eden, not that it’s any of your business. ”
“This makes it better, how?”
Liam pushed his elbows forward, coming closer to Drew as she attempted to ignore his little intimidation tactic while eating her chips and salsa.
“Here’s the deal,” he said in a way that reminded her he was her elder, as much as he despised it, “your father is dating Eden. I am dating Eden. She hasn’t done a damn thing to acquire your ire, and I will be quite cross if you continue to treat my girlfriend that way. ”
“Like what? A gold-digger? Uncle Liam, let me give you some advice from a woman…”
Oh, boy.
“…Half of my sorority is chicks who don’t have a lot of money.
They’re at Brown on a scholarship, and they know that if they don’t bag a rich husband at school, they’ve gotta look at each other’s dads.
Right now, I’ve got two friends dating each other’s dads without either one of them knowing it!
And I’ve got a roommate who has an off-campus sugar daddy funding her study abroad in the fall.
All of these dudes are over fifty. Now, I’ve seen Eden.
She’s very pretty. Quite the opposite of Mom in the hair and figure department, really. ”
“Uh-huh.”
“Daddy’s at that age where attention from a twenty-something is very flattering.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And he’s got money.”
“Suppose he does.”
“I’m just worried about him long-term. He hasn’t seriously dated anyone like this since… well, since you!”
Liam didn’t find that hard to believe anymore. “I haven’t dated someone quite seriously since your father, either.”
“Really? Ugh, could you two please get back together? I miss Christmas with you.”
Liam sighed. “I know. But it’s complicated. And if we do end up back together, it’s going to be with someone like Eden.”
“Really?”
“Don’t give me that look. Your father and I are freaks, but we’re honest about it.”
“Ew.”
“Yeah, well, you’re apparently old enough to know the ways of sugar babies and gold-diggers, so you’re old enough to know that.”
“Does my mom know?”
“Oh, yeah. I don’t recommend asking her about it, though. You should ask your father why she eventually filed for divorce.”
Drew lazily pushed her chip around her salsa. “It’s ‘cause he’s queer, right? Mom’s a bit… embarrassingly homophobic. The kind that doesn’t care about anyone outside of the family being gay, but once it’s in her sphere…”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“She really hated that you and Dad were together. We used to fight about it all the time, especially after you guys got engaged. She didn’t want me going over to Dad’s when you were around. No idea why. You guys were fun. Honestly… I had never seen Dad so happy as when he was with you.”
“There were layers to that relationship, kid. Your dad and I… we weren’t traditional, even for two guys together. We were the center of our love lives, but there were others.”
“I kinda get that sense now.”
Am I talking to her as a stepdad, an uncle, or an older brother?
Liam didn’t know anymore. He had filled all three roles in Drew’s life at some point, and now it was like he was all of them simultaneously, but also…
he still felt like one of those frat boys she talked about in between digs at her sorority sisters and professors.
Liam knew that she didn’t talk so openly about these things with her father.
Benson would be so confused. Liam kinda loved him for that.
“Just… please be nice to Eden. She’s figuring things out, too. Even if she broke up with your dad, he would be distraught over it. You don’t want that for him. I know I don’t.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Drew wrapped up her last taco, but didn’t immediately bite into it. “Does Dad know you’re here, talking to me?”
“Nope. I’d like to keep it that way.”
“I see.” One tentative bite later, she continued, “All right. I’ll try to be nice. But no guarantee we’re gonna be besties or anything.”
“That would be pretty weird, yeah.”
“I’m just saying. She’s also ten years younger than you.”
“And I was ten years younger than your father back then, and I still am now.”
“That’s different.”
“Why? Because I was thirty when I was engaged to your father?”
“Because you’re two guys.”
With that, Liam realized he could not truly reason with someone who had little reason to begin with. All he could do was mediate. He was good at mediation.
Too bad this whole conversation had made the rest of his enchilada grow cold. It wasn’t as good, and now he had to suffer.