11. Liv
11
LIV
W hat was supposed to be just a one-night thing ended up turning into an entire week. I didn’t intend to stay so long, but it felt impossible to leave.
Things were easier, quieter staying at Aiden’s place. Max had tried too hard, suggesting sibling-bonding activities and other ways to improve our relationship. It was too much.
Aiden and I just did our own thing. We even managed to keep our hands to ourselves, that is, until we couldn’t anymore.
If I ever decide to settle down enough to live with a man, I want it to resemble living with Aiden.
It could be your reality now if you weren’t such a coward.
I am not a coward. It’s perfectly reasonable not to want a serious relationship with one of your brother’s best friends .
That type of situation is always complicated, messy, and ends poorly. Breakups are never easy but based on what I’ve seen from my college friends, it’s even worse when it’s someone you know well.
Honestly, I think the only reason our friendship survived the summer I turned sixteen was because it was a purely physical thing. I would have lost them all if I had let myself get emotionally attached.
I can already feel myself settling into a routine and getting comfortable with Aiden, which is exactly why I have to put on my big girl pants and call Max.
He picks up on the first ring.
“Hey, it’s good to hear from you.”
The smile in his voice eases some of the knots in my stomach. “You too.”
“So what’s, uh, what’s going on?”
“I know it’s last minute but can we meet for breakfast in an hour? I think we have some things to talk about.”
“La Petite Coquette?” he suggests. “I know it’s your favorite.”
“Would you mind if Aiden joined us?”
“Why?” Max asks suspiciously. “Is there something the two of you need to tell me?”
I’m instantly overwhelmed by a wave of anxiety. I hate that he still makes me feel like I have to sneak around all the time. By all accounts though, that was a fairly tame reaction from him.
“Max, please don’t start.” I sigh in frustration. “I don’t want us to start fighting again. Having him there to mediate is the best way for us to avoid that.”
After several long minutes he finally says, “I hate to admit it, but you’re right. I’ll meet both of you there in an hour.”
“I think that went about as well as expected,” I say, turning to Aiden when the call ends.
“Probably, but if you want to keep him from finding out about whatever the hell is going on between us, you’re going to have to cover that hickey on your neck.”
“You don’t think I should leave it there?” I smile wryly. “I was thinking about having you paint some arrows pointing right at it.”
He presses a quick kiss to my lips. “Brat.”
“Only because you won’t let me be in charge.”
“Go cover up that mark on your neck before I decide to give you another one.”
“Don’t tempt me with a good time.”
He grabs me by the shoulder and spins me away from him then slaps my ass, a yelp escaping my lips.
“Get away from me before we end up spending the day in bed.”
I know he’s got a point. As much as I’d love to put it off one more day or forever, this talk with Max is long overdue, twelve years overdue at a minimum.
“Stupid relationship repair. Stupid brother. Stupid breakfast,” I grumble as I sulk off toward the bathroom.
I believed Aiden when he told me Max sounded like he wanted to change. The fact that he’s given me space this entire week is promising.
So is the fact that the only times he’s texted me were responses to messages I sent him. One breakfast isn’t going to fix years of overprotective behavior, but it’s a start.
I want to do this. I want to have the brother I see glimpses of from time to time, not this overzealous guardian thing he’s got going on.
So why are my hands still shaking as we walk into La Petite Coquette?
It feels like every eye in the place is on me and I have to fight the urge to turn and run out the door.
As soon as I get close enough, Max wraps me in the tightest bear hug ever. It isn’t until the last puff of air leaves my body with a squeak that he finally lets go.
We start with the usual pleasantries, but by the time the croissants arrive there is an uncomfortable tension in the air.
Max and I just stare at each other for a while, each of us wanting to start but neither knowing where to begin.
“Why don’t you start by telling her what you told me the day of your fight?” Aiden prompts.
After a few minutes, Max manages to get the whole story out. Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t anywhere near what comes out of his mouth.
“Max, that’s horrible. If I had any idea that was going on I would have… I don’t know, but I would have done something.”
“It’s okay, I wanted to look out for you,” he says. “I chose to.”
“You were just a kid yourself.”
“I miss what it was like before all this mess started. You know, when we were little, and you were just my stupid annoying sister.”
“Me too.”
He grins. “Ah, so you admit that you’re annoying. Ouch.”
I kick him under the table.
“Is this really productive?” Aiden asks, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Max, I want us to get along better and I believe you’re serious this time, but if we’re going to have a healthy relationship, there are some things you’ve got to change.”
I can see his jaw tightening.
A muscle in his neck starts to twitch.
He’s getting defensive, just like he always does.
A pit opens in the bottom of my stomach.
Any minute now, he’s going to give me the same old, “I’m just looking out for you” speech he gives me every time we get close to making any progress.
I should have known this was too good to be true.
Just like clockwork, Max starts to open his mouth, but Aiden clears his throat aggressively.
Max gets the hint and takes a breath, then says, “Okay, go ahead. I‘m ready to listen.”
If the moon fell out of the sky it would still be less surprising than the response he just gave.
Things really might be different this time. I had hoped upon hope that they would be, that’s the reason I wanted to meet with him. I take a slow, measured breath.
“Max, I need you to accept that I’m an adult. My flings are none of your business. If I ever get to the point where I find someone important enough to settle down with, then you’ll meet them. But I get to decide when that is. And I need you to understand that I know what’s best for myself.”
He gives me a pointed look so I add, “You can ask all the questions you want and you’re free to express your opinion, but at the end of the day, it’s my choice, not yours. It still bothers me that you and Dad decided I was going to live with you without even asking me first, and that’s not the first time you’ve done or tried something like that.”
“I’m sorry,” he says. “It’s not going to be something that happens overnight, but I am going to work on being better at respecting your boundaries and acting like a brother instead of a bodyguard.”
“Thank you but there’s one more thing. I want my own space. I need something that’s solely mine.”
“I know.” Max nods. “That’s why this whole week while you’ve been gone, I've been looking at places for you, and I think I found the perfect one.”
“Seriously, Max? I can’t believe?—”
Aiden holds up a hand to stop me. “Yelling isn’t going to help anything right now. I agree that’s going overboard—and it was, Max—but I’m fairly sure that this is a misguided way of showing you he’s supportive.”
I force my hands to unclench as Max nods earnestly at me from across the table. If he nods any harder, I swear his head is going to fly right off.
“Fine. I will look at it, but if I don’t like it?—”
“I’ll back off and help you look for another one. I promise. But I’m sure I’ve found a winner here.”
He slides me his phone and I look at the listing photos.
Floor-to-ceiling windows, open-floor concept, and a master bath that can only be described as decadent. It’s beyond perfect.
I must not have much of a poker face because the goofiest-looking grin forms on Max’s mouth.
“I knew you’d love it.”
He’s right. I do.
I love it right up until I see the listing price. I’m sure the entire restaurant can hear my heart breaking.
“There’s no way I can afford this.”
Max shifts uncomfortably in his chair.
“What did you do?” I demand, narrowing my eyes.
“I knew you’d love it but I also knew you wouldn’t let me help you, so I went ahead and rented it for you. I even called in a few favors so you can move in tonight if you want.”
I’m touched and furious at the same time.
“What happened to promising to let me make my own decisions?”
“I guess that starts tomorrow,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.
“You—”
“Why don’t you let him explain first? If it’s not good enough, then you can fly off the handle,” Aiden says, cutting me off and trying to reason.
I settle back in my chair and glare at Max. “Go ahead. Try and dig your way out of this hole.”
“I looked at places in your price range, but things are a bit more expensive here, so what you could afford in Minnesota and what you can afford here aren’t the same. I want to be supportive, but I also still feel like I need to look out for you, and none of the other places felt safe enough, most of them ungated and without a doorman. So, I figured if I found something you loved, I could snag it, and you’d have what you want and I’d know you were safe. I thought I was doing the right thing, that it was a win-win situation.” He sips his water, looking at me pathetically over the rim of the glass.
He looks so much like a kicked puppy that I can’t stay mad at him. I might have even done the same thing for him if the roles were reversed.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” he asks, surprised.
“Yes, okay. I won’t fight you on it, but you can’t do anything like this ever again,” I state firmly.
“I won’t.”
“And I will be paying you the same rent I paid at my last place so you can recover some of the costs. I’m covering all of the utilities too.”
I can see the struggle between new Max and old Max playing out on his face.
“Fair enough. So do we have a deal?”
I shake his offered hand. “Deal.”
“Good,” he says, relaxing into his chair. “Because last night after the game, the guys and I moved all the furniture you had in storage into the place. It would have been a massive pain in the ass to have to take it all back out again.”
My eyes shift to Aiden. “You were in on this, too?”
He shrugs. “We all were. When you two fight, he becomes an absolute monster and makes practice miserable for everyone. It was a public service to the team helping him find you a place.”
“Great. Seeing as you’re in such a charitable mood, you can help me move the rest of my stuff in tonight.”
“But today’s our rest day,” he protests. “We’ve got plans to check out that club that just opened up.”
“No, you don’t. Not anymore.”
The smile I give him is a warning and he knows it because he doesn’t even try to argue.
“I’ll, well, I’ll text them, but I don’t know if?—”
“Tell them if they have a problem they can answer directly to me.”
Aiden nods in defeat.
Apparently, Connor and Dimitri are just as intimidated by me as Aiden seems to be, because they all show up immediately after practice, ready to help me move.
We’re about halfway through unpacking when all of our phones start pinging like smoke alarms. Before I can even open my lock screen to get to the barrage of notifications, my phone starts ringing.
“Mom?”
“Hi, baby.”
“Isn’t it the middle of the night in Mumbai? What are you doing up?”
“Do you even read the messages I send you?” she asks. “We left India two days ago. We’re in Tokyo now.”
“What time is it there?”
“Seven a.m. Your father and I have a full day of sightseeing ahead of us. We’re doing a guided tour of the Imperial Palace, and then we’re going to a museum. Of course, we’re going to try to see some of the shrines if we can, and don’t worry, we’ll take breaks. You know how your dad gets when he’s hungry. Speaking of hungry, we’re at the most fabulous…”
“Mom, I love you, but we’re right in the middle of something here.”
“I know. That’s why I called, but then I got distracted telling you about our plans and… sweetheart, are you okay? I can’t imagine how hard it must be on the two of you right now.”
“We lived in different states for almost six years, Mom. I think we can handle me moving into my own apartment a few miles away,” I reply, rolling my eyes.
“You’re moving out?”
“Isn’t that the reason you called?”
“Please don’t tell me it’s because of the articles. They aren’t even worth acknowledging, baby. Honestly, with how fast this story has taken off, it might be wise to put off the move and stick close to Max for a little while longer.”
Now I’m really confused. “What are you talking about? What articles?”
“It’s hard to say which ones exactly, but what’s that, Greg? I have to go, baby. They’re ready to seat us. Just message me if you need me, and I’ll call when I can. I love you.”
The phone beeps, signaling that she ended the call, leaving me staring blankly across the room.
“Liv?” Max waves his hand in front of my face, startling me.
“What?”
“I think these might be the articles Mom was talking about,” he says, passing me his phone.
There’s a different headline in each of his browser tabs, each one more ridiculous than the last.
Has Our Bad Boy Bachelor Finally Settled Down?
Sorry Ladies, He’s Off The Market
Moving In With The Mistress
Max’s Secret Wife!
Hockey Superstar Dates Team Analyst: Is It Ethical?
Sexy Analyst Girlfriend Suspected Of Cooking Stats Instead Of Steaks
I guess I was right about feeling watched lately because every single article has photos of us entering my new apartment with boxes, along with some artistically cropped ones of us at breakfast.
Great. Just fucking great.