Chapter Eight ZOE
Chapter Eight
Z OE
For the first time since all this had started, I was mentally prepared to see Liam.
What a nice change of pace.
No ambush in the lawyer’s office, no burglary scare or swinging bat, and no early-morning surprise visit on my doorstep when I wasn’t wearing a bra.
This time, I was ready.
Rosa was with Mira, and I was waiting in the kitchen next door with a solid plan and an impressive stack of binders.
They were color-coded and had matching tabs.
I stood up to pace the room, sliding a nervous hand down the front of my shirt. It was one of my favorites, a V-neck with flowy sleeves and a pattern of tiny purple and blue flowers. I’d also smoothed my hair ... sort of.
When I heard his vehicle pull into the driveway, I felt a flurry of nerves take flight in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t need to usher him in like a guest, but when there was a soft knock on the front door, I winced.
I had told him the house was only for family. And, apparently, Liam’s new thing was listening to me.
I’d never get over the shock.
Determined to start this off on the right foot, I managed a polite smile when I pulled the door open. “Hey,” I said softly. “Thanks for coming.”
Instead of answering, he simply gave me a thorough once-over—his eyes trailing from the top of my head to the tips of my toes—and then walked into the house with a curt nod.
Something about the way Liam studied me was unnerving. It always had been. And because this time would be different, I decided to tell him.
“I never know what you’re thinking when you look at me like that.”
Because I was walking behind him, the only noticeable sign that he’d heard me was the slight stiffening of his broad back.
“I’m not sure you want to know, Valentine.”
I sighed. “I do have a name.”
“Isn’t Valentine one of them?” He took a seat at one of the stools next to the island, folded his hands on the counter, and gave me an expectant look. “Everyone uses last names on the team.”
“If we start off with that kind of dynamic here, we’re in big trouble.”
Liam quirked an eyebrow. “How so? I quite like the team atmosphere. I’d trust all of them with my life. Except the stupid rookies. Don’t know them well enough yet.”
There were always a few kids in every class who thought they knew better than the teacher. It was so easy to imagine Liam as one of those smart alecks. Someone who argued. Someone who tiptoed over the line whenever he could manage it.
Instead of taking a seat, I leaned up against the edge of the counter and studied his face, trying to undo him in the same way he always undid me.
But he met my stare unflinchingly.
And that was unnerving too.
“Trust them with your life?” I asked. “That’s a bold statement.”
“Accurate, though.” He glanced around the house. “I wouldn’t be here if Chris hadn’t felt the same, yeah?”
Ten points to the grouch.
I lifted my brows in brief concession. “Fair enough. But no ass slapping and no yelling, because I know you guys do that too.”
His lips twitched, and oh, I swear he almost smiled. “I’m trying very hard not to make an inappropriate comment about ass slaps, Valentine.”
“I appreciate your restraint.”
“Figured you would. That’s what I’m known for. My epic restraint.”
My lips fought a smile. “What changed your mind?” I asked. “I was not expecting you yesterday.”
“That freckle-faced asshole showed up in my dream,” he said.
“Chris?”
Liam’s chin lifted in a sharp jerk. “Remembering something we talked about a long time ago. Before I’d met you, even.” He swallowed. “When I came to your place to apologize, I didn’t ... I wasn’t planning on helping, if I’m being honest.”
“I think we have to be honest, if we’re going to do this,” I told him.
“No bullshit. There’s no place for it.”
I picked at one of my nails and nodded in agreement. “No bullshit.”
Liam glanced back into the family room. “Where’s the kid?”
“At my place with Rosa. I wasn’t sure how this first meeting would go, and she’s already been through enough. I don’t want her witnessing any arguments about who’s going to take care of her.”
With fascination, I watched the tips of his cheekbones turn the slightest shade of pink.
Was he embarrassed?
“How’s she doing?” he asked, voice a low, rough rumble. “Does she, you know, ask for them?”
“Sometimes.” I rolled my neck but couldn’t stretch it far enough to feel it pop. Too much tension in my entire body for that. “Less the last couple weeks.”
His face was unreadable. “Suppose that’s good.”
Was it? I rubbed the side of my neck; the muscles underneath my skin were hard as rocks.
“Neck problems?” he asked, his eyes trained on my hand.
“Just a little tense.”
He made a grunting noise. “You should get someone to work on that.”
“That also a team bonding thing?” I asked.
Liam rolled his eyes. “Yes. I give all my teammates massages.”
I laughed.
When I did, his eyes warmed. Just a little. Then he looked away.
“Right,” he said before clearing his throat. “I’ll move in here if you’re okay with it. I’m assuming we need to talk to the lawyer about all this.”
“You’ll sell your house?” I asked.
“It’s just a house. The kid should be able to be here if she wants. This was her home.”
We’d been here only a few times. I took a deep breath. “No bullshit, right?”
“That’s my preference, yeah.”
“She’ll go into their room and look for them,” I told him unflinchingly. “That’s what she does when we come here. She didn’t cry last time, but you should prepare yourself for when it happens.”
His jaw clenched. “Noted.”
“I’m supposed to be gone next weekend. Just for two nights. Rosa was going to watch her for me.”
Liam’s eyebrow arched slowly. “Getaway with the boyfriend?”
My cheeks flushed hot. “My mom is having an outpatient procedure, and I promised I’d be there to drive her home and make sure she’s okay afterward. And ... there’s no more boyfriend, not that it’s any of your business.”
He made a low humming sound that lifted the little hairs on the back of my neck. “He wasn’t around long.”
“Tyler was a nice guy,” I told him. “But then the accident happened. And then we found out about Mira ...” My voice trailed off. “It was a bit too much to put on a new relationship.”
“He bailed?” Liam asked.
It took everything in me not to drop his shocked gaze. Slowly, I nodded. “It was a pretty mutual decision, but yeah. And I can’t blame him.”
“What an absolute git.”
For a moment, I couldn’t do anything but stare.
Then I burst out laughing.
Liam’s face was full of confusion at first.
Then I laughed even harder.
“You’re serious,” I managed through my helpless laughter. Tears sprang to the edges of my eyes, and I wiped them away. “Oh gawd, you are actually serious right now. You giant, raging hypocrite .”
He scoffed, crossing his big arms over his big chest. “It’s not funny. I had perfectly valid reasons for what I did.”
“Liam, you stormed out of the lawyer’s office like a child when you found out,” I said, slowly getting ahold of myself. The laughter had felt good, though. Some of the tension had bled from my frame. “Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve laughed that hard. Thank you for that, truly.”
“Glad to be of service,” he ground out.
“You gonna tell me all those valid reasons?” I asked.
“Maybe another day,” he answered evenly.
I snorted. “That’s what I thought.”
“Back to the subject at hand. You’re leaving for a thing. Drop the kid off here, and we’ll be just fine.”
“I’m not just going to drop her off. You have to see her a couple times before you spend an entire weekend with her.” I pointed to the binders. “You can read through those in the meantime; they’ll help.”
He tugged at one of the binders sitting in the middle of the island, his face going slack with shock when he opened the first one. “Absolutely bloody not.”
“What?”
He gave me an incredulous look. “You’ve got a color-coded schedule in here. I’m surprised you don’t time it out when she takes a piss.”
“It’s helpful . Believe me, I wish I would’ve had one at the beginning.”
“I don’t need one. We’ll crack on just fine.”
“Liam, I don’t think you—”
He held up a hand. “I’ve done a lot of big transitions in my life, Valentine. Never had a pretty rainbow-colored binder for a single fucking one, and it all turned out just fine. Part of life is having to stumble through the shit when you can’t see the outcome. You don’t know how messy it’ll get, and you don’t always have a perfect plan.”
Slowly, he closed the binder and pushed it back in my direction along with the others.
I narrowed my eyes. He narrowed his right back.
“You can take those back with you, thank you very much.”
“No bullshit, right?” I asked.
He sighed.
“You want me to say what I’m thinking at any given time? Just so you can be aware of my emotional state?”
His face didn’t so much as budge, but there was an anticipatory gleam in his eyes.
“You are impossible,” I said slowly, making sure I enunciated every syllable. “And I look forward to the end of the weekend, when you admit that I’m right.”
“I’d rather shove splints up my fingernails.”
Instead of rising to the bait, I smiled. “I’ll sharpen them before I get home.”
He stood. “That it? I can move my stuff in now?”
I rubbed at my forehead. Was I getting another headache? “I guess. I’ll call the lawyer and let him know about the house.” I paused. “We still have a lot to figure out, Liam.”
“Don’t overthink it, Valentine.” He took a few steps nearer, and if we’d been standing closer, I would’ve had to tilt my chin up to look him in the face. He was so tall. And big. And somehow those two things were the least intimidating aspects about him. “I’ll stay here, help where I can. No need to bug the scary neighbor. It’ll be fine.”
“Fine? The last month, you’ve done everything in your power to avoid me, and now you think you can waltz in and take care of a two-and-a-half-year-old without any instruction?”
“I’ve got friends with kids. Little shits always love me.”
Honestly, my jaw was about two inches off the floor.
“It’s amazing because you look like the same Liam,” I said, leaning back to study his face. “But you must be a clone or something.” Then I tapped my chin. “That’s not a logical answer either, because why would anyone want to have two of you walking around this earth unchecked?”
He sighed again. “We done here?”
“No.”
Liam crossed his arms. The biceps bulged in a way that I did not appreciate. “What, then?”
What, then? I had a list of concerns the length of my arm.
First, and the one I couldn’t say out loud, was: How the hell are we supposed to coexist and coparent without killing each other? I could hardly have a single conversation with him without becoming overtaken by vivid fantasies of inflicting some sort of violence on his big, grumpy person.
But I decided to start with the most obvious.
“What about the fall? I have to go back to work. And the regular season starts in August.”
He gave me a look. “Right now, we’re taking this one week at a time. We’ll get it figured out.”
“You really think it’s that simple?” I asked him. Maybe ... maybe he was a little bit off his rocker, and I just hadn’t noticed yet.
“I’ll watch her next weekend, and we’ll talk again when you get back. It’s just one pint-size little girl. How hard can it be?”