Chapter 6 #2
“There, now you’ll have a photo to prove to Daisy you hiked. I’ll send it to you later.” I slip my phone away and step around the boulder and sit on the grass in front of it, leaning against the stone.
Liam scoffs and sits beside me. “She’ll think you kidnapped me.”
“I’ll convince her when I see her next.” Thoughts creep into my head about next week.
Will I still be having issues throwing when nothing’s wrong?
Will I be worse? My heart rate ticks up, and I shake myself.
No. I don’t want to think about that. I glance at Liam.
His hair glows in the sun, cheeks still tinged red from the hike.
No, I don’t want to think about it all now. Not when Liam’s sitting beside me.
Liam scoffs. “Good luck. Last time we hiked I swore it off.” He unzips his backpack and digs around until he finds his sandwich and notebook.
He swore off hiking? My chest warms with a feeling I can’t place. “You swore off hiking? What made you come today?” Please let it be because of me.
Liam freezes momentarily as he flips his notebook open, and his eyes dart to mine before he continues setting himself up. “For one, I didn’t think you’d be comfortable driving around here.”
“You could have dropped me off.”
“True, but then you would have thought about why you’re here and spiralled about why you’re here, which would not have been productive.”
I blink at him. “How’d you figure that out?”
Liam rolls his eyes at me and raises an eyebrow. “Did you spend all of yesterday staring out the window?”
“Maybe.”
“Pretty sure you know every plant in my garden by now.”
“Not every plant,” I mutter. Are my issues that obvious?
“Has today helped?” he asks as he fiddles with his notebook.
I nudge my sneaker against his. “Yeah, it did. Thanks, Liam… I wasn’t sure about coming here to stay with someone I’d never met, but I’m glad I did,” I say quietly without looking at him.
“So am I.”
I glance up and meet his bright eyes and look away when heat zips through me and my throat goes dry.
“Eat.” Liam points at my backpack and clicks his pen on.
I follow his order and fish out the sandwich he made for me and guzzle water while I people-watch.
There are only two other groups since it’s still early for a Sunday, and they’re doing what we are.
Eating and watching the landscape shift in the wind and sun.
Every so often a gust of wind comes and the waterfalls contort into an ‘s’ shape like someone’s bending the water to their will.
Maybe Liam can include it in whatever he’s writing.
He’s scribbling away in his notebook and has already filled three pages.
I’m glad we continued to the end if it’s giving him so much to think about. Maybe I helped him, too?
Liam is more engrossed in his writing than he was at the first lookout, so I dig out my e-reader and start rereading my favourite book. I know exactly what’s going to happen, so there won’t be any surprises while my head sorts itself out, and I think it will be a while before Liam resurfaces.
“What are you reading?”
I jolt out of my book and squint at the bright light from the sun reflecting off the water. There are different people scattered around now, and it’s starting to get busier. I turn to find Liam staring at me, craning his neck to see what’s on my screen.
“I’m rereading one of my favourites.”
He shuffles closer. “What’s it called?”
I name the title, and Liam draws back. His blue eyes are wide with shock, and his mouth hangs open. My brows come together as he opens and closes his mouth a few times, unable to get a word out.
“What? Did you not like the book?”
He shakes his head and swallows, but he can’t hide the shock in his eyes. “No, I do like it, but that’s because I wrote it.”
I pause lifting my drink bottle and stare at him. “You—What?” I splutter. The drink bottle crashes to the grass, and I blink at Liam rapidly. “I—What?” I repeat.
Liam’s cheeks flush, and he runs a hand through his hair. “I wrote that series.”
“No, you didn’t. What?” I shake my head in an attempt to form a coherent thought.
“I’m sorry, are you telling me you’re L.S Greene, who wrote my favourite series, and I’m currently staying at your house?
” There isn’t a photo at the back of his books, and he never shows his face on his Instagram account.
“Yes.” A small smile plays on his lips. Now that he’s recovered from his shock, he’s enjoying this.
The world sways. “I need to lie down.” I recline against the rough boulder and breathe deeply as my wide eyes stare unseeingly at the glacier.
I shoot upright and whirl to him. “Are you telling me that whiteboard was you working on something new?” I ask, heart pounding in my chest. L.S Greene hasn’t released anything in nearly a year besides a novella after he completed his series, which is very unlike him, and I’ve been waiting desperately for an announcement.
I have fucking notifications turned on for his Instagram account.
Liam’s smile turns into a grin, and he leans closer. “I sold a new series last week.”
“Holy shit.” I laugh and rub a hand across my mouth. “You’re L.S Greene. I’ve been staying at your house as I reread your series, and you’re writing a new one,” I recap and wait for his nod. “I—I have so many questions.”
“Okay, but you can’t tell anyone about the new series.” Liam glares at me. “Until it’s announced it’s a secret. I shouldn’t have told you.”
I hold my hands up in surrender. “Swear to god I won’t say anything.”
His face clears. “Thanks. I’d be in deep shit if someone announced it before the publisher.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t bring my physical copy with me.” I pout at him and ignore the slight disappointment sinking into my chest. “I would have asked you to sign it.”
Liam waves a hand through the air. “I’ve got copies at home I can give you.”
“Really? You’d do that?”
He shrugs. “Even if you didn’t mean to, you helped me by going on this hike.
I’ve figured out a ton of plot things and have pages of new ideas.
I’ll sign the whole series for you, Hemi.
” His face is earnest and open with a soft expression, and I force myself not to hug him.
To clutch him close and feel his heartbeat against my chest.
“You don’t have to do that. You’ve helped me, too.”
“I want to. I think I have a special edition lying around somewhere.” His eyes glaze over as if he’s trying to envision his bookshelves but says, “I don’t remember. I’ll check when we get back.” Liam’s eyes turn bright and teasing. “So, you have a physical copy and e-version of my books?”
My cheeks heat. “Maybe.”
“You totally do.”
“Okay, I do. If I’ve had a bad game, I want my favourites with me.”
Liam smiles at me softly. His eyes crinkle at the corners, and he says, “I’m glad you like the series. Daisy hasn’t read them.”
I barely stop myself from gasping. “How can she not have read them? They’re amazing!
” I should feel embarrassed gushing about my favourite book to the author, especially since I’m staying with him, but I don’t.
Well, my cheeks feel hot and my hands shake slightly, but mostly I’m excited to talk about the books.
“They aren’t her thing. Don’t worry, I don’t watch the TV shows she loves. We’ve been friends for ten years, but our entertainment tastes don’t have much crossover besides rugby.”
“I’ve probably read them enough for her anyway,” I mumble, but not quiet enough if the pleased look on Liam’s face is anything to go by.
“Can I ask how you figured out how the heist would work?” I try not to look too eager but can’t hide the excitement in my voice.
I can’t figure out how he did it after numerous read-throughs.
“You can, but we should walk as you ask.” Liam nods to the growing groups of people coming up the track.
“I think it’s about to get a lot busier, and I don’t know if you want that,” he states as if he already knows my answer.
Which he does, because I don’t want to be surrounded by crowds of people when I should be in South Africa—even if I suddenly find myself grateful for the past few days.
“Let’s pack up and head back while I ask you every question I’ve ever had. It’s a bit cold now anyway.” I stand and reach a hand out for Liam. He slips his hand in mine, warm from the sun despite the wind, and I pull him up.
He stumbles into me from the force of me pulling him, and his hands rest on my chest. Blue eyes meet mine, and he licks his lips.
Liam shakes his head and yanks his hands off me and steps back.
His ankle rolls, and he throws his arms out to gain his balance.
I lurch forward and grab his jacket in my fist and yank him towards me with all my strength.
There’s no way I’m letting him fall and hit his head.
He topples into me, and I sway back and wrap my arms around his waist. I clutch him and wait for my heart rate to calm down after his near fall. I suck in a noisy breath and blow it out, ruffling Liam’s hair in the process.
“Okay?”
Liam blinks owlishly at me and shakes his head. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“In such a rush to get away from me you risk falling?” I tease, hoping I’m not right.
“No,” he whispers. “No, I just didn’t want to invade your personal space.”
My heart pounds for a different reason now, and my hands tremble on his waist. “You can invade my personal space anytime you want.”
Liam tilts his head, and his eyes flick to my lips. I lick them. “Really?” I nod, and Liam shuffles closer until his chest presses against mine. “I hope you don’t regret saying that,” he says and wraps his arms around my neck and tugs me down.
I gasp at the feeling of his soft lips on mine.
His skin is warm, and his tongue swipes across my bottom lip.
My mouth drops open, and our tongues brush together.
My knees go weak as if I just played eighty minutes, and I haul him tighter against me, so I can feel the length of his body on mine, and lift a hand to brush a thumb across his cheek.
His cheek is hot on my thumb, and I shift to cup his jaw and tilt his head to the side to change the angle.
Having Liam kiss me is like seeing the glacier for the first time.
Inspiring, with a sense of wonder filling me.
The difference with Liam’s lips on mine is the need for more. More skin, more of his small moans, more or everything. When the need to breathe is urgent, I pull away panting and rest my forehead on his. My eyes flicker open and meet blue.
We catch our breath together, and I rub my thumb back and forth over his cheekbone and trail it down to brush his bottom lip. He presses a gentle kiss to my thumb, and a slow smile spreads across his face. One I return automatically and tug him into a proper hug, tucking his head to my shoulder.
I breathe his scent in, faintly floral, tinged with sweat from our hike. I could stay here forever with him tucked against me.
He pulls away to look at me, and his arms sling around my hips. “Regret saying I can invade your personal space?”
“Not even a little bit.” I peck his forehead and release him reluctantly to grab our backpacks and my drink bottle.
“Come on. I have questions for you, and the sooner we get home the sooner we can decide on a bath or the hard fuck you wanted.” I turn to him and find a dazed look on his face and swoop in to taste his lips.
He made the first move by kissing me. I said nothing about not pursuing him after I knew how he felt.
So I don’t feel too bad for putting that expression on his face or kissing it off him.
In fact, I’m rather pleased with myself.
Charlie was right. This is going to be fun.
“Come on, darling. It’s your choice, but the longer we stay here, the more people we’ll have to battle to get home.” I glance at the growing groups of people despite the fact it’s winter. I guess the good weather was too enticing. No one’s looking at us, but I’d prefer not to give everyone a show.
Liam takes his backpack from me and squeezes my hand quickly. “Okay, but I’m not answering anything about the new series.” He frowns playfully at me. “You’ll have to put in more work than that to get the idea out of me.”
“A little hard work never scared me.” I nudge him in the direction of home and follow him with tingling lips, a pounding heart, and hope.