Chapter Fifteen
Calypso
Sitting back on my hands, I watch the fire crackle. It’s been a long day.
A good day—with the exception of a few minutes.
Just long.
Having Stefan around feels heavier than it ever has before. Letters and random gifts were easy to ignore. Sometimes I wouldn’t even open the mail before throwing it out.
Now that he’s back in Amada Beach, it’s not as easy to pretend like he doesn’t exist.
It’s exactly why he moved himself and Ruby here.
I know it.
I know him.
Figuring out what his endgame is hasn’t been as easy, though. Stefan could have woken up bored one day and decided to terrorize my life for a few months without any greater reason.
My gut is telling me it is deeper than that.
Knocking his foot against mine, Liam raises his eyebrows in question. I demanded he stop asking if I was okay a few hours ago, and I know he’s struggling to honor that.
Rolling my eyes, I shake my head and push my shoulder against his. “You drive me crazy sometimes.”
“Great movie,” he retorts with a cheeky grin.
It is a classic rom-com.
“Great idea, Viv,” Lexi calls out. “We should play never have I ever.”
Looking at her, I say in a dry voice, “We’ve played that multiple times now. What else is there to guess?”
“We have a new friend.” She waves her arm in Liam’s direction. “Plus, I can always think of something original.”
“I’m down,” Liam says, looking at me with open curiosity.
I let out a breath and hold up my fingers, surrendering to my fate. They’re all going to target me.
“I’ll go first.” Vivi shimmies her shoulders in excitement. She’s drunk. “Never have I ever… had a three-way.”
Hudson is the only person who puts a finger down. It’s not surprising, since we’ve played this a hundred fucking times, but it’s news to Liam.
Side-eyeing Liam, I clock all ten of his fingers still raised. He catches me and leans closer. “I don’t share my woman.”
A blush touches my cheeks and I hope the firelight hides the evidence. When Liam says that, it feels sexy and possessive. Dominant. Things I have not sought from men in a very long time.
The respect Liam has for me as a woman, as a person, is always evident. He proved it again earlier by listening to my needs instead of his own ego. He’s greedy for his partner because of that respect, not because he views her as a commodity.
It’s getting increasingly harder to pretend my attraction for him isn’t growing stronger every minute we spend together. Sometimes, I can’t remember what the point of it was from the beginning.
“Me next,” Lexi chimes in. “Never have I ever been engaged.” She says it with a shit-eating grin. It’s one of her go-tos since it eliminates half the group.
Grady, Vivi, Knox, Lucas, and I put a finger down.
So does Liam.
So does Liam.
This time, I openly stare at him, confused.
I don’t care that he was engaged, but I want to know why he hasn’t told me—especially when Stefan has been such a nuisance in our lives.
“Mmm,” Lexi hums curiously and takes a sip of her cider. “Explain.”
“I was engaged. Now I’m not,” Liam says easily. His eyes are on me, tracking my expression. “I’m going to talk about it with Calypso before the group.”
Lexi squints, desperate to ask a hundred more questions. I almost wish she would, but I refuse to put Liam on the spot like that.
“Next,” I command with impatience and point at Knox, who is sitting next to Lexi.
He nods and takes a swig of his beer, thinking it over. “Okay, never have I ever…”
Knox throws out skinny dipping, a much safer topic and one we all put a finger down for.
Instead of ganging up on me, Lexi and Vivi use their turns to pull as much information out of Liam as possible.
The rest of the game is less surprising, though I learn some new things about Liam.
One of his tattoos is a stick-and-poke he got at a party—the dice, which surprised me—and he’s gotten his balls waxed on a dare in college. Never again, he swore.
It’s a good night.
It always is with Liam… even with the lingering questions about his ex-fiancée.
My siblings and the crowds left thirty minutes ago, a few hours after the drone show. It was way better than fireworks, which Liam felt very strongly about.
Neither of us have made a move to leave yet. The low flames and moonlight drape us in a hazy intimacy that draws me closer. His phone is connected to the small speaker nearby, and Panic! At The Disco lyrics mix with the melody of the waves, far too ironic for my liking.
The taut string tying us together is burning hot tonight; it’s only a matter of time before one of us breaks. Whether that means ending the moment and going home, or letting our attraction take the front seat for once, is to be determined.
Liam clears his throat and places his hand on the blanket behind him. “Do you want to talk about it?”
For a few seconds, I don’t move my gaze. A part of me wants to play dumb, or even flat out tell him no.
“Yeah.” My eyes cut to him. “I want to talk about it.”
He nods. “I met Hannah in college, but we started dating during my master’s program. It was one of those things…” He trails off, trying to find the right words. “We were friends who really enjoyed each other’s company and it just happened.”
I quietly wait, hoping he’ll tell me more. The moon and fire make the moment feel more intimate, like an invisible force between us and the rest of the world. Mixed with the cool, salty breeze, I find myself wanting to burrow into the comfort of his body; I slowly inch forward.
Liam continues, “I don’t want to undermine my relationship with Hannah, but I want to be honest.” Sobering a little, I lean back and nod for him to go on.
“What she and I had was comfortable, stable. It was nice and it wasn’t what I would have envisioned for myself.
There wasn’t any passion or excitement for each other—barely any intimacy. ”
“Is that what ruined the relationship?” I ask, tilting my head. He’s been extremely patient over the last month and a half, never having any expectations despite our first night together. That, most likely, won’t last forever.
He shakes his head emphatically. “We wanted different things.”
Twisting my lips to the side, I don’t say anything. That could be so many things, and I’m not sure I’m ready to find out. What if what Hannah wanted was closer to my desires? It’s easier to pretend there could be a future for us the longer we avoid those conversations.
“How long ago did you guys call it off?”
“About a year and a half ago.” He sounds emotionless while talking about it, like it’s a distant memory from childhood, not less than two years ago.
His eyes sparkle like the stars in the sky when he looks back at me. “You were the first—and last—woman I’ve been with since we ended the engagement.”
That surprises me. He’s made comments about how I was the last person he’s been with, but this new information puts him in a better light. The intimacy truly wasn’t their main issue.
A strong wind picks up and the waves grow louder, coming in faster as they crash against the shore. A shiver runs down my body and I subconsciously rub my hands down my bare legs.
“Are you cold?” Liam asks. “Do you want to leave?”
Shaking my head, I bite my lip and let my gaze rove over his body. My earlier desire to cuddle up against him comes back tenfold. As someone who has never considered physical affection one of my love languages, the sentiment is usually easy enough to ignore.
At least until Liam pushes his hand further back on the blanket and leaves more space against his side. “Come here, honey.”
I scrunch my nose, more at the butterflies in my stomach than anything else, and stretch my legs toward his. He tugs and settles them over his lap. The movement pulls my ass with it, and I almost fall backward, catching myself in time.
“I won’t bite,” he teases and shifts his other hand behind my back. “Not until you ask.”
The memory of his teeth scraping against my skin is like a phantom touch. It starts at my collarbone and scratches down to my nipple, which Liam then took into his mouth.
Focusing on trying to control my breathing, I can’t find the words to flirt back. He misinterprets my silence.
“Calypso,” he murmurs and leans closer. His mouth is only inches from me now. “Are we okay?”
“Yeah,” I breathe out. “Yeah, we’re okay.”
His fingers brush along mine before intertwining them. “I wasn’t hiding anything, not intentionally at least. I don’t know how much of my life you’re interested in.”
Biting my lip, I let his words roll over in my mind. Against better judgement, I say, “Everything—I want to know everything, Liam.”
The words fall from my lips like a dandelion caught in the breeze. There’s no pulling them back now. The declaration sits heavy in the air between us.
He nods in understanding but gives me an expectant look.
It has been years since I’ve opened myself up to someone new.
After my best friend Juniper left, and my divorce with Stefan was finalized, there wasn’t any reason to put myself in that vulnerable position again.
With Liam, I want that connection. I crave it so desperately I should be terrified, but the only thing that scares me with Liam is knowing there’s an end date to this.
In some ways it makes it easier, too. I won’t be surprised when he leaves.
To be fair, I’m not the easiest person to get along with.
I prefer my alone time more than the company of others—Liam is somehow the exception, like Juniper used to be.
I’m either too quiet or too opinionated, making it difficult for someone to ever get comfortable in my presence.
The closest people in my life are my siblings and Lexi, and I am so thankful for them.
Sometimes I just want someone who is mine again.
Even when Asher and Juniper were dating, she was his girlfriend but my best friend.
It sounds so petulant that I hate even thinking about it. It’s always there, waiting in the shadows of my psyche, ready to remind me that if I don’t push them away first, everyone will leave me in the end.