His fingers continue their hypnotic movements, and I close my eyes, thinking maybe that’s it. But then, Liam clears his throat. “You don’t talk about your dad.”
I immediately tense.
“Sorry, is that a question in the no zone?”
I wrinkle my nose and glance up at him. “‘The no zone’?”
“You know. Stuff you don’t like to talk about.”
“Oh. Um. It’s not a no, I just,”—I shake my head against his chest—“don’t talk about him a lot. He married my mom when she got pregnant with me, but ended up cheating on her. He was screwing some other lady right under Mom’s nose. Even had her at the house once.” My breath stutters. “Mom doesn’t know I remember that, so please don’t say anything. She ended up kicking him out and they divorced. I was about four when that all went down.”
“Shit. That’s awful.” He tightens his arm around me, kissing my forehead. “I think I understand the parking lot panic episode a lot better, though.”
“Yep. I was freaking. I’d never have forgiven myself if I was party to something like that. I’ve often wondered if the woman my dad was with understood she was breaking up a family. If she even cared.”
Liam doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, and I can’t help but fill the silence. “Sorry. I suck at pillow talk.”
He rasps, “Don’t be silly. Pillow talk isn’t necessarily about all the sweet stuff. To me, it’s about the connection created, especially when you share things with someone that no one else knows.”
“Very wise, Liam.”
“I do have a few years on you.”
My fingers trace the ripples of his muscular abdomen. “I wouldn’t have known it based on your stamina. You’re doing just fine.”
Laughter erupts from his lips as he rolls toward me, then kisses me soundly on the lips. “I can’t help it. I have to keep up with this amazing woman who wandered into my cider mill and turned my life upside down.”
I catch the side of my lip between my teeth. “I guess that’s the truth, huh?”
“It is.” He kisses me senseless.
I wake up sometime in the early hours of the morning in a strange bed with a warm body wrapped around mine. My lips tip into a soft smile. Liam makes me feel good. Like he wants to take care of me as much as I want to take care of him. That’s not something I’ve found in past relationships. Maybe the ability to be there for someone else comes with age and experience for a man?
Or maybe it’s just who Liam is.
I’m still not quite sure why Becky and Liam didn’t work out, but I don’t want to question it, as I wouldn’t be lying here in his bed, otherwise.
I reach for my phone, which I’d managed to grab in between rounds two and three when we’d stopped touching each other long enough to go to the kitchen for water and a snack. Opening my texts, I pull up the group text we’ve had going since way back in December. Sometimes I scroll back through it just because my friends make me laugh so hard. They don’t disappoint this time, either.
Hadleigh: Lover girl! How was the big date?
Sophia: Had, you crack me up.
Sophia: But yeah, Q. How was it?
Piper: I bet she’s busy. After all, it’s not like they hadn’t DTD already …
Zoey: DTD?
Madison: Done the deed.
Zoey: Oh!
There’d been a slight pause in conversation according to the timestamps before they’d resumed with fervor.
Hadleigh: Oh, right. You’re waiting for me.
Hadleigh: It’s not as if he hadn’t already put his P in her V.