Page 59 of Exes and Big Os

He was. But the game was over.

20

Liam

“Bro, you need to shower.” Sam shoved a cup of coffee in his face as he lay on the sofa.

Three weeks had passed. His brave face at the wedding had slipped into a permanent scowl and hadn’t left since.

“I showered…” He glanced at his phone. “Six days ago?” That couldn’t be right.

“Yes, six. Six long and smelly days.”

Showering stood as the least of his worries.

“Sam, sit.”

His brother’s usual high-energy, low-filter self grated on his nerves. “Have you had any contact with Meg?”

“No. I tried, but after she sent me a picture of just her middle finger, I figured patching things up was a done deal.”

“No coming back from the dead for you.”

Sam chuckled. “That’s not really funny, but you’re right.”

“I can’t stop thinking about her.”

“Meg?”

Liam pulled a pillow from behind him and flung it at him. “No, you dumbass. Callie.”

How was he going to ever make amends for what he’d done? Could he?

“You have her number?” Sam ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah.”

“You tried to contact her?”

“Yeah.” Several times. By numerous methods, but it was like she was now a ghost.

“And?”

“I think she blocked me like I’m a stalker.”

“I don’t think Callie would do that.” Sam set his coffee mug on the table. “You really like her right?”

“I love…” The word stuck in his throat like a piece of hard bread. “I was going to talk to Dad about selling the firm to Trent.”

“You trust him after what he did?”

“Here’s the deal, Sam.” Liam sat up, and his head pounded. He’d had very little to eat and even less to drink in the last forty-eight hours. “I don’t like what Trent did, but I understand why he did it. His wife-to-be wanted her brother back here, and he wanted to make her happy. I was the one who perpetuated the lie. I could have ended it, but I didn’t. Selfishly, I wanted you home, too, not to say that Callie wouldn’t have finished the job, but I was afraid she would’ve looked differently at me, and I selfishly continued the lie to make Brittney happy and part of it was because I wanted you back, too. I missed you. I blame Trent for starting this, but I blame myself for not giving Callie the truth and letting her decide if I was worth it or not.”

Liam cleared his throat. “I’ve always been afraid to take a leap of faith with a woman because of how Dad treated Mom, and when I had the chance, I wasn’t honest. Hell, I’ve been living in a bubble. Same shit, different day. I’m thirty-five fucking years old, and that was the first time I’d been out of the country since Mom’s death. I followed in Dad’s footsteps. I’m tired of having my life planned out for me, working myself to death, and not appreciating life for what it is.”

“Wow. You’ve been doing more than watching Jerry Springer this week.” Sam glanced at his phone. “What about the cheating thing? Can you trust Trent?”

“Trent didn’t cheat on Britt, as far as I can tell. He bought a new house as a surprise, and the woman he got into the car with was the decorator for the baby’s room. They were going to the store to pick out stuff.”

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