Page 79 of The Love Chase

After a while, I had to put on imaginary blinders just so I’d stop thinking about him, seeing him everywhere, and enjoy the rest of the convention.

But still…it was hard not to feel like half of me was missing.

I really wanted to be there for him, to support his dreams and his music. But I had been so excited for him to come to the SCC with me. It felt like maybe we were a real couple. Finally.

And I knew that he had contracts and obligations requiring him to leave when he did, but it also felt like him backing out so easily made it seem like my dreams didn’t mean as much to him as his did to me.

Maybe they never would. Perhaps that’s why Liam and I were never meant to be together in the first place. He was married to his music career, and I wanted more than just sitting around waiting for him to come home every night. I wanted to know my husband would support me just as much as I supported him.

And I didn’t know if Liam was capable of that. Especially not when Bridget pulled his strings like a puppet.

Where that left Liam and me…I had no idea.

The three-hour convention passed quickly, and soon it was time for the closing ceremony. Yes—a weather convention had a closing ceremony just like the Olympics. It was extra nerdy, and I loved it.

Glancing at my ticket for my seat number, I made my way across the room to the chair with P2 on it, trying not to look at P1 where Liam should have been sitting. Slumping into my seat, I buried my face in the brochure that highlighted all the exhibits and keynote speakers that I had seen today. Anything to distract myself.

The lights flashed overhead, giving the five-minute warning that the closing ceremony would be starting soon.

“Is this seat taken?” a voice said next to me, and I almost snapped at the stranger, telling him to look at his ticket for where he could sit, but as I looked up, I froze.

Liam stood there, his blond hair ruffled and band T-shirt askew as if he had jogged here. His eyes shone with apology.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, breathless. Liam showing up out of the blue shouldn’t have made me feel like I had just run a marathon.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a half-smile. “This is where I’m meant to be.”

I fervently tried to ignore the jolt that went through my heart at those words and stood to face him. There were hundreds of people in the room, but he was the only one I could see.

“What about the rest of your gigs? Won’t Bridget be—”

“I don’t care about what Bridget thinks, or about the gigs. None of it means anything unless you’re there with me anyway.”

I could only blink at him. Those were words I had never imagined would come out of Liam’s mouth. Not to me anyway.

I was vaguely aware of people trying to get to their seats, but Liam’s tall frame was too broad for people to get by. I barely spared them a thought as he wound his fingers between mine and tugged me closer.

“Ever since I left two years ago, there’s always been something missing,” he admitted. “I searched and searched, ending up in a lot of places I shouldn’t have been, but could never find the missing piece.”

His thumb grazed my cheek as he cupped it with his palm.

“I was so blind for so long, never realizing that the thing I longed for was right in front of me.”

“What?” I breathed, unable to tear my gaze from his.

“It’s always been you, Emma.”

My brain stuttered to a stop. Words were suddenly impossible, and I couldn’t say anything other than, “What?”

“It’s. Always. Been. You,” he repeated, his hands skimming an inch up my arm with each word. Goosebumps erupted over my skin. My lungs were void of air.

“To put it in terms you’ll understand,” Liam continued, oblivious to my inner meltdown, “you’ve always been the sunshine to my rainy days. The sweet relief of wind on a hot, humid day. The radar to my tornado.”

A soft snort came out of me at the last one, but I quickly sobered when he stepped closer, our chests touching.

The lights went down at that moment, and a man cleared his throat into the microphone. I couldn’t help glancing around, noticing a lot of eyes fixed on us instead of the man on stage. A shaky breath escaped my lips. There wasn’t enough time for this right now.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get air into my lungs.

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