Page 142 of Shattered Veil

“Thanks.” I swiftly changed the subject as I moved to the kitchen, “You didn’t bring coffee.”

“Hmm?”

“Your French press,” I clarified. “You didn’t bring it.”

“Oh, um…yeah, Zoey’s not up yet.” I heard him approach the island as I grabbed myself a mug and began to pour. He explained, “I’ll make it fresh. I don’t know how long she’ll be out for.”

“Very chivalrous of you,” I commended, placing the pot back on the burner. “You want a cup?”

He scrunched his nose, and I knew that due to his coffee-aficionado tendencies, a simple drip would just not do.

“Nah.”

I chuckled, “Picky,” as I took a tentative sip.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“So…what’s up?”

“You, uh…you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine, Liam—what’s up?”

Liam sighed. “Just fuckin’ jump in, I guess—you and Cas have been, ah…close.”

Right.

I ignored the nerves that swarmed my gut and set my coffee down on the counter. “We have.”

Eyes on the granite, he noted, “I mean, I thought it was just Cas being Cas…y’know, ’cause she’s a lot sometimes?”

I couldn’t help but smile as I replied, “She is.”

“And that maybe she was just…I dunno…in your business a little more?” Liam began to ramble, “And I—I mean, ya didn’t seem to mind, but then everything went down and I—” He looked at me seriously as he quietly stated, “Cassie fucking freaked, man.”

My smile faded away. Of course, I had known her feelings during the chaos because she had shared them with me. But with Cassie being so…well…choosy about which emotions she decides to show, I had assumed that her nervousness—her abundant concern—her rage that I wondered if only I had seen—was all well hidden.

“Freaked?”

“Freaked,” he repeated. “I mean, Zoey told me how she was before I got home from campus, and I don’t—and Cas doesn’t—and then we got to you, and I saw you both, and I—and then the drive back, and last night—” Liam shut his eyes for a second, hard, before opening them once more. “I’m bad at this. I just—I can see it with you two, and I—I figured it’d be best to talk about it without everyone else, so…” He exhaled heavily. “Here I am.”

There were many times over that I had contemplated speaking with Liam regarding his sister…and I had consistently waffled on exactly how I wanted to go about it. Do I dive in headfirst? Be bold and let him know that we’ve started seeing each other? Or…should I be more delicate about it? Tell him that after spending more time with her lately, we’ve just…clicked? That I like her? Which, I knew that both of those things would be massive understatements…but surely, it would be unwise to flat-out tell him that me and his only semblance of blood-related family are in it deep.

I mean…that would naturally bring up the question of, ‘Oh…so how long have you been fucking my little sister, exactly?’ and I’ve seen how Liam typically reacts to most things involving Cassie. He’s loud. Overprotective. Damn near paternal.

So…certainly, I couldn’t go about screaming my love for her from the rooftops the moment that he noted we had been close…but he wasn’t acting as he typically did regarding his sister and her personal affairs. And he also didn’t seem to be asking whether or not we were involved…he was only voicing it aloud. Willing it to be spoken of.

Rather than beat around the bush of our relationship any further, I sympathetically said, “I wanted to tell you, but there was a lot going on.”

“Puttin’ it lightly,” he mumbled.

“I…” Love her? My mind finished for me, but in the interest of not dramatically shouting my adoration for his sister into his face, I stated purposefully, “I care about her. A lot. This isn’t some…some random fling, I swear—”

“Jay, it’s you.” Liam let out a disbelieving laugh. “I didn’t think it was random or ya didn’t care. We’re good.”

I exhaled in relief. “Yeah?”

“To be fair, if I hadn’t seen how you two were yesterday, I probably would’a felt a little different.” He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. “I, ah, I’m not blind, but that was a surprise and a half.”

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