Page 55 of False Confidence

“Hmm?”

“We have to look at the message. It will haunt me for the rest of the night if we don’t—I’m too nosy for this.”

Liam laughed, shaking his head and unlocking his phone before handing it over without even glancing at it. “Have at it.”

“Wow, you really don’t care, do you?”

“Not at all.”

Jasmine swiped open his messages, and her smile dimmed as she scanned the screen.

“Bad?”

“Oh, no. It’s not bad.”

She turned the phone to face him.

Hey Liam, hope you’re doing well. I’d love the chance to speak to you. Can you give me a call when you have time?

Well, that was vague. And he definitely wouldn’t be calling her. His eyes drifted up the screen and he realized why Jasmine’s smile had faded. Ah. His last message to India, sent just twenty minutes before he’d walked into their apartment and found her in bed with Bart.

Heading home early. I think I must have caught that cold your dad had at the weekend. Do you want to order from Zerroni’s tonight? Love you <3

It was like reading something a stranger had written. It was, in a way, he supposed. Liam didn’t think he would recognize himself if he looked back now. That Liam had no idea he was about to turn his life upside down. He had no clue how thoroughly broken he would be for the next six months, how hard he’d have to claw himself out of his own head. He had no idea how long he would spend blaming himself, convinced that he must have done something to make them betray him like they had.

But that Liam hadn’t met Jasmine. And present-day Liam was far happier in this moment, tucked in a restaurant booth with his arm around her than he ever had been back then.

Liam opened India’s contact page and scrolled down, hitting Block Contact.

“You’re not going to call her?” Jasmine asked.

“Nope.”

Alaugh bubbled out of Jasmine’s mouth as she read the sign.

Welcome to Chaos!

“Nice of you to bring me somewhere I’ll fit right in,” she said, bumping his hip with hers. “What exactly does chaos entail?” Her smile was infectious.

“You’ll see, darling.”

He left Jasmine by the door as he gave his name to the man at the front desk, who handed him a key and gave him a quick rundown of the room he’d booked. He dangled the key on his finger and beckoned Jasmine over. She wrapped an arm around his waist and raised a brow at the key.

“Chaos is giving kind of seedy vibes.”

The key did closely resemble an old motel key, red plastic, printed with the Chaos logo and the Room 2 in black block letters.

The man at the desk cleared his throat. “Just so you know, there are cameras in the rooms.”

This just confused Jasmine more. “Without any context, I don’t know what to make of that. Kinky or creepy?” she asked Liam as he thanked the man at the desk and tugged her down the corridor.

“Neither. Although if you’re into that, we can revisit it another time.” He couldn’t remember how exhibitionism had scored on her kink list, but he would happily show her off like the work of art she was.

“I know a place we could go for that. Shit, actually, no, I can’t tell you about that.”

Liam frowned before realizing that probably meant it was something to do with his dad and Maggie. “Jesus Christ. Burning that from my brain. Okay, this is us.”

He unlocked the door and felt around the wall for a light switch. He flicked it on and color assaulted his eyes. Paint splattered the room in every color of the rainbow and beyond. Only one spot was clear: the giant canvas hanging on the wall, waiting for them to cover it. A long table held bottles of paint, containers of glitter, bowls full of fabric and paper scraps, glue, and pompoms. There were no paint brushes, but there were plain white overalls and gloves to give the illusion that they might not be walking out of here covered in as much paint as the canvas.

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