Page 39 of Something Forever

He scoffs, avoiding my eyes. “Finish your spaghetti.” He points to the nearly clean plate in front of me.

“Did you just pull trig?”

“Did I what?”

“Pull trig. Vom. Throw up. Are you sick?”

He throws his head back, laughing like I told the world’s greatest joke. “I did not throw up, but thank you for your concern. In fact, we should get another shot.”

“Please, no.” I shake my head and lift the bottle of wine sitting between us. “We still have this.”

We both finish eating, polishing off the bottle of wine. They clear our plates, and I’m studying the dessert menu when I hear it. My nightmare scenario unfolding. At first, it’s in the distance, far enough away that I can briefly entertain the idea that it doesn’t concern me. Then, it’s right next to me, and I’m no longer able to kid myself. My cheeks flame red, and I try to school my expression into one of grateful excitement.

“Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Whitney!”

Liam’s voice is loudest of all. He’s bellowing the notes like he’s a classically trained opera singer, grinning at me with that wicked gleam in his eye, like he knows how much I hate this. I throw him daggers, trying to smile at the staff while silently communicating how much I hate him.

“Happy birthday to you!”

The staff disperse, everyone in the restaurant clapping and staring at us with wide smiles. I manage to maintain my smile as the attention draws away from us.

“Really?” I ask Liam through my teeth.

He just smiles wider. “Only the best for my wife. Come on, dig in, we don’t want to be late for part two of your birthday celebration,” he says, pointing to the tiramisu in front of me. Rolling my eyes, I hand him one of the spoons and eat my dessert, wondering what else Liam is hiding up his tattooed sleeve.

When we get back to the hotel room, we’re both sufficiently drunk. If the bottle of wine at dinner didn’t do it, the tequila shots definitely did.

“When she did that triple flip in mid-air, oh my God. That was crazy! Do you think they ever fall? What if they fell in the middle of a performance?”

Liam shushes me, chuckling lightly while he searches his wallet for the room key. He finally finds it and lets us in the room, the door shutting behind us.

The sight of our shared king bed sobers me instantly.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Liam offers, kicking his shoes off.

I shake my head. “Don’t be silly. We’ll just… stay on our sides.”

He grunts in agreement, falling onto the bed and yanking his socks off. I shuffle into the bathroom before he starts taking off any more items of clothing. Wiping my makeup off, I give myself a pep talk in the mirror.

“You are not horny. You are a cold winter’s day. You are made of ice!”

Liam knocks on the door. “Are you talking to yourself in there?”

“Uhh… no!” I turn the shower on. “I’ll be out in a minute!”

I swear I hear him chuckle as I stumble out of my clothes and get into the shower. The water’s still cold, which is probably for the best. It’ll sober me up… among other things.

Liam is already in bed when I come out in my towel. I avoid his eyes as I grab my pajamas out of my bag and shuffle back into the bathroom. Unfortunately, my “pajamas” are actually just an oversized t-shirt and tiny boy shorts.

Maybe he won’t notice?

No such luck. Liam’s eyes are on me from the second I step out of the bathroom. I bolt for my side of the bed and turn my light off, hoping to dim his view.

“What are you wearing?” he asks in a low voice.

“A Japanese Breakfast tour t-shirt. What are you wearing?” I reply sweetly.

“Let me rephrase the question. Where are your pants?”

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