Page 84 of Tell Me It’s Right

I grab for it, but instead of holding it out of reach like I’m expecting, he hands it over without a fight. The look on his face is almost…thoughtful.

“What is it about these books that you like so much?”

“Is that a trick question?” I mumble as I tuck it beside my bag at my feet. I’m well aware of how much other people see it as a cliché. Yet another girl in love with love.

“No trick.”

“I don’t know, I just…” I lean back and push my hair behind my ears. “I feel like there’s a lot of hate in the world, so I like anything that shows the best sides of humanity. And I think love brings out the best in people. And the characters in romance books…I don’t know. I guess I like that they’re willing to fight for it. To put everything out there, make these insane grand gestures—they act like love is the most important thing in the world. And I feel like we’ve lost that a lot in real life.”

I clamp my lips together before I can say anything else embarrassing.

“A hopeless romantic, huh,” he says.

“You think it’s dumb.”

“No.” I chance a sideways glance at Liam. He’s not smirking, not grinning. Just smiling as he starts the car. “I don’t.”

Chapter Thirty-One

GRACIE

The shop is so busy for the rest of the week that even with an artist working at every station, for the first time since I started working here, Liam has to turn people away. Undeterred, most of the ones who came in for walk-ins end up making an appointment for later. By Wednesday, he asks me to stop posting on socials in the hopes it’ll slow momentum down.

It does no such thing.

He opens early, closes late, and I’m not entirely convinced he hasn’t been sleeping in one of the chairs overnight.

“Okay, enough. No more.”

I flip the sign in the window to Closed as a group of four girls who look like they might still be in high school reach the front door.

“Please! We just want something small!” calls the blonde at the front.

“We’re closed.” I turn the lock for emphasis. “Try again tomorrow. Or call and make an appointment.”

The girls all groan and pout, but mercifully, they leave.

When I turn around, I find Liam perched on the end of the front desk with a bemused smile. The rest of the shop is quietand dark, since his other artists left an hour and a half ago when we wereactuallysupposed to close.

“Don’t smirk at me,” I say as I head to the back to collect my things.

“You’re cute when you take charge.” He grabs my hand before I can pass and pulls me to a stop in front of him.

I fight against my stupid traitorous lips as they attempt a smile. I poke him in the chest instead. “You need to learn to say no. And take a day off. When’s the last time you slept?”

“You worried about me, Gracie?”

As a matter of fact, I am, but I’m not going to tell him that. He can’t keep up with this pace for long.

His eyes flit between mine. “What are you doing tonight?”

I glance at the book peeking out of the top of my bag. I might not be the one tattooing, but I’ve spent just as many hours in this shop with him this week, and by the time I make it home at night, I’m too exhausted to do much else but zone out in front of the TV with Leo or head straight to bed. My poor book hasn’t been touched in far too long, and I’ve been missing out on the prime summer days. My need to be near the ocean is starting to feel like I’m in withdrawal. Seeing it from a distance on my ride home isn’t cutting it. “I thought I’d read on the beach.”

It occurs to me he’s still holding my hand, and like he’s just realizing it too, he threads his fingers through mine and squeezes. “Want some company?”

I mock gasp. “You mean you’re actually going to take abreak?”

His smile turns a little sheepish. “I was gonna bring my sketchbook and work on some designs.”

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