Page 77 of Tell Me It’s Right

She glows under the praise and wiggles a little in her chair. “I added a few special ingredients this time. You’ll never believe what they were! First?—”

I stand and give Dad a closed-lip smile along with a murmured, “Restroom,” before following Liam. I don’t give myself time to hesitate or overthink—I head straight for the porch.

He’s already waiting there when I step outside, sitting on the railing as his head tilts back to take in the last of the orangey-pink sunset lingering in the sky. He doesn’t turn, but he musthear my footsteps. I stare at his back for a moment before pushing myself forward and taking a seat beside him.

“I’m sorry,” he says after a moment. “I probably should’ve given you a heads-up.”

“I should’ve assumed you’d be here.”

He’s spent more holidays with us than not for as long as I can remember.

But that was before I knew what it felt like to have his tongue in my mouth. I squeeze my hands together in my lap and swallow hard. His eyes track the movement.

“Leo said you were going out with friends.”

“I did. It just…” I trail off, not sure how to explain it. Howthatversion of today felt like what I was supposed to be doing, how I was supposed to embrace being young, but the entire day I felt like I was trying to fit into shoes that were too small for me.

“It’s never been my scene either,” he says with a shake of his head. “Look, Gracie.” He sighs, and every muscle in my body tenses for what comes next. “About the other day…” He presses his lips together and winces like he’s struggling to find the right words. “I’m sorry. I know I’m your boss, and Leo’s friend…”

I brace myself for some derivative ofit was a mistake, it won’t happen again, I don’t know what came over me, let’s just forget about it.

“And I don’t know when…why…I just—” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “All I know is the second I showed up here, I started looking for you. And now I’m sitting next to you, and I know I should go back inside, but I don’t want to get up. And not hearing from you the past few days, it’s all I’ve thought about. I think I’ve been holding back from saying anything for a while because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…”

“You do make me uncomfortable, Liam,” I whisper.

He blinks and rears his head back.

“But not…in a bad way.”

Everything falls silent. Slowly, he reaches up and cups the side of my face. His eyes hold mine as his fingers twist into my hair, and he trails his thumb down my cheek.

“In this kind of way?” he asks lowly.

I can’t speak. I can’t breathe.

I nod.

Something behind his eyes shifts, a wall coming down, and my breath hitches as his hand drifts farther back and cradles the base of my skull. He leans closer, close enough that I can smell his cologne, can see the faint freckles on his nose and the flakes of gold in his eyes.

The tip of his nose brushes mine, but he stops there, his breath washing over my cheek as he murmurs, “In this way?”

My heart is threatening to beat out of my chest. Vaguely, I register the fireworks going off in the distance.

I nod.

His lips are a whisper away, and they brush mine as he says, “In this?—?”

I close the last of the distance between us and kiss him. I don’t know what comes over me, but suddenly my desperation to feel his mouth on mine overrides everything else. Just to see, just to know if last time was a fluke. If I’m remembering it wrong. Building it up to be something more than it was.

But no. One thing is certain. Liam Brooks knows how to kiss. Not that I have much to compare it to, but there is no way,no way, anything could be better than this.

Gravity loses hold on my insides, and I’m just falling, melting, flying.

The few drunken make-out sessions I had in college were all rushed and sloppy—like I was a meal to be devoured, no matter how ugly or messy the process.

But Liam takes his time. Every movement is slow and deliberate as he gauges my reactions, but the more I relaxagainst him, the tighter he holds me, the deeper he kisses me, the more everything else ceases to exist. He kisses me like he’s giving something, not taking it.

When he pulls back, I feel dazed, stunned, like my brain is stuck trying to reboot.

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