Page 16 of Liam

"We've known each other for a while." Liam furrowed his brow at me. "It's a tumultuous association." He stabbed one of the cherry tomatoes on the edge of his plate. "Do you want to come to the house and see the kids? I know they haven't been coming to the centre as much."

Guess we're not talking about Charlie.

There was one problem with going to Noah's. I'd been there before. There were four stairs leading to their front door. And the backdoor wasn't wheelchair accessible at all. I could get up and down a few steps with my wheelchair if there was a sturdy railing, but they didn't have one.

When I visited, Brody had hauled me up the stairs. I didn't want to have Liam do that for me. I felt too self-conscious around him. He hadn't given me any indication that hesawmy wheelchair but fighting my wheelchair into Noah's house would break what might be an illusion.

"Maybe some other time. I have to get back to the centre. I have paperwork to do."

Liam sighed and nodded, making me wonder where his head was at. This was simply two friends spending a few hours together. Why had Liam wanted to extend our day?

My mind formulated all sorts of scenarios.

Most involved kissing Liam's full pouty lips.

I wasn't hungry after the large meal I'd eaten at lunch with Liam. Because my grandparents were out for their weekly dinner at my aunt's, tonight was Taco Tuesday. Not my favourite dish. Pretty much impossible to separate food items and eat them one at a time. It would be kind of missing the point to avoid piling the soft taco shells full of fillings.

I picked and chose which foods I didn't mind touching and put together one taco.

"Are you not hungry?" my mom asked.

"I had a large lunch, Mamma. I had pasta after going to the museum with a friend."

"Which friend?" Zahir, my cousin, asked.

"A new friend."

Meera straightened in her chair. "Liam?"

My cheeks heated. I still couldn't believe what a good time we'd had today. Like a cliché, we had absolutely clicked. "Yes, I went with Liam. We had a fun day."

"How much fun?" Meera teased.

I glared at her. "He's obsessed with the museum as much as I am."

"I find that hard to believe," my dad said, smiling.

"Thanks a lot, Pappa. We're not the only two out there who are."

"Did you bore him with your fact obsession?" This question was posed by Meera's husband, David. He and Meera had been high school sweethearts. I'd known him for as long as she had.

"He didn't mind," I answered. "He found what I had to say interesting."

Meera laughed. "Then he's a saint."

"Why don't you invite him over for dinner sometime?" Mamma suggested.

Maybe.

"I'll think about it."

"What does this Liam do for a living?" Pappa asked, which didn't surprise me. He was obsessed with what people did for work.

"He's a bartender at Noah's pub." My family knew Noah well. He'd been over to dinner many times during the years I'd known him. Now Brody had been welcomed into our home. I loved my family. They were naturally warm and inviting and accepted everyone.

"Does he work days or nights?" Pappa continued.

"He works at night, but he's also the bar manager."

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