Page 28 of Liam

"No worries." He focused his attention on her. "It's nice to meet you."

"Please call me Laila."

I motioned to the head of the table. "My dad, Harsha."

My pappa opened his arms. "Welcome, Liam."

Liam nodded to him. "Thank you for having me."

"And this is my sister, Meera, her husband, David, and their son, Marcus."

"Nice to finally meet you," Meera said, causing me to glower at her. Yes, she'd been hearing about Liam for what might embarrassingly have been years. I wish she'd kept her mouth shut.

"Thanks. I think." Liam tipped his head and looked at me.

"Ignore her." I grabbed my cousin's arm. "This is my cousin, Zahir."

Zahir shook Liam's hand. "Welcome."

My grandparents wandered into the room and took their seats. "Liam this is Dadi, my grandma, and Dada, my grandpa. You can call them by those names if you'd like."

"Yes," Dadi said. "More chance of us answering if you do."

Liam smiled, laughing softly. "I will. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"Well, that's everyone." I rolled into my place. "Have a seat." Liam sat beside me, only bumping into my wheelchair once before settling.

"Guests first," Mamma said and lifted the bowl of rice toward Liam.

I knew it wasn't something Liam would normally eat but he loaded one-third of his plate with the carb. Mamma directed him to scoop from the bowls sitting in the middle of the tablenext. He placed some butter chicken on his plate, a small helping of saag paneer, and a roti.

Once he had served himself, the rest of us set in. I peered over at Liam's plate a few times. He was separating the chicken away from the sauce into its own little pile.

I did the same.

Liam bumped his shoulder against mine, pushing me a little as he looked at my plate, acknowledging the comradery we'd found with each other. The brief physical contact made my blood race around my circulatory system at record speed. His aroma of coconut surrounded me.

I wanted him to lean against me again.

"Did you know a coconut is not actually a nut? It's a stone fruit. It can put down roots."

Liam coughed then chuckled.

"Where the heck did that come from?" Meera asked.

My mouth was suddenly dry. "Just a random thought."

And there he was. Liam leaned against me again; his shoulder pressed to mine. My entire body hummed with pleasure. The rest of the table paid us no mind, occupied as they launched into chatting about the food and what everyone had been up to today.

"It's the oil I use in my hair," Liam whispered to me.

"Ah. Mystery solved." Then as if I had no control over my tongue. "I like it."

"Then I'll keep using it."

God, we were flirting. That's what this was. We weren't supposed to be doing this.

"Jamal tells us you're a bartender," Pappa said to Liam. "How do you like it?"

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