Page 45 of Tide Over

“And you’ve never explored these feelings with another guy before?” he asks.

“You’re the first…” I say, hesitantly shifting my eyes to meet his again. But the softness in his eyes immediately puts me at ease.“I don’t think I really knew, or understood, what all those confusing thoughts and feelings were,” I continue. “And when they started to make a bit more sense, the fear grew.”

Liam’s brows draw together as he listens, and I see the question in his eyes.

“Torrin Cove is too small,” I say with an exhale and a shake of my head. “Everyone is up in everyone’s business, and my family relies on the support from this town. I can’t fuck that up for them.”

His expression shifts, the confusion melting away as understanding settles. “Not as much choice as you’d like,” he murmurs, echoing the words from my text, when we talked about having choices in our lives.

The fire crackles softly as I stare back at him, and just nod. “Yeah.”

We both bring our attention back to the fire, the quiet settling over us once again as the heaviness of my reality hangs in the air. Until Liam breaks the silence.

“I’ve always kept people out,” he says in a quiet voice, almost hesitant.

I glance over at him, but he’s still staring into the fire, his gaze distant.

“Even in relationships… not that there have been many,” he continues, his fingers tracing the edge of his beer bottle. “I don’t know what it is, but I think it might be fear. Maybe fear of letting people really see me, opening myself up to potential hurt, or maybe because I sharedeverythingwith my family and my best friend, and I was afraid of that changing.” His jaw tightens as the firelight flickers across his face. “But then I lost them anyway.”

My heart sinks at the pain lacing his words, and the silence that follows feels even heavier.

Then he turns to look at me, a vulnerability in his gaze. “And even with the fear and hurt… I want to let you in.”

My heart thumps as I look into his eyes, and those words hit me somewhere deep. “Same.”

We stare at each other as the firelight flickers between us and an intense need inside me grows. And before I know it, I’m leaning into him and our lips meet. Every unspoken word is shared as our tongues push past our lips and hands roam, the energy between us seeming to crackle in time with the roaring fire. There’s an understanding between us that I’ve never experienced before, and I don’t think this is something I could find with just anyone. We’re both broken in our own ways, but we’re also slowly helping each other piece it all back together.

Our beer bottles clink as we set them aside, and our kiss deepens with a growing urgency, becoming something that speaks of shared fears and trust. Something neither of us fully understands yet, but that we both want to explore.

Miss Bobber scurries out from between us before she gets squished, her little paws crawling over our legs instead as we move closer and chuckle against each other’s mouths. But our lips stay locked, and hands continue to roam.

Liam slides his hand up my chest, wrapping his fingers around the back of my neck as the heat between us continues to build. I give him everything as I let my hand slide down his side, feeling the hard lines of his abs, and I find myself eager to give him even more of me. More of what I’ve been holding back on for my entire life.

Because right now with him… I finally feelfree.

Eventually, we pull back, breathless and reluctant to let go as we sink into the cushions together. He stays close as I breathe him in and listen to the rain beat against the windows and the crackles from the fire fill the room.

I close my eyes as I feel his breath on my shoulder, and an unfamiliar, yet welcome, easy feeling settles inside me. The storm may be raging outside, but inside, the chaos I’ve carried for so long has finally faded away.

And it feelsgood.

EIGHTEEN

My eyesopen to the sound of Theo’s voice, and I slowly take in the dark living room. The fire in the wood stove has burned low, reduced to a faint glow of embers, and Miss Bobber is curled up on Theo’s empty pillow beside me.

“Not this morning,” Theo says, his voice drifting in from the kitchen.

A chill settles over me as I sit up, looking around at the nest of cushions and blankets on the floor where we fell asleep. The wind and rain is still going strong, creating a gloomy atmosphere outside with the predawn light just starting to peek through the darkness.

“Ok, see you Monday,” Theo murmurs, lowering his phone from his ear. I can just make out his silhouette, shadowed and blurred by the darkness. But I can read the frustration on him.

He looks up and catches my gaze.

“Sorry,” he says, setting his phone on the counter and rubbing a hand over his face.

“No work?” I ask, pushing to my feet to grab a log for the fire.

He shakes his head. “No,” he says, voice tight and sounding frustrated as he walks back into the living room.

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