Page 78 of Tide Over

He exhales, his breath warm on my skin, then presses his lips to mine. He holds me tight as I lift my hand to the side of his face and let him take everything he wants and needs. Our kiss is full of gratitude and promise, and I feel some of the tension in him ease. When he pulls back, his eyes are softer, and clearer.

“Let’s do it,” he says quietly, with a gentle nod.

We unload the steel rods and carry them into the workshop, setting them on the concrete floor. I grab some paper, and we sit side by side at the workbench, sketching out a design. And within minutes, we have a plan. But the lines on the page are more than just a table… it’s a piece of the life we’re building together.

Liam hauls out his welder as I prep the wood for the tabletop, pulling out the two-by-fours and setting up the saw. But before long, my hands slow, and I find myself just watching him.

He has two of the rods clamped, and his welder ready to go. And when he flips his shield down over his face and the torch ignites with a sharp hiss…

Fuck me.

I lean against the workbench and watch as he kneels on the floor, sparks flying as his torch glides across the steel. The muscles in his forearms flex as he holds steady, welding the two pieces together, flawlessly and effortlessly.

When the torch clicks off and he lifts his shield to inspect his work, I’m still staring at him.

He glances up at me and all I can do is shake my head.

“Fuck,” I mutter.

His brow furrows slightly and I just scoff.

“Like you don’t know you’re hot,” I say.

A smirk flickers across his face, and he lifts one eyebrow as I step around the workbench. I lean down and press a firm kiss to his lips, lingering just long enough to feel the heat from the torch on his skin.

When I release him, he chuckles lightly, giving me a playful shove backwards. “Get to work.”

I chuckle as well, returning to the workbench and forcing myself to focus on making the top of this table. I finally tear my eyes off him long enough to cut the boards and run them through the planer and sander. Once they’re smooth, I arrange them in a herringbone pattern and glue them onto a plywood base. We fall into a comfortable silence as we work side by side, the hum of our machines filling the space. And it feels good.

By the time I have the boards clamped to let the glue dry, Liam’s finished welding the base.

“I just need to let this set before I can cut it down,” I say, wiping my hands on a rag.

Liam removes his shield, hanging it on the welder before coming over to run his hand over the tabletop. “It looks great.”

I watch him for a moment, sensing the shift in him already. A quiet ease is pushing out the tension in his body, and the heaviness from earlier is starting to fade.

And I want to keep that going.

“Beer?” I ask, nodding towards the house.

He nods, his gaze meeting mine. “Yeah.”

We shut everything down in the workshop and head inside the house. But when I open the fridge, I groan.

“Dammit,” I sigh looking at the nearly empty shelves in the fridge. “I forgot we’re out.”

Liam shrugs as I turn to him, leaning against the counter. “We could go out.”

I hesitate for a moment as I stare back at him, surprised he would suggest that. “You want to?”

He exhales, running a hand through his hair as he glances around the kitchen. “Honestly… yeah. I think I need to get out of the house for a bit.”

I nod, letting my gaze linger on him. It’s been a hard couple days for him, and I don’t blame him for needing a change of scenery.

“Ok,” I say, closing the fridge door. “Let’s go.”

After we change and clean up, Liam fills Miss Bobber’s food dish before we head out. I drive us to the pub so we don’t have to walk home in the dark, and as we get out of the truck I take in the view of the sky, painted with the soft hues of dusk. The fading light reflects across the surface, giving the whole scene a peaceful glow as a soft breeze rustles my hair.

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