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And yes, they’d reminded him of the time they’d acted as a sponsor in that long-ago marathon that Royce Railroads had held.

During that call, among being wholly pleased to make Anna’s acquaintance, they’d offered to help pay for his part of the trip. Anna had explained it was unnecessary without too much trouble, promising everything was already handled. However, as the trees behind his apple, they’d immediately offered to send him enough money to pay Avril back for the trip’s expenses. He’d worn a somewhat amused smile during that part of their chat, aware of the obvious similarities at play.

Rather than explain how things would go if he tried to do that, he simply nodded and agreed. Once the trip was over, he’d merely reveal that Avril had evaded his attempts to pay her back, then give them back their funds.

Besides that, as well as a few check-ins as the day edged nearer, his parents didn’t seem concerned about him taking this trip. He had plenty of experience with travel, and Anna had made a terrific impression on them. He’d also only had to lie once.

They knew Tess was also going on the trip; it wasn’t something he kept from them, as the story of how he and Anna had met revolved around Tess’s introduction—a relative truth, all things considered. They left Anna’s family problems out of the story, though she volunteered her mom’s contact info in casethey wanted to check in on things—and they probably did, then found nothing to worry about because Liam never heard about it. As Tess had never been anything other than a saint as a next-door neighbor, they seemed pleased that an older adult would be there. So, all was well and good.

Victoria was the only person that wasn’t brought up. He didn’t think that hearing about asecondprofessor would suddenly toll the alarm bells. Still, he just decided that he didn’t want to get into explaining how Victoria connected to Avril. It was simply easier to bring up his responsible, respectful girlfriend, her adventurous best friend and roommate, and the saintly professor that the whole neighborhood adored and leave it at that.

Thus, he had the blessing of just about every person whose opinion he felt he needed to consider. As to the individuals who would have fought bitterly in opposition, Arnold Royce, Trent Alden, and… probably ninety to ninety-five percent of the male population on Earth, they didn’t need to know about his involvement in the trip to Fiji.

So, they didn’t get to. Not before, during, or after. This washistrip. This wastheirtrip. He was going to go to Fiji with four of the most stunning women on the planet. And he was going to enjoy every riveting moment of his spring break.

Chapter Twenty-Six

One More Secret

From the moment he’d made his secretive plans at the end of winter break, he’d known it’d be challenging to keep Tess, Anna,andAvril in the dark. He’d never doubted Victoria’s clandestine abilities—she had his complete trust, in fact—but he’d realized that a months-long secret was challenging to keep from three women, all of whom he was intimate with. He couldn’t exactly keep them at arm’s length.

As it happened, with whom it happened, and with how it happened, he realized that he was kind of glad when Anna became aware of the secret.

It’d been such a simple remark too. One made by his mom just moments before they said their goodbyes to Anna when they’d been “officially” introduced.

“I hope you both have a great rest of your day,” she’d said. “And I’m glad to now know therealreason why he wants to transfer to Bellmore.”

In their affable way, with goodbyes from the pair who’d be back to trekking through beautiful vistas in Stavanger, Norway right afterward, his parents had departed. Not so for their youngest son, who found a measure of shock and surprise in his partner’s eyes.

Once he’d put down his phone, he shrugged and smiled toothlessly. “Surprise, I guess?”

“You’re transferring to Bellmore?” Anna asked in a voice so small that it could have been mistaken for a phantom breeze.

“Erm, hoping too, at least. I’ve been going through the process of figuring out if it’s viable for a little while.”

Anna just blinked, her beautiful, jade-hued eyes still wide from the news.

“So, if I get in for my sophomore year, think you’ll treat me well as my upperclassman?” he asked, hoping that shock led to excitement, not betrayal. He hadn’t meant for it to be this kind of surprise.

One second, two seconds, and three. On the third, Anna snapped back to reality, and then he witnessed one of the brightest and most beautiful smiles she’d ever displayed. That led to a long, deep embrace, during which the anxiety he’d briefly clutched ebbed out of his fingertips.

“Who else knows?” she soon asked. “Do you need any advice for the actual transferring process? How far into it are you?”

“Just Victoria. She’s been helping me get everything prepped and in order,” he said. “But yeah, any advice would be welcome. I think my chances are pretty good, so long as I knowwhatI want to major in before the application process arrives. It’s not for a little while, so there’s not a huge rush. I just need tokeep my grades good, do well on my midterms, all that normal stuff. It does help to have a professor there in my camp.”

Realizing something, Anna tilted her head slightly. “You were hoping for this surprise to last… how long? You obviously weren’t expecting this to come out as it did, were you?”

“As far as I can get it,” he admitted. “I guess Avril will have graduated by then, but I was sort of hoping I could surprise you and Tess on campus.”

“It would make for quite the surprise,” Anna said, another smile bubbling on her lips. Her excitement, so genuine and pure, was infectious. He hoped it would work similarly for the other two women, especially once they realized that it would no longer just be weekends when he could spend time with them.

“Hopefully.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” Anna said, splaying a hand on her chest.

“Just like yours was safe with me,” Liam said. That reference earned him a slightly more conspiratorial grin from Annabelle Royce. And since they were over at her place, and Avril wasn’t around, they decided to celebrate in the most appropriate way that a girlfriend and boyfriend might when the former discovered that she could count on the latter to carry her books to class for her in the upcoming fall semester.

And while Annabelle Royce had never shown up late to one of her classes, for the upcoming fall semester, that streak had suddenly become a little less safe.

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