Page 42 of The Cocky Neighbor

"I-I missed you too," I found myself saying, and I was just as surprised as he was to know that those words were the truth. The past week without seeing or talking to him made me realize how much I'd looked forward to seeing him during the day. He had become a huge part of my life in such a short time, and that thought was a bit terrifying.

The shock quickly left Liam's face as it broke into a smile. He looked confident again, like my admitting that I'd missed him was the biggest boost. He reached a hand out to cup my face, but seeing the people walk around us, he changed direction and placed his hand on my forearm.

"Can I talk to you about something important?" he asked, squeezing my arm. I had to physically stop myself from taking his strong hand in mine. Holding hands wasn't something I normally did with friends, even if Liam was a little bit more than that.

"Yeah, of course. Is this about work?" I asked. The seriousness of his tone had me thinking that something had happened, but he'd just said everything was okay, right?

"No, it's not. It's about us."

I sucked in a breath, feeling like I had a good idea where this was leading. It all made sense now. The reason why I hadn't heard a single thing from him all week. He wanted to end things between us.

It shouldn't have mattered to me since whatever was between us wasn't serious. It was just sex. So why did it suddenly feel so hard to breathe?

"Sure," I managed to squeak out. I was dreading the words he was about to say. I'd never be able to touch him again, to fall asleep in his arms. After his job was finished at the hotel, our ties would be completely severed, and I wouldn’t have a reason to see him again. That thought was depressing as fuck.

"I was thinking about our arrangement—“

"Hey, there you are," Ian interrupted before Liam could finish his sentence. Liam pulled away from me because of Ian's sudden appearance. I was never so happy to see someone in my life. He nodded at Liam, then eyed my full plate that I'd placed on the buffet table. "Let's go eat. We don't have much time before we have to do the toasts."

Thank god for that, because I wasn't ready to end things with Liam just yet. I needed time to prepare my heart. "Sorry, duty calls. Talk later?" I said to Liam.

"Yeah, of course," he said, stuffing his hands back in his pants pocket. The confidence that was there earlier disappeared, and he'd now looked unsure. "I'll talk to you later," he said as he left.

"Is everything okay between you two?" Ian asked as he looked between me and where Liam had disappeared in the crowd of wedding guests.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" I asked as I grabbed my plate to head to our table.

Ian shrugged as he followed me. "Did you guys break up or something? Things looked tenser than it usually does between you two."

"No, we did not break up, because we were never together. There was nothing to break up," I said, trying to convince myself of those words as well. We weren't together, so it didn't matter if he wanted to end the fun we were having.

I pushed down the irritation that popped up from my own statement.

"Oh. We thought you two were dating," Ian casually said.

"No, we're just…just—" Then his words sank in, and I stopped walking and spun to him. "Wait, who'swe?"

"You know," Ian said, waving his hand to the table where all our friends were sitting.

"You mean to tell me all our friends think I'm dating Liam?" I asked, gaping at him.

"Are you two not?" He looked genuinely confused.

"Well, we're—we're just…" I rubbed the back of my neck and let out a huff of air. I should tell him the truth—that we weren't together and would probably never be since Liam wanted to stop being my sex friend—but the words refused to come out.

"It's okay. You don't have to explain yourselves to me or anyone else. Not all relationships need to be defined," Ian said, taking pity on me as he patted my arm. He resumed walking to our table, leaving me there in thought.

I'd shied away from relationships because I learned they only turned the people in the relationship bitter, into people who knew nothing but hate for the other. Growing up, I'd watched it happen to my parents, and I didn't want to become that person. So I stayed away, telling myself that all I needed was casual hookups.

I never wanted to be in a relationship, but now with the possibility of Liam ending things for good, a deep regret settled in my stomach. It was for the loss of something that I'd never had to begin with.

Hours later, when the eating portion of the night was mostly done, everyone started to party. I’d been running around with the grooms’ party all day so I hadn’t been able to get away to talk to Liam again.

I'd seen him around, talking and laughing with others. He looked like he was enjoying himself and was not thinking about me at all. I couldn't say the same for myself. Liam was at the forefront of my mind the entire time, and my eyes sought him out in the crowd.

I bitterly watched as a pretty twink flirted with him and was almost all over him. Liam tried to back away, but the man was relentless and tried to drag Liam to the dance floor.

I knew I had no claim on him, but the thought of him dancing with another man had me seeing red, so I strode to him and pulled Liam out of the other man's reach.

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