Page 2 of So Bad It Must Be Good

Her family could make her feel small, invisible, unimportant. Her friends could make her feel like a lonely robot who wasn’t allowed to have problems of her own. Aiden could make her feel like a fluttering, giggling schoolgirl.

But only Liam Patrick had ever made her feel like she was in the wrong spot, at the wrong time and it was her own fault.

She did not care for him at all. But she smiled. “Hi, Liam. I didn’t realize you were . . .” Artistic, for starters. Buying booth space at Gallagher’s newest venture either.

“It’s a hobby,” he said flatly, those ice-blue eyes such a contrast to the thick black hair on his head and the scruff on his face. He should have been handsome, but he was so severe.

Aiden smiled, and Aiden flirted, and Liam always stared at her as if she were someone to avoid like the plague.

And insisted on calling her Ms. Gallagher when he couldn’t.

“You know, I’d prefer it if you call me Kayla,” she said, surprising both men, and herself for that matter. But she was taking a stand, and if six months in she still felt lost and alone, well, she needed to do something about it, not expect the world to change to suit her.

Liam said nothing to that. Aiden grinned. Yes, some things did not change with time, but she would. She was trying.

“I’ve got to get going. I’ve got an appointment, but give me your phone number, Carrot. We’ve got years to catch up on.” Aiden pulled his phone out of his pocket.

This all felt so surreal. Being in the market she’d designed, but now had no part of, running into her teenage crush, Liam’s usual unnerving and steady stare, but Kayla rattled off her phone number and plastered a smile on her face.

“I’ll call you,” Aiden said, leaning in and brushing an overly familiar kiss across her cheek.

Kayla could only stare after him as he strode away, heat infusing her cheeks, an odd discomfort settling in her chest.

She wasn’t sure how long she stared after him before Liam cleared his throat. She was sure she was already blushing. God knew what terrible shade of red she’d turn now. She swallowed and turned to face Liam.

His expression was still blank and unreadable, and in a way that was nice. If he was being judgmental or making fun of her, he was doing it all on the inside.

She glanced down at the table again, all manner of beautiful things carved into wood. Figurines, spoons, and bowls, even rolling pins. It was a veritable treasure trove, but she kept looking back at the smiling bear.

She closed her hand over it, because it was better than looking at Liam and all his stern blankness. “I’d like to buy it,” she said with a little nod, lifting her gaze to his.

His dark eyebrows drew together, forming a deep line across his forehead. “Why?”

She blinked. “It’s cute. It made me smile.”

“It’s a child’s toy.”

This time she outright frowned at him, and though her instinct was to smooth it away and smile politely, she pushed that instinct down and kept up the frown. “Do you do this to all your customers? I don’t think you’ll have much success.”

His scowl tightened, and she’d never understand why this happened between them. Tension and discomfort and a weird prickling across her skin that she’d never felt with anyone else.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like him; though maybe he didn’t like her. She didn’t know why he’d have reason not to, but maybe some people didn’t need reasons.

“Ten dollars,” he finally said gruffly.

Eesh. It wasn’t much, but she was on a tight budget. She’d only been taking little temporary jobs since she’d left Gallagher’s, living mostly off her savings, and it was dwindling . . . hard.

But for some reason she could not back down to Liam Patrick and his It’s a child’s toy jerk face. So she scrounged around in her purse for ten bucks.

Ten.For a child’s toy.

“I also accept Visa.”

Again, Kayla’s first instinct was to smooth her own irritation away before it showed, and it was so frustrating that she couldn’t wipe that part of herself out. That she always tried to act like she was fine when she was so far from it.

She swallowed at the tightness in her throat, because maybe she was just never going to be fine.

“Look, you don’t have to—”

---