Page 76 of So Bad It Must Be Good

“So, I, um, took a few liberties with the symbols and—”

“There’s a bear.”

“Two bears. The smiling one and the, er, frowning one.”

She stared at the lovespoon with wide, unblinking eyes. “Like my figurines.”

“Well, yeah.”

She traced her hands over the outline of the spoon. He’d poured a lot of himself into the shape, into the carvings, into the meaning of it, and it meant more than he’d ever be able to articulate that she seemed to appreciate it.

“No one’s ever . . .” She shook her head, her voice cracking on the ever.

“Paid such close attention?”

She blinked up at him as if amazed by the fact he could finish that sentence, but of course he could. “I know, because it’s the same for me. No one, Kayla. I think I’ve been waiting for you, and I will never take that for granted.”

“I was really determined to break up with you, Liam,” she said, her voice squeaky and strained. Her mouth worked, her breath going in and out in little shaky bursts. “But how do you break up with the guy who gives you a lovespoon?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll make you a million more if it ups my chances of keeping you.”

She let out a little watery laugh. “I . . . I just want what’s best for both of us.”

“I do, too. I think we’re better together. Don’t you?”

This time she stepped toward him, sliding her arm around his neck and pulling him against her. “I do,” she whispered, holding him close and tight. “I really do.”

He wrapped his arms around her, held her tight, even with the spoon between them. “I never wanted to lose you, Kay.”

“I know,” she said, her words muffled in his shoulder. “And I hope you know I never needed to be more important than Aiden or your family. I just wanted to be as important.”

“You are. You absolutely are. And if you ever feel like you aren’t, you—”

“Say it. Not run away from it.” She tipped her head back and smiled at him. “Yeah, we are definitely better together.”

There was nothing truer in his life than the fact that Kayla Gallagher made it better, and he would do whatever it took to make sure that lasted a lifetime.

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