Page 28 of So Bad It Must Be Good

“You’re old hat at wearing my clothes at this point. We’ll get you a towel and some dry clothes to change into.” He stepped inside, tugging his shoes off and tossing them onto a rumpled rug in the entryway corner. There was a pair of scuffed work boots already haphazardly on top.

Kayla followed suit, pulling her shoes and socks off and placing them a little more neatly next to his.

“I’ll grab you a towel,” he offered. He crossed his darkened living room quickly, heading to the hallway she knew led to his room. She nearly squeaked when he lifted his shirt up as he rounded the corner, as though making a move to taking it off. She didn’t realize she was leaning to keep a glance of his now bared retreating back until she bumped into the wall.

She righted herself, pressed a wet, chilled hand to her hot cheek. Okay, so if she was operating under New Blossom Law, then maybe she said something about the shirtlessness. And wanting to see it. Maybe she went ahead and kissed him or said something outrageous.

Yes, she would do any or all of those things.

Except when he returned, towel and a bundle of clothes in hand, a camping lantern in the other, she could only manage an odd squeaking noise.

If he noticed, he didn’t say anything about it. He simply put the clothes and lantern down on a little end table and handed her a towel. “Here. Dry yourself off, then help yourself to the bathroom to change. Let me know if you need anything else. Do you want something hot to drink? I think I have hot chocolate mix around here somewhere.”

“You are full of surprises,” she murmured, rubbing the towel over her face and hair.

“Are you insinuating a single man in his early thirties shouldn’t have a chocolate beverage mix in his pantry?”

She couldn’t stop herself from grinning stupidly at him. “Everyone should have a chocolate beverage mix in their pantry, Liam. But few men realize it, I think,” she said as faux seriously as she could manage.

“I’ll have you know, hot chocolate can be very manly,” he returned, crossing his arms over his chest. She remembered suddenly and out of the blue watching him fix a sink in the Gallagher’s kitchen once. She’d been transfixed by his muscled, working arms.

But then Aiden had swept in and told her an outrageous joke and she’d forgotten all about Liam’s arms.

How, she wasn’t quite sure. Maybe teenage girls didn’t understand the appeal of a broad chest and strong forearms and . . .

Okay, so she had to get her head in the game. Ogling only led to embarrassing squeaking.

“Manly hot chocolate. Is that the difference between using jumbo marshmallows and miniature marshmallows?”

He made an odd noise, and it was only that which offered any hint to the way that could be misconstrued. Her face flamed hot and surely bright red, but no matter the embarrassment a giggle escaped her mouth.

Ask him if he’s a jumbo or a mini man himself,some unknown voice in her head whispered, but the thought only made her giggle more and turn what was surely an even brighter shade of red.

“I’m going to go change,” she squeaked, holding the towel somewhat over her face as she grabbed the clothes and scurried down the hall. She got to the door that she hoped she was remembering correctly as the bathroom door. She darted a look over her shoulder and Liam was standing there with the lantern in his hands, illuminating everything around him.

Watching her. Some expression on his face she still couldn’t read. Something that reminded her a little bit of years spent watching him work in her family’s restaurant. Stiff, blank, maybe a little aloof.

But when his gaze met hers, she didn’t think those blue eyes were any of those words. No, there was something warm, something . . . magnetic in his gaze.

Hot. He didn’t break it either. They stood on opposite ends of the hall, staring at each other. Kayla’s heart hammered hard against her rib cage, her pulse a noticeable thud in her throat. What would happen if she forgot about the change of clothes and just walked back down the hall. To him. What if she did all the things this more honest version of herself wanted to do?

“I’ll make that hot chocolate,” he said gruffly, and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving her in an eerie dark.

She let out a long breath and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. As she peeled off her sopping wet clothes in the dark, she tried to find the courage within herself to do something for once.

* * *

Liam didn’t know what the fuck his problem was. One minute things felt very close to easy. Friendly and joking. He relaxed around her in ways it usually took him months to relax around a person.

At least when he wasn’t looking at her. Relaxed wasn’t quite what he’d felt watching her stand in the rain, her clothes plastered to the subtle curves of her body. Easy was not the reaction his body had felt as she’d held eye contact with him down the hallway, her cheeks faintly flushed as though . . .

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Yes, he was attracted to her, and maybe she was even attracted to him, but he’d played this game enough in high school to know he didn’t want any part of it.

It seemed as though he and Aiden were always interested in the same women when they were in the same social circles. Liam wasn’t stupid. He knew where any contest ended when it came between him and his brother.

Plenty of women liked the dependable guy well enough, but when the charming, exciting guy came along, it was hard not to want to be part of all that dazzle. Liam couldn’t blame them. Aiden was like the sun, all bright and warm and engaging. People flocked to him.

Liam didn’t want to be that guy. He didn’t want to compete with Aiden, and he’d promised himself a long time ago to stop trying to be something he wasn’t. He would always be dependable, responsible Liam Patrick, not just because he had to be, but because that’s who he wanted to be.

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