Page 23 of All That She Needs

"Nothing much, really. He barged into my office, demanded to see me. He said: Asha needs you. Bring something sweet."

"That's it?"

"That's it. And oh, yes. He said if I told you he asked me to do this, he'd kill me. Then he made me swear on it."

"And you came right away?" My voice softened. I was touched. I couldn't help it.

"Technically, I went down to buy this ice cream first, but yes. Of course, I'd come right away, Asha. I was worried."

"I'm fine." I was getting tired of saying it already.

"Your face says otherwise."

My hands instinctively touched my cheeks. "Really?"

"Yes," he replied, his tone unwavering. "I can tell something's wrong."

"I'm fi—"

He cut me off quickly. "You're not." He leaned forward across the desk, his chin hovering over the ice cream tub. "I'm a good listener, you know. And I've been told I'm a pretty decent misery bucket."

I let out a small laugh. "Misery bucket?"

"Yeah. The one people like to pour all their misery into."

I shook my head slowly, a faint smile tugging at my lips. "I prefer to silently wallow in my misery. It's my thing."

"Sometimes," he said, his voice softening, "we need someone to talk to. Someone we can unload everything onto. It's how we keep ourselves sane."

I didn't reply and went back to scooping the ice cream, slowly licking the spoon clean. Liam, being the attentiveand perceptive person he was, knew I couldn't be pushed. "Whenever you're ready, Asha. I'll be here for you."

My eyes lifted to him as I straightened up to face him fully. "Why are you so nice to me?"

"Why can't I?" He asked me back.

"Are you like this with everyone else?" I asked. I didn't know Liam well enough to see him with others often, but I had noticed how attentive he was with Dennis. And Theo, though Keith worried over Theo more, constantly fussing over him like he was five, afraid he'd clumsily hurt himself. Liam was a nice guy, but I had a feeling he was nicer to me than anyone else.

"Probably. I've never given it much thought."

"Liam," I sighed. "You're confusing me."

"How am I confusing you?" He looked genuinely puzzled, more confused than I was.

"You cook for me every day."

He looked hurt. "Don't you enjoy it?"

"I do. I enjoy it very much. But I don't understand why you do it."

"I enjoy having lunch with you. I like your company."

"I do too. But we could order takeout, you know. You don't need to go through all that trouble for me."

"But I want to. I love seeing how much you enjoy what I cook." His tone turned sheepish as he smiled softly. I felt a sudden urge to slip a finger into that adorable dimple, which, I must say, totally contradicted the whole tattooed badass vibe he had going on. "I love how it makes you happy."

That was exactly how he confused me. I tried another approach to get him to give me straight answers—Dennis's way.Blunt, no filters. "Dennis mentioned something today about the way you looked at me."

Liam palpably tensed. "And?"

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