Page 9 of Addicted

There were a few seconds of stony silence.

“I’m allowed to check up on you, Liam. You’re my only nephew.”

He sighed, not really believing her. “I’m fine, Aunt Diane.”

“Are you seeing anyone? Do you go out with friends?”

Liam winced. She was all accusations and no concern.

“I’m going out tomorrow night with people from work.” Another lie. Marci would probably invite him to Bar None again and he would definitely refuse but his aunt didn’t have to know that.

“If you say so.” He could almost hear her eyebrow raise. “Liam. It’s been three years. Please tell me you’ve gone through the boxes from the house by now.”

He tried not to throw the phone against the wall.

“Aunt Diane, I have to go, it’s been a long day.” He stared at the boxes across the room again and vowed to close them up, put them right back where they’d been, and give another point to spite. Grief was the only thing he had now and he would stand proudly by it.

“Fine,” she said tightly. “We’ll be finishing up our travels in a couple of months and we want to see you.”

“You…want to see me?” Liam made a face. He hadn’t seen them since he’d moved out of the house and he was more than happy with that.

“Laurence said that his office received a letter concerning an account that your mother had. One we weren’t aware of when we settled the estate. Has anyone contacted you about it?”

“No,” Liam’s brow furrowed. He thought he was done with all that stuff.

“They might not have your new address. And the account was in her maiden name so it took them far too long to realize what had happened and reach out to him, as the executor.”

“How much is in it?” Liam didn’t want to let any kind of hope sink in; however, he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be enough to bolster his meager savings.

“Not a lot. But to get it they need you and Laurence to sign the papers, which we’ll do during our visit, okay?”

Liam thought of many different adjectives for not okay. “Sure.”

“Great. I have to go, we’re heading out to dinner. Apparently this restaurant has three Michelin stars! I’ll be in touch with a date soon.”

“Bye,” Liam said half-heartedly, ending the call.

For a few minutes, he just stared down at his phone, too angry to think. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. His parents had been good decent people whose lives were cut too short, and his had been severed right alongside theirs. While his aunt got to travel and live off her rich boyfriend, Liam had to survive in a dingy apartment with a dismal life that he never wanted. She was correct, heshouldbe in college getting a degree and making new friends, but he should be doing that with two living parents.

He knew it wasn’t right to be jealous and that he should appreciate that she was the only family he had but he couldn’t help himself. Envy painted the walls of his grief and he sunk back into the blankets, wrapping them around himself, wondering if he’d ever feel happy again or if the emptiness would grow wide enough to crack through his skin, dissolving him into nothing.

It had been a poor idea to go to Bar None. Even though Liam wanted to spite his aunt, when Marci approached at the end of the day and asked yet again if he would join everyone at their usual watering hole, he’d surprised them both by agreeing to come along.

But it wasn’t in an attempt to make friends, he just couldn’t go back to his apartment and stare at the walls, and he certainly didn’t want to put the boxes away - that was the easiest ticket to becoming a ball of sorrow on the floor. Also, for some strange reason, he didn’t feel like being alone tonight but a loud crowded bar was not what he needed.

Once the group embarrassingly toasted the fact that he’d made an appearance it was the same as the last time he’d tried to be social. He nodded along politely as he listened to conversations, struggling to smile where appropriate but feeling removed, like he was one step away, the whole ordeal making him more depressed than he was before.

He managed to make it an hour before he wanted to cry and he was wondering if he could slip away unnoticed when Marci slung an arm over his shoulders, yelling into his ear.

“I’m soooo glad you’re here tonight! Are you having fun?” Her ponytail was askew and she was slurring a little.

Liam nodded, not wanting to shout over the noise, and attempted another weak smile.

Tilting her chin behind Liam, toward the bar, she smirked.

“The barback hasn’t stopped looking at you all night.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Liam met eyes with the reedy guy stacking glasses behind the bar. He was attractive, with huge brown eyes, buzzed hair, and well-cut wiry arms, but the shifty demeanor coming off him raised Liam’s hackles. He turned back to Marci, who arched an eyebrow at him.

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