Page 99 of The Pucking Arrangement

“I’m fine.”

He leans in. “And meanwhile, my sister’s floating on a cloud. According to Sophie.”

I clench my fists. Good. She should be after that triple hat trick I pulled on her last night.

Liam watches me closely, then his voice dips into something more serious. “Galina gets here in ten days. What’s the plan then?”

I drag in a breath. “Erin can stay. The house is big enough.”

Liam barks out a laugh. “Does she know that she’s staying? And in what function, exactly? The live-in girlfriend of a guy ten years olderwith a kid?”

“Don’t lecture me about the age difference. Erin is older than Sophie, and you’re barely a few years younger than me.”

“Yeah, but you have a daughter, Dima. You’ve got a whole life built. And Erin—” He gestures vaguely. “She’s just starting. She doesn’t need?—”

“What?” My voice sharpens. “Obligations? A guy with baggage?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you meant it.”

He exhales through his nose, rubbing his temple. “I meant she’s not ready for something serious. Notthisserious.”

I press my lips together so hard my teeth ache. Because he’s not wrong.

“You think I don’t know that?” I snarl. “You think I don’t lie awake at night thinking about how fucking selfish this is?”

“Then why?—”

“Because she fits, Liam.” The words tear out of me, unexpected and brutal. “Like a lost puzzle piece. Like she was always meant to be mine. Ours.”

His face shifts—surprise, understanding, something else. “Does she know?”

“Know what?”

“How serious you are.”

I think about this morning. How she kissed me goodbye like it was nothing. Like we hadn’t spent five nights proving we were everything.

“No,” I admit. “I don’t want to scare her off.”

“Smart.” He leans back, studying me. “But you can’t keep her in the dark forever. Not if you really want her to stay.”

“I know.”

I unlock my phone again. Another Luka notification. I swear to fucking God.

“I just need time,” I grind out. “To show her we could work. That she doesn’t have to choose between her dreams and…”

“And you?”

I nod.

Liam scrubs a hand down his face. “Jesus Christ. You’re really going all in.”

“Looks that way.”

“And if she chooses pretty boy over there?”

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