Page 74 of Love and the Laws of Motion
“Tell us about your new place,” Gemma said.
Livie listened in silence as Nick described it, the square footage, the amenities, all the work he’d have to do to get the internet up to scratch, and she tried not to feel stung.She had no right to be hurt.She’d gone into this with her eyes wide open.She wasn’t allowed to be angry at him for doing exactly what she’d known he was going to do—if she hadn’t been so dickmatized she quit paying attention.
Okay, so he’d be living somewhere else.Their coding wasn’t done yet, so she’d still see him, right?Although maybe that would go back to a purely work arrangement, which might be more terrible than not seeing him at all.She couldn’t imagine being friends again after this, but wasn’t that what she’d signed on for?
Gemma went down into the basement to find a tote bag strong enough to hold her full stockpot, and Jess went upstairs to grab a change of clothes before heading to Alex’s apartment.When they were alone, Nick twisted in his chair until he was facing her, dropping his arm across the back of her chair.
“I’m not ditching you, Liv.”
Great, now he could read her mind, too.“No, I know.”
He leaned closer, tucking her hair behind her ear.“It’s a little weird, knowing your dad is sleeping down the hall while I’m doing a dozen filthy things to you in bed.”
She didn’t believe him.Once he was living somewhere else, it seemed inevitable that this—whatever it is they were doing—would eventually draw to a close.“I’m sure you’ll appreciate having your privacy again.”
Dipping his head to the side, he kissed her neck, slowly and softly.“I’ll appreciate having room to lay you out and have my way with you without worrying about disturbing the neighbors.”
Livie’s eyes slid closed as his tongue flicked out to taste her skin.“Why do you always talk like that?”
He chuckled, the vibration racing through her body, making her nipples tighten.The hand that had been on her knee slid to the inside of her thigh, stroking upward.“Because I like watching you squirm.I like making you wet.”
She sucked in a breath.
“Are you getting wet, Livie?”
“Um.I mean, yes.”How could the filthy things he said to her make her this unbelievably turned on?Even now, when sheknewhe was setting up his exit strategy, her mind was telling her no while her body was begging for him.
Another chuckle, and now she ached between her legs.“I want to feel it.”His fingertips brushed against the seam of her jeans.
She moaned softly.
“Let’s go upstairs before another family member shows up to cock block us.”
Whatever he said about it, his moving out was definitely the beginning of the end.But it wasn’t over yet, which meant she might as well enjoy every second she had left with him.She let him take her by the hand and pull her out of her chair, up the stairs, and into his room.She let herself get so lost in his arms she forgot all about the future.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“It’s great, right?”
Livie turned in a slow circle, taking in Nick’s new place in Greenpoint.It was very big.Very clean.Very white.And totally and completely empty.Just endless expanses of pristine white walls and glossy pale wood floors.
The place was in a brand-new development, and it had everything—an on-site gym, a roof deck with a pool, and sweeping views of Manhattan from most of the units’ balconies.What Nick’s unit didn’t have was a single stick of furniture.
“It’s empty,” she said, her voice echoing slightly in the sterile void.“When are you moving your stuff in?”
Nick looked around at the vast, blank space.“I don’t really have a lot of stuff.”
“But you must have some stuff.”
“My equipment, of course.”
“Nick, you have to own more than that.”
“I have clothes,” he said defensively.
“But all that stuff in your old apartment—”
“Was Poppy’s.”
