Page 28 of Sugarlips
The corners of my mouth twitched, and I tried to give him a smile. “It’s okay. I know it’s been a hard week.”
Mom cleared her throat, and her eyes flicked to the hallway where Chloe was still standing. “You have another apology.”
“I’m sorry, Chloe,” Neil called to her and she slowly came back into the kitchen. “I mean, I do think you should probably consult with your partner before making big decisions like buying the truck. But I shouldn’t have said that other stuff.”
Just as quickly as her fury came on… it was gone. The scowl was replaced with an ear to ear grin that crinkled the bridge of her nose in the smallest, cutest way, and she launched herself at Neil, hugging him around the neck. “Apology accepted.”
I wondered if both Dyker sisters were that quick to forgive… and something told me Neil was wondering the same thing.
9
Liam
After dinner, Addy bolted, heading to her bar to work a late shift. And Finn went home to go to sleep since he was helping us tomorrow at the bakery, taking Mom home on his way. That left Neil, Chloe, and me, doing dishes and tidying up after the dinner.
“You seriously don’t have a dishwasher?” Chloe asked.
I tugged on the stainless-steel door, showing her the dishwasher that hadn’t been working for four months. “Ihavea dishwasher. It’s just broken.”
I left out the fact that I tried to fix it myself and increased the problem tenfold. What would have been a couple hundred dollars to fix turned into me needing to get a whole new dishwasher after I took my wrench to the damn thing. “Now it’s fancy storage for my pots and pans until I can replace it.”
“They have sales on appliances, like, every couple of months at—”
She didn’t get to finish her thought and instead, as she turned to face me, the wet wine glass slipped from her hand and shattered in the sink. “Shit!” she cried out, and I came rushing over from where I was folding the tablecloth.
“You okay?”
She clicked her tongue and examined her fingers. “Yeah… yeah I think so. Crap, I’m sorry.”
I waved away her concern. “They’re like $3 from Target. You didn’t get cut, did you?”
I took her hand in mine, turning it over, looking for any blood. She pointed to her chipped pinky nail and sighed. “I’m fine, Liam. Unless you count a broken nail as an emergency.”
I grinned and tried not to focus on how soft her skin was as I released my hold on her hand. “A broken nail? Maybe I could call the ambulance?”
She grinned, but quickly shrugged, pretending to be hurt. “I am a single woman now. And I’ve heard EMT guys can be pretty cute.”
Despite my chuckle, my heart bottomed out into my stomach. Chloe was single. Which means, if she and I were only friends, I’d have to watch as she started dating again. That fact hadn’t quite sunk in yet.
I took a step back. “Neil and I have this covered. Why don’t you head home?”
She blinked, seemingly surprised. “Oh. Yeah… sure. My sister’s probably waiting for me, anyway.”
At the mention of her sister, I felt Neil’s awareness of us like an electric charge over my skin. “I’m glad you stayed for dinner though.”
“Me too,” she said, grabbing her purse. Then, with a light nudge of her elbow, she leaned into me. “Even if you didn’t want me staying initially.”
“What? I didn’t say that—”
She rolled her eyes and draped her sweater over her forearm. “Oh, please. The Evans familyreallyneeds to learn to talk quieter.” She hitched her thumb over her shoulder down the hall. “Can I use your restroom before I go?”
I nodded and she made her way down the hall. Neil’s palm pressed against my back, nudging me after her. “Go walk her out,” he whispered.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Not you, too. I’ve already got Mom playing matchmaker. And I’m not going to date your ex-girlfriend’s little sister.”
“Jesus, dude. I’m just saying you should walk her to her car. You don’t have to shove your tongue down her throat.”
I gave him a look and shook my head, drying one of the wet plates with a towel. “You’re really not upset by our… friendship?”
