Page 76 of Wants and Needs
She asks Liam if he’d prefer a booth tonight, and I stay quiet, leaving it up to him. It does surprise me, though, when he says yes.
“Is it safe to assume this is a date?” he asks quietly when we’ve both slid onto opposite benches.
“I’m treating it as a date, yes,” I confirm.
“Okay.”
He nods once, then proceeds to chew his bottom lip in the most distracting way imaginable. I don’t think that’s his intention, though... to distract me. I think he’s debating something with himself. I don’t know if I should ask, there’s still so much I need to learn about Liam, but the prospect makes me excited. I’mnot dreading the first-date questions that would normally have me groaning.
“So does that mean we’re dating? Is this... serious for you?”
I take a moment to consider my answer, because?—
“This is all new for me.” The only way to ensure I don’t hurt Liam is to always tell him the truth. And to never betray him, of course, but that’s just common sense.
“You said you’d never been in a relationship before.” His frown isn’t particularly angry, and given his reaction to my earlier statement about checking out other men, I think this might please him.
“I haven’t, no. I have had some... arrangements,” I hedge, and Liam’s answering smirk has a stupid blush blooming on my cheeks.
“I’m thirty-six years old and not innocent by any means, Carter. You can say fuck buddies,” he says like he’s indulging me.
It’s the first moment since I’ve met Liam that I feel the seven years between us. I feel so inexperienced—it’s disconcerning.
“Right,” I say quietly, and look away as I clear my throat. “So that’s the extent of my experience with any type of romantic commitment.”
“No experience, then,” he concludes.
I only nod that time. There’s not much more I can say.
“I believe my experience won’t be helpful in this case,” he says quietly. “Dirk knew he was queer all his life, and he had a lot more experience than me when we met.”
I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek, hating every single word he just said.
“We need to stop talking about him now,” I declare.
Liam’s rightfully confused and frowns harder as he scans my face. I’m thinking of some way to explain away that reaction when he starts laughing and shaking his head at me. Then he reaches over and pats my hand.
“I think one thing we can agree on right now is that we’re exclusive?” he asks, still smiling. And though I seriously like the way it transforms his handsome face, even makes him look a few years younger, it feels like he’s indulging me again, and I’m not sure I love that.
“Yes,” I answer without hesitation. “That we can agree on.”
“Good, so let’s just enjoy dinner and we’ll figure out everything later.”
“When you say figure out...” I trail off, not wanting to insult him in any way, but I’m not sure what I’m ready for.
I’m loving the hand-holding and kissing—it was amazing—but thinking about doing anything else, while exciting, is daunting.
“Research,” Liam says, surprising me with an even more blinding smile. Looks like he’s really liking that idea.
This time I’m the one laughing.
“I forgot for a second there how big a nerd you are.” My words are soft, and before he can ask, I explain further. “And I mean that in the best way. I like how smart you are.”
And the blush that appears slowly on his cheeks as he looks away?
Ilovethat.
“I don’t know what to say to that,” he mumbles, making me chuckle again.
