Page 104 of Bake You Mine
He eased up on the gas as they approached a traffic jam. Roadwork at one a.m. wasn’t rare in DC.
“I never said I was leaving for sure. That’s why I wanted you here. Your opinion is valuable to me.”
She leaned forward to grab his arm. “Can you give me just a few days to get my head right? I don’t want to make any drastic decisions right now. But my anxiety is on eleven. I have a track record of doing stupid shit when I’m overwhelmed.”
“Stupid shit like…”
“Stupid shit like pushing you away because I’m overwhelmed and don’t want to burden you. I promise I’ll deal with it. But that doesn’t solve how I’m feeling right now. Something has to give.”
Why did it have to be him? “This sounds an awful lot like you pushing me away, Aubs. I can help.”
“I’m not, I promise. I just…” There were those stubborn tears again. “I’ve never felt like this before, Liam. I’m freaking out over here.” She wiped her face.
The lanes were shifting to make room for the construction. The bright-orange arrow on the electric sign illuminated her face.
“And being around me makes things worse?”
Her hand trailed to his wrist. “No. Yes. I… I need to talk to my therapist about this. This is a unique situation. It’s one thing if you’d won, but you didn’t. Now you have this amazing opportunity, I have my own shit…” She gazed out the window.
She was pushing him away, but he had to make sure it wasn’t a permanent thing.
He exhaled. “Promise me you won’t vanish in the meantime?”
“I’m still two doors down. I’ll feel better after a day or two,once I’ve had time to process all this, I promise. I think it’ll be good for you, too.”
He highly doubted that. She was already distressed, and he didn’t want to argue. She wasn’t asking for much—just a few days to figure things out.
“Whatever you need, Aubs.”
She crossed the space between them and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“No matter what happens, I love you, Aubrey. I mean it.” With Aubrey, those three little words came as easily as breathing.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. She exhaled a shaky breath. “I love you, too, I promise.”
She dropped the passenger seat back and rolled away from him.
Discussion over.
Liam lay in bed, tracking the sun’s movement across his ceiling. When he’d dropped Aubrey off, she’d given him a quick kiss but hadn’t said much. He couldn’t shake his uncertainty. All he wanted was her insight into this next phase of his life.
Usually, when he couldn’t sleep, he’d sneak down to Elevation’s kitchen and let his creativity take over. He came up with some of his best recipes that way. Considering it was now early morning, that wouldn’t work.
Should he move to DC?Toss. Was the space Aubrey needed measured in miles or feet?Turn.Could he even change her mind at this point?Toss. Did he want to give up autonomy in his business? Because he would have a lot of freedom in the day-to-day, but when push came to shove, the Devour team would run the show. Toss, turn, repeat.
He threw off the covers and sat up. Teddy shot to his feet and swished to the edge of the bed.
Fuuuck, how was he supposed to get through a full day’s work with his mind as muddled as a bowl of Alphabet soup?
He reached for his phone and checked the time—four minutes after the last time he’d checked. A text came in when he set the phone down, and his heart raced.
You’re going to be on TV in five minutes!
He was not in the mood for his mother’s perkiness, and he was not about to inform her about the source of his bad mood.
Was he ready to settle for how life had been before the competition? Borderline friendly acquaintances, smiling and waving as they moved on with their days? Or the reality that they’d probably only see each other in passing? The thought gutted him. He wanted her by his side as he sorted all this out. They could be a team.
He tried to keep his energy focused. If he turned up on Aubrey’s doorstep now, it’d just be another dumbass move, proof he didn’t listen to her.
