Page 86 of The Reno
“I don’t care about people.”
“I do—” I said quickly. Too quickly. “I want to be able to come back to visit. Lydia and my aunt and uncle. I don’t want to burn bridges here.” I bit my lip. “So if you think this will make that impossible—”
Liam pulled me into him, my face pressed into his hard chest. His arms came around me, warm and heavy.
“You’re always going to be welcome here, no matter what. It doesn’t matter about me. This is your home, too.”
“Thanks,” I murmured into his chest, squished.
Liam let me go and tucked my hair behind my ear.
“But even if it wasn’t about that, Liam”—I winced—“I don’t do long-term. So keeping this casual—”
“I get it,” Liam interrupted, his lips pressed together. His eyes burned with intensity.
“Pinkie swear?” I raised my eyes to his.
He raised a dark eyebrow. “This again.” Liam’s pinkie wrapped around mine. “I’d pinkie swear my life away to you, apparently.”
TWENTY-FIVE
“Are you my dad’s girlfriend?” Abigail asked as she slurped her cereal at Liam’s kitchen island, her black Adidas trainers swinging from the barstool.
I sputtered into my coffee, dread settling in my stomach. What the hell was I supposed to say to that? No, Abigail, but your dad and I have a no-strings-attached relationship where he blows my back out and cooks me dinner.
“It’s fine if you are,” Abigail said, smiling. “Mum has a finance.”
“A fiancée?”
“Yeah, that one. Kirsty is really cool. She climbs rocks, and she’s a woman. Some people at school think that’s weird, but I tell them what Dad told me to say.” She puffed out her chest. “Fuck off.”
I gave a stuttered laugh. “Your dad told you to tell other kids to fuck off.”
Abigail nodded, her dark hair the exact colour of Liam’s moving around her shoulders. “Yep. Dad says they are bigamists.”
“Bigots.”
“Exactly.” She nodded solemnly. She shifted in her seat, impatient. “So, are you his girlfriend? Because if you are, I need to invite you to my next football match. We’re playing Heath Prep. They think they are so much better than us.” Abigail rolled her eyes. “Snobs.”
I swear, this girl was ten going on twenty-five.
“Abs, are you ready to go?” Liam strode into the kitchen, his eyes flickered down my blue jeans and jumper, warming his dark irises. I was relieved to see him, not only because he was wearing a fitted green T-shirt that showed the outline of the chest I had yet to see naked but also so that I could yeet myself out of this conversation about girlfriends.
“Yep. I was just asking Kat if she would come to my football match because now she is your girlfriend, and you know Kirsty always comes too—”
Liam winced. “Abs—”
“I’ll come,” I said, my mouth moving faster than my brain.
“Are you sure?” Liam asked. His eyes widened as if to say,You don’t have to.
I turned to Abigail, her face bright and beaming. Who the hell could turn that face down?
“Are you going to win?” I asked, giving Abi a conspiratorial grin.
Abigail grinned back. “Duh. I’m thebestgoalie. Dad taught me when I was five.”
“Then, I’ll be there.”
