Page 61 of Don't Puck His Best Friend
My heels click against the pavement as I break into something between a walk and a jog, the sound echoing off the buildings. By the time I finally catch up to him, I’m a little breathless and completely unsure what I’m going to say.
He turns before I can touch his shoulder, eyes dark and stormy, mouth set in a hard line.
“You serious right now?” he demands, voice low but dangerous. “Showing up to the same dinner I invited you to?”
I open my mouth to respond, but he steps closer, and suddenly I can feel the heat radiating off him and smell his cologne.
“How long?” he asks.
“How long what?” I manage, though my throat feels tight.
“How long have you been seeing Cole?” His jaw ticks, and I can see the muscle jumping underneath his skin.
I swallow hard, feeling defensive and cornered.
“Do you know he’s my best friend?” Liam’s voice rises slightly, and I take an involuntary step back. “We’ve been best friends for fucking years, Harper.”
My stomach drops to approximately the center of the earth. I didn’t know. Didn’t even consider it, didn’t imagine that possibility when I was compartmentalizing my life into neat little boxes. The coincidence feels impossible, but looking at his face, I know he’s telling the truth.
My palms go clammy, a slick wave of anxiety rolling through me like nausea.
“Why are you so mad?” I snap, though my voice shakes. “It was never supposed to be serious between us. You said so yourself.”
That hits him—I can see it in the way his eyes flash, then go completely flat. Like I’ve just confirmed something he was hoping wasn’t true.
“Not to you,” he mutters. “Clearly.”
Before I can respond, footsteps approach from behind us.
“Hey—everything okay?” Maddie’s voice cuts through the tension like a knife. I hear her boots scuffing against the pavement as she rounds the corner.
I stiffen, panic shooting through me. This is the last thing I need—Maddie witnessing whatever this is between Liam and me.
Liam’s eyes stay locked on mine, but his mouth curves into that sharp, sarcastic smile. “Oh yeah. Just catching up with an old friend.”
Maddie’s gaze bounces between us, clearly suspicious. She knows me well enough to recognize when I’m in over my head, and right now I’m drowning.
She doesn’t leave. Instead, she crosses her arms and plants herself like she’s ready to referee whatever’s happening here.
I wish she’d go inside, pretend she never saw us, but Liam’s not breaking the stare. There’s something predatory in the way he’s looking at me, like he’s waiting to see what I’ll do next.
“You’re quiet now,” he says finally, as if testing me.
“I don’t know what to say,” I shoot back, but my heart is pounding so hard I’m surprised they can’t both hear it.
From somewhere behind us, Sirus hollers for Maddie to come over, but when she doesn’t move, I hear his footsteps approaching. Great. Now it’s going to be a full audiencefor whatever breakdown I’m apparently having on a public sidewalk.
“What’s going on?” Sirus asks as he reaches us, slightly out of breath.
But Liam doesn’t react. Doesn’t even glance in Sirus’s direction. His focus is pinned entirely on me, and I watch his expression shift from anger to something rawer, more vulnerable. That longing look undoes me more than his shouting ever could. I’m frozen. I can’t move.
For a beat, the noise of the city fades away—the traffic, the distant sound of music from the restaurant, even Maddie and Sirus’s presence. It’s just the two of us, staring at each other like we’re the only people left in the world.
His gaze drops briefly to my mouth before flicking back to my eyes, and my breath catches in my throat. I hate how much I feel it. Hate that my body knows the way he kisses, the way he touches me, even while my brain is screaming that this is a mistake.
The restaurant door opens behind us with a soft chime.
“What’s going on?” Cole’s voice—warm, confused, completely trusting—cuts right through the charged air like a blade.
