Page 32 of Hate To Love You
“Yeah.” Liam sits back, unpinning Teague. “And … apparently I’ve been doing the same. Like an idiot.”
Teague sits up at once, surprising Liam, then wraps his arms around him. “Oh my gods. My gods. All of the gods and goddesses. Oh my gods …”
“Teague, you’re choking me.”
Teague lets go and brings his face close. “Are you pranking me right now? Did you open my phone? Did you read the messages and are pretending to be the tongue-tied guy?”
Liam snorts. “Really?”
“Are you serious? We’ve been falling in love this whole past month and didn’t even realize it until tonight?”
Liam’s face freezes. “Wait … what? Falling in—?”
“You’re the sexy nerd with untamable cowlicks?” Teague goes on, his heart ablaze. “You’re the one who’s kept me sane all those nights when my dad was a total jerk? All those nights I felt lonely? But you said you didn’t have braces! You said …” He overturns him suddenly, startling Liam as Teague now pins Liam to the bed with expert skill. “I dunno whether to shout or cry,” he says, staring down at Liam, pinning him just like in his dream. “I can’t believe it’s really you. I … I can barelybreatheI’m so happy.”
After a moment of recovery, Liam finds himself smiling. “At least if you pass out, I’ll only have one mouth to choose from.”
Teague dives into Liam’s face right then, and at once, kisses replace words, and the boys lose the rest of the night to each other’s desires—this time, with no more mysteries between them.
13
A Hundred Kisses
“Gosh, you two have gotten awfully close.”
The comment comes from Gracie, who stops by on her break to check on Liam and Teague, who are in the midst of helping each other set up a display in the front of the store.
Liam glances at Teague, feeling coy. “Have we?”
Teague shrugs. “Didn’t notice.”
Another day, the boys clock out for a break together, where they decide to partake of some tasty treats in the bakery section. Liam feels his heart drum happily in his chest as he feeds Teague a bite of his pastry. Teague sticks a finger in his Bavarian cream donut and makes Liam lick it off in a silly way. Then they laugh, the lovey-dovey moment over, having cracked each other up.
The whole time, an out-of-the-loop Gracie stares at them from behind the counter, baffled.
It’s so obvious Liam and Teague are a thing now, even if no one else can believe their eyes.
Every day for the rest of the summer, the pair of them are inseparable. Ever since that one fateful night when all the cards were tossed onto the table, Liam and Teague found something in each other they’ve been searching for all along. Neither of them wants to waste another moment apart.
Especially with their summer days counting down.
One afternoon on break, they hang out in front, gazing out at the parking lot from under the awning of the store.
“For the first time,” Liam admits, “I’m not excited to go back to school and get into my studies. I wish we had another month. Or two. Or better yet, a whole other summer to enjoy together.”
“I’ve got a truck, and you’re just a few hours away,” Teague reminds him. “The end of the summer doesn’t have to be the end ofthis, y’know.”
“This…” Liam thinks on that one curious word. “This, this, this.” He glances at Teague. “And what exactly is … ‘this’ …?”
Teague smirks, popping out his dimple. “What do you want ‘this’ to be?”
The two are sitting on a waist-high cement wall, their shoulders touching as they sit side-by-side.
Liam considers the question. “I want this to be … something that doesn’t end when the summer does.”
“Yeah?”
“Something that lasts, that we can grow and rely on when we’re having a tough day. Something meaningful.”
