Page 23 of Trusting Liam (Taking Chances 2)

“Yeah, but—”

“Then you get some motherfucking flowers, and you go to her and beg her to forgive your dumb ass. There. Heart-to-heart done. Now I’m still starving, and this little piece of heaven is begging me to eat it.” Grabbing the burrito again, he took another bite and smiled through it.

“How did you even know it had to do with a girl?” I asked, somewhat amazed that Brian of all people could have guessed that.

“Because I’ve seen that exact same tortured face before.” His eyes darted to the side, and he swallowed thickly. With a slight shake of his head, he mumbled, “I still can’t believe how much you look like him now.”

“I know.” I sighed, but couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was seeing when he looked at me. Because even though pictures helped tell a story, they would never be the same as the real thing, and the guy he was talking about had died before I was born.

“So what’d you do to screw up this time?”

“What did I do? Nothing. Nothing, unless you can count wanting to be with her.”

Brian looked at me for a second as he slowly chewed his food, and made a sound of disapproval in his throat. “LC, man, I told you. Once they get a restraining order, you can’t keep going near them.”

Despite the aggravation I was still feeling even after sparring with my dad, hard laughs burst from my chest. “Aw, Bri, did you find that out firsthand?”

He shrugged. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Maybe I ended up marrying her despite it.”

My eyes widened, and my mouth curved up. “Riss had a restraining order on you?”

“Fuck no. Her dad did. He got over it eventually. Anyway, I know you didn’t come in here to have me tell you about my life, so continue.”

“Okay, well, this is the part I didn’t want to tell you while you were eating. So stop.” I gave him a look when he started to go for another bite, and after a heavy sigh, he set the burrito down. Again.

“This better be fucking good,” he grumbled, and pouted when he eyed the food again.

“Do you remember Moon? The girl from Vegas?”

“How am I supposed to forget her? She’s the only girl you’ve talked to me about more than once.”

I rolled my eyes at his annoyed tone, but didn’t comment on it. I knew it was just because I’d told him to stop eating. “Well, she’s in San Diego.”

Brian sat up and sucked in a large breath. “No!” he said loudly, drawing out the word.

“And she’s working in Dad’s gym.”

“No! No fucking way, dude! Holy shit!” His excitement died suddenly, and he pointed at me. “I forgive you for making me put the burrito down. This made up for it. But, seriously, what are the chances of this?”

“It gets better. Her uncle is my boss.”

Brian stared at me for a minute with his mouth wide open. “Did you find her through him? Did you see a picture of her or something?”

“No, nothing like that.” I sat back in my chair and told Brian the entire story from the meeting with Eli and Mason up through last night.

Throughout it all, as Brian finished both his burrito and mine, his shock-filled eyes never left me.

When I was done, I held my arms out to the side for a second, then let them fall. “And that’s my problem. It is obvious what she wants, but every time she starts to show or act on it like last night, she just throws another wall in my face.”

“Damn, LC. That is some heavy shit.” Before I could agree, he asked, “When did you figure out you were in love with her?”

My head jerked back. “I’m not.” Brian’s expression turned amused, and I repeated, “I’m not. Jesus Christ, Brian, I’ve only known her name for a little more than a week. I know I won’t stop chasing her even though she’s driving me crazy with how she constantly pushes me back, but that doesn’t mean shit about loving her.”

Instead of trying to convince me that I was in love, like I’d expected him to, he got really quiet and stared at something behind me. When the silence continued and his gaze didn’t waver, I turned to look, but only saw another one of the artists bent over, outlining a tattoo.

“You know,” Brian said suddenly, bringing my attention back to him. “About twenty-five years ago, my station was right over there.” He nodded in the direction where he’d been staring. “I was sitting in there with Chachi, and we had a conversation a lot like this one. He was telling me all about your mom only a couple weeks after he’d met her, and how crazy she was making him. I think I’d been making fun of him because he was whipped by a girl he wasn’t even with, and somewhere in his explanation of her, I realized he was in love with her. He denied it just like you’re doing, but the truth was all over his face. And I swear to Christ that exact same fucking look is on your face right now—and it’s taking me right back to that afternoon with your dad. I told you I’ve seen that tortured look before; trust me when I say, Little Chachi, you’re in love with this chick.”

“Brian . . . I’m not—”

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