Page 25 of Say You Love Me

Liam laughs and slaps the table. “The little shit literally shit in the bed the other day. We left her alone for something like half an hour, and when we came back she’d left a present to let us know how much she appreciated being left alone.” He shakes his head and chuckles, bringing his beer to his mouth again.

There’s an awkwardness in the air, something I deal with too much at home to want to deal with it while I’m out for a drink with someone who’s supposed to be my best mate.

“What?” I demand with an exasperated sigh.

“What, what?” Liam repeats, peering over the rim of the glass.

“You clearly asked me out for lunch because you wanted to talk about something and now you’re acting all strange, so just spit it out.”

Liam laughs, but it’s a little too forced. “How is everything?”

“How is everything? That’s really what you’re going with?”

Liam leans forward, propping his elbows on the table. “Come on, help me out a little here. Megan said I needed to check in with you. Needed to make sure everything was okay.”

“And since when do you do what Megan asks?”

“Since when haven’t I?”

“Good point.” I take another sip of my beer. Even though I have a beer most nights, I don’t often drink spirits and it feels like the bourbon has gone straight to my head, making it all warm and floaty.

“So, how are you and shit?”

“I’m fine. Good and shit.”

“Well, I’m pleased we got that conversation out of the way.” Liam laughs again. But then he places his empty glass on the table and looks at me seriously. “Finity asked if you’d said anything.”

“About what?”

He shrugs. “Her, I guess. What happened. How you’re feeling about it all.”

“So we’re talking about our feelings now?”

“Come on, Hud. Stop making this so difficult.”

I lean back on the chair and hook my ankle over the knee of my other leg. I don’t want to talk, especially about Finity. Ever since that night, I keep having visions of her with my cum splattered over her face and all I could think about was fucking her. And that made me feel guilty, like if I wanted to fuck her so badly, I must have forgiven her. And I haven’t. Not even close. I haven’t really spoken to her since then, nothing more than good morning, goodnight and the odd please and thank you when she cooks dinner or does the laundry. But even then it’s still hard. Even the sight of her doing the laundry brings unwanted thoughts to my head. Like when the damp material of my shirt brushed over her breast and her nipples hardened, making me want to suck on them.

I clear my throat, pushing the thoughts from my mind. “When did she ask you this? I didn’t realize you guys were so close.”

Liam ignores my jibe. “The other night when we were all over for dinner and we went outside.”

“When you gave her a cigarette?”

“Are you pissed?” Liam lets out a snort.

“I’m pissed my wife took up smoking and I didn’t know, not that you gave her a cigarette.”

“So everything is good with her now? Everything okay with you two after all that happened?”

As he’s talking, the front door opens and Finity walks in. She’s not alone. There’s a guy with her, a kid really. She’s laughing at something he said. He stands slightly behind her as they walk, his hand resting on her lower back. He guides her to a table and calls out to the waitress to bring them over the menu.

I shift uncomfortably. After being with someone for so long you expect to know everything about them, yet I have no idea who he is, just like I had no idea she’d taken up smoking.

Liam is still waiting for my reply. He’s looking at me with concern, like there’s something to be worried about. I sigh.

“Okay, I’ll admit it. Things are a little strange between us at the moment.” I know I need to tell him something to get him off my back. I also know that every word I say will be repeated back to Megan. He is just her mouthpiece for this conversation, anyway. “Ever since she’s come home, she’s been different.”

“That’s to be expected after what happened.”

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