Page 50 of Saving the Single Dad

“What are we doing, Liam?”

His hand moved up, along the back of my thigh.

The light from the tall windows above the lockers shone in; the safety lights had turned off from lack of movement and he just sat there in front of me looking like the legend they spoke of, but my stupid heart reached with greedy hands and tugged the expression on his face in and decided it was mine now.

“We’re getting your shoe on and then we’re going to talk about you walking the girls home from the bus this afternoon. Then, we can talk about you sleeping in my bed tonight.”

The wings fluttering in my chest took a nosedive and swooped into my belly, they must have caught fire first because now it burned. It hurt. I couldfeelthat Liam regretted this. I didn’t like being around people when my gut told me they didn’t want me. Liam might sexually be attracted to me but he’d dropped me and walked away when Colson yelled and he only walked back once Jeffery was mentioned. My gut wasn’t wrong when it came to people and Liam may want me in his bed but that didn’t mean he’d ever let me into his heart.

So, I lifted my other foot and watched in silence as Liam gently held my shoe, tying the laces nice and tight. Once he was done, he set it down and looked up at me again. I took the opportunity to step back and cross my arms over my chest. I had no idea why I was acting like this, except that this feeling in my gut wouldn’t go away.

He stood, and then his fingers were gently griping my chin, forcing my eyes on his.

“We’ll talk later?”

I nodded, and then he was gone, walking out of the locker room. I had no idea if Colson would see him or not, but my mind played back the way Liam looked like he was ready to spit fire when Jeffery’s name was mentioned.

I was young, but I was old enough to recognize jealousy when I saw it, and I wasn’t going to be playing any games where the guy I was developing feelings for seemed to respond to me only when another guy was in the picture. I made a deal with Liam, and I had every intention of sticking to it, but I would do so with my heart intact. To do that, I’d have to stop whatever this was and make sure it didn’t happen again.

* * *

I drove to Nora’s,only to find that once again she wasn’t home. Honestly, it was a reprieve. It gave me a chance to shower and carefully tuck my emotions away. Once I was done, I caught up on work, and then finally decided to text Jeffery back. I didn’t want to lead him on if he liked me, but I wasn’t going to not talk to him either. We could be friends, and it was nice to know more than just my brother, Nora, and Liam in this town.

Me: Sorry, I was busy earlier. Did you still need help at the Center?

He responded about fifteen minutes later.

Jeffery:

If you have the time. It’s not a big deal if you’re busy.

I deliberated, still feeling like I was doing something wrong by agreeing to help him, but I had to shake the idea. Jeffery wasn’t even really a friend yet, just a nice guy who seemed to care if I was offended by his actions and liked to follow up with flowers and coffee if he messed up.

Me: Yeah, I have some time before I have to pick up the girls. How about I come by in about twenty minutes?

Jeffery:

Sounds good

I had dressed for the day, drying my hair then slightly curling the ends. I put on jeans and a hoodie, then slipped my snow boots on before heading out.

Once I pulled up to the Community Center, it looked like there were only a few trucks parked along the curb, including Nora’s and her best friend, Rae’s. I was just getting to know both Nora and Rae, but from what I gathered, they were just a few years older than me and had been friends since they were little. Rae was the one who’d been put in charge of the Community Center, and Nora was in charge of designing it.

Pushing through the door, I immediately found Nora with her arms full of what looked like samples of some kind. Rae held a clipboard and was pointing at things with a pen in her hand.

“Haley!” Nora said, walking over.

I eyed her full arms. “Hey, do you want any help with that?”

Rae walked over and rolled her eyes. “She’s being dramatic and stubborn.”

Nora’s best friend had long, dark hair that was currently being hidden by a cute, forest green ball cap that had a mountain peak on it, with a circle around it. The wordsMount Maconwere printed within the circle. It was cute.

“Hey, Rae, where did you get that hat?” I asked, walking forward with them, until Nora released her load of samples onto a table.

Rae smiled at me. “This is going to be featured in Davis’s new shop. The grand opening is next week, will you be there?”

I had met Davis when I first arrived. He was Rae’s fiancé and the town grump from what I had gathered. He’d always been nice to me, but I had learned that not everyone was used to seeing him around so often.

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