tinged with something else that I can’t place. What had she been meaning to tell me, exactly? A thousand options race through my head and none of them seem pleasant.
But there’s no time for that, because the front door opens and Liam steps in. He’s in a suit, no tie, his hair a mess. “Finally,” he says, “I though… oh. Hello,” he says to Bella. The same height as me, the two of us dwarf her in the hallway.
She gives him a half-smile and extends a hand. “Hi there. I’m Bella, Ethan’s friend.”
He shakes her hand. A light shines in his eyes—one I remember from our childhood. “Ethan’s friend? How nice. I’m his brother, Liam.”
“A pleasure.”
“Likewise.” His gaze meets mine with a wink. “And why didn’t I know you had a new friend, Ethan?”
“Why didn’t I know you were coming to town?”
Liam waves that away, like it doesn’t matter, and reaches up to undo the top button of his shirt. “Wasn’t sure I was until I boarded the plane. Now, beautiful Bella, are you telling me that my big brother has finally found himself a girl?”
I groan and reach out to brace myself against the wall. Trust Liam to have as impeccable timing as he did social skills. A skilled-as-hell investor, he’d developed an oversized ego to match his oversized trades.
I build things. Companies. Tech. My money comes from creation. Liam’s? His comes from trading, and damn if you didn’t have to be an asshole to pull off that confidence trick.
Bella laughs, but it sounds a bit forced. Damn it. “I think you’ll have to ask your brother about that,” she says. “But for the record, I’m all in.”
Liam’s eyebrows shoot even higher, looking over at me now. “Did you hear the lady?”
“I did,” I say, unable to stop the smile from tugging at the corners of my mouth. Whatever she’d been about to tell me earlier, she’s all in. All in.
Liam finally lets go of Bella’s hand. “And you certainly live up to your name,” he tells her.
“All right, did you come here just to hang in the hallway?” I ask.
He shakes his head at Bella, as if I’m not there. “He’s completely forgotten his manners. Do you think he’s a lost cause?”
She laughs. “He has potential, but’s it’s been close at times.”
“Good thing he has you to pull him back from the brink.”
Bella looks over at me, laughter in her eyes. Whatever she sees on my face draws it to the surface, and it fills the air between us, light and lovely. “Happy to,” she says. “I was actually heading out. It was nice to meet you.”
“Sure you can’t stay?” Liam asks.
“I’m sure, I have work to do. Besides, you have nieces to attend to.”
“Yes,” I say. “Do you feel like being a canvas for makeup? They need someone to try out their new designs on.”
My brother looks suitably alarmed at that.
But as it turns out, he’s safe. Evie and Haven attack him with questions instead as they show him the treehouse and Haven’s cast. They even perform a dramatic reenactment of Haven’s fall and laugh as Liam pretends to catch her.
I do have to give it to my little brother—for all that he’s never here, when he is here, he’s all in. He stays for a few more hours, but I don’t manage to get a real conversation going, one about his job or his plans for the future.
It’s late that evening when I finally open Bella’s thesis. She had indeed left it on my bedside table with a small post-it note on top.
Be honest, she’s written in looping cursive.
I lie back with an arm under my head and start to read. She’s a great writer, succinct and clever. I’ve made it nearly halfway through when my phone rings.
I answer without looking at the caller ID. “It’s good,” I tell her. “Really good. Especially your use of—”
“I’m not your little girlfriend.”
My voice breaks off. “Lyra?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
Silence.
“What? No, how are you? How nice of you to call?”
I grit my teeth. “What do you want?”
“Right down to business as usual. But that’s all you care about, Ethan, isn’t it? Business?”
“If you called just to have a fight, I’m more than willing to hang up.”
“So testy.” She clicks her tongue. “All right, I’ll get to the point. You see, I’ve been thinking a lot since I last saw you. About one thing in particular—your cute neighbor girl.”
I put down the thesis. “Whatever you have to say, I don’t want