How to Steal Your Best Friend's Fiancé - London Casey Page 0,32
Em! See you tomorrow!
I shook my head and didn’t bother responding.
I rolled over and my eyes stayed wide open.
I smiled.
I was looking forward to spending time with Liam too.
We were friends… that was all it ever was.
Chapter Fifteen
Liam
I woke up, stretched out across the otherwise empty bed and took a deep breath. Then I rolled to my right side, took the covers with me, and looked at my phone.
I had no recollection of how I went from the couch to the bed.
When I saw the text to Emily, I groaned.
It could have been a lot worse than what I had sent.
And I also could have sent nothing to her.
I could have just avoided the situation all together. Gently. Or let her get in touch with me. She was the one put on the spot in front of Miranda and I.
It still pissed me off that she did that.
The way she did it.
There wasn’t anything I could do about it.
Miranda was in Boston.
Emily was at her bakery.
And I was still in bed.
I managed to pull myself out of the bed and took a cool shower to try and wake my hungover ass up.
I wasn’t twenty-one anymore.
That much I knew for sure.
My body reminded me of that with an icepick to the back of my eyes feeling that refused to go away.
Even after the shower. Even after I got dressed. Even after I ate something.
Today was just going to be that kind of day.
I grabbed a pair of sunglasses and headed out the door with a little bit of time to spare.
Just to be safe, I texted Jacob and told him I was running late.
I wanted him, David, and Maria to work on the depositions on my desk.
I loved text messages when it came to work stuff.
I gave the command and Jacob replied with a thumb’s up emoji.
That was the extent of my work conversation for the morning.
I waited for my ride while scrolling through two dozen emails.
After getting into the car and the driver asking me where I was going, I blurted out Emily’s bakery.
Which hadn’t been my plan.
I shrugged my shoulders.
More coffee wasn’t going to make the hangover worse.
Plus, this was what Miranda wanted.
“Miranda,” I whispered. “Shit.”
I grabbed for my phone to send her a good morning text.
I stared at our text message thread and swallowed hard.
It wasn’t a good feeling to feel forced into texting your fiancée good morning…
I walked into the bakery and saw how busy it was.
I took my place in line and like everyone else, I went face down on my phone.
This was what society was like.
Everyone in their own world, worrying about their shit, full of loneliness and anxiety, yet they were surrounded by people.
Feeling dark there, Liam?
I put my phone away and shook my head.
I needed a pick-me-up.
And I needed it…
Emily walked from the back of the bakery and looked right at me.
She smiled and put her hands to her hips.
She wore a dirty apron with her hair pulled back in an I’m late and don’t care kind of way. Which was just how Emily always was. I could see the hint of blue in her eyes even from this distance and through my sunglasses.
She motioned with her hand to come toward her.
I broke out of the line and walked along the side wall, in between tables, my eyes never leaving hers.
“Good morning, Liam,” she said. “How’s the head?”
“The head is fine,” I said. “It’s behind my eyes that is killing me. Wait. How did you know…?”
“You texted me at what time last night?” she asked with a smile that left me with no choice but to smile back at her. “And I could tell by the text. Em…”
“Right,” I said. “You caught me. I was out with the guys last night.”
“Any more bar fights?”
“Just one.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Are you going to yell at me for it?”
“No,” she said. “Why would I yell at you?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It was just… a long night.”
“I can tell. You need a coffee?”
“I’ll wait in line.”
“No, you won’t,” Emily said. “Come here.”
I stepped closer to the back of the bakery and Emily poured me a coffee.
She handed it to me and pointed to the back.
I went with her.
“I was thinking of you last night,” I said.
“Oh?”
“When we were walking around, there was this music club. It’s not too far from here actually. Looked like a really cool place.”