How to Steal Your Best Friend's Fiancé - London Casey Page 0,75
my bed.
As his strong arms hugged me, I felt myself easing back, melting into his hold.
“I know you’re still thinking about it,” he whispered.
“About what?” I asked.
“What you said before. Our mistake here.”
I sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that…”
“I know,” he said. “I know what you meant too. It’s who you are, Em.”
“And what does that mean?”
“I want you to stand up for yourself right now,” he whispered. “Not as me being some kind of hero, but as you being the strong and beautiful woman I know you are.”
“It’s a lot to take in, Liam,” I confessed. “What this feels like. What it implies…”
“I don’t think it implies anything other than what we want,” he said. “Someone else out there… someone in Boston… if that’s what you’re worried about… that person is doing what they want. So am I. And so should you.”
I nudged away from Liam and turned around. “I am. This is exactly what I want to do.”
He slowly smiled.
“Don’t fucking smile either,” I said. “I’ll kick you out.”
“You’re done with me?”
“That’s right. I got what I wanted. Bye.”
“I thought we had something, Em.”
“Nope. Nice dick. Now you can leave.”
Liam looked devilish in black pants and a white t-shirt.
I took a few breaths to keep myself from jumping into his arms again.
“I’m keeping that shirt too,” I said. “A symbol of my conquest.”
“Do you have a box full of dress shirts from guys you’ve slept with?” Liam asked.
“A box? I have a storage unit.”
“Damn, babe,” Liam said. “Good for you.”
I opened my mouth to keep our little banter going, but Liam moved at me.
His hands to my face, his lips to my lips.
Kissing me like… whoa.
It was a short-lived kiss, but it packed a big punch.
I blinked fast and couldn’t find my breath.
“Just keep going, Em,” Liam whispered. “Stand up for yourself. Be yourself. There’s a way to give and take at the same time. I know you’ll find it. I’ve always believed in you, babe. And this is not a mistake.”
I shut my eyes and felt like I could cry.
Stupid Liam.
He was lucky I loved him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Liam
I walked out of the bathroom with a small cloud of steam behind me.
My hands balled up into tight fists, my eyes looking around the apartment, everything in me wishing I was back at Emily’s place.
This apartment was fancy.
Too fancy.
The kind of place where everything looked perfect and could never be touched.
It had the allure of two lawyers who lived together, but weren’t really together.
Emily’s place was cozy. It was more like a home. All its flaws made it that way too. The old building. The old brick. The sounds and smells. The old windows.
It was just…
I knew I had to get out of this place.
One way or another I had to be done with it.
Of course, the timing was terrible.
Miranda and I were locked into a lease that would be a pain in the ass to break. Then again, it was nothing a boat load of money wouldn’t fix. At this point, I would gladly pay out the rest of the lease just to be done with the place. Or pay someone to sublet it.
I skipped going to the bedroom and went to the kitchen instead.
For as much as I wanted things to be completely severed with Miranda, time had a strange way of twisting our lives together more than I cared to admit. It wasn’t like two people dating who decided not to date anymore.
I sighed as I picked up the engagement ring off the counter.
I took a few seconds to really think about it. To study it. To feel something.
All I saw…
Emily.
What it could have and should have been all along.
Emily sitting across from me at that table, eating the food that could have been at my wedding. Emily picking out the flowers that could have been at my wedding.
My heart squeezed because I felt nothing for the other side of the equation.
I put the ring in the junk drawer.
I thought about calling or texting Miranda.
I had never had an engagement relationship end before so I wasn’t sure of the rules here.
Truthfully, the last thing I wanted to do was call her.
Sooner rather than later we’d have to figure out all the pieces of our lives that touched.
Until then…
“Fuck it,” I whispered.
I walked to the bedroom to get dressed.
The bed was made.
There was a certain order for the pillows, blankets and all of that.
I put my clothes out on the bed and looked around once again.