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Liam eventually separated his mouth from mine again. He held my gaze and grinned. “I wonder if it’s supposed to get better every time, because that was even better than the first.”

“We might be experts by the time I have to go home, if you keep doing that.”

“Maybe. But I think I need to take a break to catch my breath and let my heart calm down. It’s racing.”

“Mine, too.”

Liam released his hold on me, wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and settled back on the couch. I was giddy with happiness as we sat there, allowing the emotions to move through us.

And when he lifted another dessert to my mouth, I couldn’t miss the way his eyes watched as my mouth moved.

It might have been his plan to take a break, but his inability to keep his eyes off me didn’t seem to be helping him accomplish that.

And my heart was absolutely soaring the entire time.

5

LIAM

SIX MONTHS LATER

One lookat her beautiful face was all it took.

One look into those amber eyes, and every small hiccup I’d encountered throughout the day or week vanished.

Today was no different.

Layla and I were officially on summer break from school—although the official start of summer wasn’t for another few days—and I’d been working every day since school let out. Today, I’d taken a half day, because I wanted to celebrate with Layla.

It was her birthday.

My mom had just dropped me off at Layla’s house. Her mom had taken the day off today, so she could celebrate with her daughter, and they’d invited me over for dinner.

Of course, I’d asked if it’d be okay if I showed up alittle earlier to spend some extra time with her, and they were more than happy to have me over.

The moment the door flew open, I looked at my gorgeous girl and said, “Happy Birthday, Layla.”

She threw her arms over my shoulders and hugged me. “Thank you, Liam.”

I hugged her back as best I could with everything I had in my hands and thought about how much things had changed between us since that day we’d taken the school field trip.

Layla was much less reserved than she’d been those first two months. We both were. It seemed that after we made things official at the Christmas party, we both had stopped holding back.

She seemed surer of herself around me, and she didn’t hesitate to be the one to reach for my hand occasionally, even if we were walking through the halls at school. I liked it.

And whenever she had a bad day, she’d come to me to vent. I loved that. There was something about knowing that when things seemed tough, it was me she wanted to go to for support.

Everything about what was happening between Layla and me had been good for me, too. There’d been a profound change in me. So much so that even my family had recognized it.

I didn’t care if my brothers often teased me about it. They hadn’t met anyone who made them happy the way Layla made me happy, so they just couldn’t understand.

I found myself wanting to be the best version ofmyself in all aspects of my life, and I wanted to do that for her. Layla hadn’t ever complained or expressed any dissatisfaction with me as I was, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t strive to be better anyway.

After pressing a kiss to her cheek, I asked, “Have you had a good day today?”

She beamed at me. “I have. Mom took me out for lunch this afternoon, which was a nice treat. And she took me out shopping for some new clothes for summer.”

“I’m glad you had fun.”