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The fact that Liam can knock him off his game like this is always amusing to me.
I actually feel myself smile.
“That’snota surprise to you,” Liam says. “Jesus, Harrison.”
“That youwantme? No.” Harrison takes a step toward Liam. “But that you would make a declaration about it in front of your girlfriend, yeah. A little.”
Liam gives a short laugh. “My girlfriend probably realized how I felt about you before I did.”
“And how’s that?” Harrison asks.
I brace myself for some reason. This moment feels big.
“I’m falling in love with you,” Liam says simply.
I finally pull my eyes from Ivy to look at my friend. He’s staring at Liam as if the other man had just slapped him across the face.
“Well, say something,” Liam tells him. “Fuck, you never shut up when I want you to and now you’ve got nothing?”
“You’refallingin love with me?” Harrison asks.
Liam frowns. “Yes.”
“You haven’talreadyfallen in love with me?”
“Why? Because people just can’t help but fall in love with you?”
“No, because…fuck. We’ve been doing this for a year, Liam. You know me. It probably won’t get better than this. So if you haven’t fallen by now, it’s not going to happen.”
I can’t read Harrison’s expression. He looks frustrated. Or sad. Or something I’ve never seen on his face before—defeated. My friend never looks defeated. Harrison never believes he’s down and out.
Liam frowns and takes a step forward. “I mean…I’ve just realized this. You ghosted me, remember? So we really haven’t been doing anything for a year but avoid each other when our paths have crossed until this week. You’re a huge pain in my ass, Harrison. You live half-way across the country. You don’t take anything seriously, especially relationships. So, telling you this is a huge risk. But yes, I’m falling in love with you. Despite everything.”
Harrison folds his arms. “And you feel like you can say this now because you have Ivy to fall back on? Like it’s safe to put yourself out there for me, because you’re going home with a gorgeous, sweet, sassy, amazing woman no matter what I say or do?”
Ivy looks from me to Liam to Harrison. “Um, thank you?”
But Harrison just gives her a little nod and then turns right back to Liam. “Tell me, Liam. Isshewhy you’re telling me this now?”
Liam draws himself up taller. “I guess maybe so. She’s opened me up. Made me realize that I can’t wait around and keep everything bottled up anymore because I could miss out on the opportunity to tell the people how I feel and they might fucking walk down an aisle and say ‘I do’ to someone else because I was chicken.”
“Well, I guess I’m the better man then,” Harrison says.
“How so?” Liam asks, also crossing his arms.
“Because I’m willing to see you, date you, fuck you, whatever, and I don’t have anyone else waiting in my bed to make me feel more secure about the risk of rejection.”
“Now. What about a year ago? How fucking willing were you then?”
Ivy moves closer to me. “Are theyfightingabout falling in love with each other?” she whispers.
I can’t help it, I laugh. “Of course they are.” They can’t even do this without annoying each other.
“Oh my God,” she says. “Sex with them is going to be wild, isn’t it?”
I feel shock and lust pound through me. I take her upper arms and turn her to face me. “What?”
She sucks in a breath, but then nods. “Yeah. I, well,we,think we should all…be together. We have all these feelings, all ofthis, going on between all of us and Liam and I want both you and Harrison. We all need to be together and get it out of our system, and get some closure. We didn’t like how things ended.”