Page 67 of Liam (Preston Brothers #4)

Addie

Roman

Just clocked out. Am I picking you up?

Liam and I are in his bed. Naked. Like we have been for most of the day, minus the hour and a half we dipped out so he could take me to my therapy session. I show him the text, and he shakes his head, presses his lips to my bare shoulder. “Stay another night?”

“I can’t,” I sigh. “I don’t have any clothes.”

Liam scoffs. “You’ve been naked all day. Just wear the same ones you wore yesterday.”

I press my mouth to his and kiss him. Just once.

Anything more might push us further, and we’ve done so much of that already that I’m aching in places I can’t even reach.

“I should go home,” I say through a sigh.

“I came here to spend time with Roman. I don’t want him to think differently just because I have a boyfriend. ”

Liam doesn’t respond, and so I glance over at him, giggling at how ridiculous his smile is. “Boyfriend, huh?”

I smile back. “You mad I’m not calling you my future husband?”

He rolls his eyes. “It was just—you know what? Never mind. Just tell him I’ll have you home before dinner.”

Addie

Liam says he’ll have me home before dinner.

“You could have worded it better than that,” Liam says.

“What’s wrong with how I worded it?”

“It’s like I’m controlling you.”

I laugh once, turning to my side to face him. “You know, you’re going to have to get over your fear of him if this is ever going to work.”

“It’s the tattoos.”

“You’d be hot with tattoos.”

“You don’t think I’m hot already?” he asks, grabbing my ass and pulling me closer.

“Because when you were on your knees last night, offering to recreate my dream, you seemed—” He cuts off with a physical jolt when my phone dings with a text.

“I didn’t mean that!” he almost shouts, speaking at my phone.

I bust out a laugh. “He can’t hear you.”

“Still…” He shifts closer so he can read Roman’s response.

Roman

Tell him to bring dinner and have it with us.

“What does he want?” Liam asks.

Addie

What do you want?

Roman

Chinese from that Mexican place.

“That’s a thing?” I ask.

“That’s the best thing,” he replies, as if this is something I should already know. “Ask him for his order.”

Addie

Send through your order.

Liam rolls onto his back, eying the ceiling. “So this tattoo thing,” he muses. “You think it could be an initiation into the Roman Acceptance Club?”

“You’re an idiot.”

He climbs on top of me, settles between my legs, and presses his mouth to my collarbone. “At least I’m a hot idiot.”

Liam groans, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Your brother’s going to know we spent the whole day sexing.”

“We’ve spent almost every night together for over a week. I’m sure he knows we’ve been sexing.”

His eyes widen in fear, and so I throw him a bone.

“But you’re bringing him food, so…”

“So what? ”

“So… that’s a point for you, I guess.”

“Oh, great,” he scoffs. “Now we’re keeping score. What am I? Negative fifty?”

I laugh under my breath, but he doesn’t find it so funny. He glances at me, a glare set in place. I sigh, adjusting our takeout boxes on my lap so I can hold them with one hand, the other reaching out to stroke the hairs at his nape. “Baby, nothing I say is going to make you less anxious, is it?”

“No. But calling me baby sure helps.”

Roman’s coffee table is covered with Chinese takeout boxes and cans of soda. Roman sits on the coach on one side, Liam and I on the floor on the other.

Liam barely got through his greeting of “Hey, man,” without his voice cracking. He’s barely said two words since. We’ve been eating for ten minutes already.

“So…” Roman says, picking up an egg roll with his chopsticks. “What did you guys get up to last night?”

Beside me, I can feel Liam tense. “Us?” I ask, all nonchalant. “Oh, we had a wild night.”

Liam chokes on air.

“Addie, don’t do that to him,” Roman scolds, dead serious.

“Yeah, don’t do that to me,” Liam echoes.

I roll my eyes. “I wasn’t talking about our physical activities.”

Roman drops his chopsticks with a sigh, looking between us, and I turn to Liam just in time to watch the blood drain from his face.

“I just have one question that I’m going to ask one time,” Roman says. “And then we never speak about it again.” He pauses a beat. “You’re being safe?”

“Yes,” Liam and I say at the same time, only his comes with a “sir” at the end.

“Good.” Roman picks up his chopsticks, starts eating again, and with a mouthful of food, asks, “So what non-physical activity caused a wild night?”

“Pierson called.”

His eyes widen. “It’s been three years?”

Liam answers for me. “To the day. Like, he called at midnight.”

“Damn,” Roman singsongs. “He must’ve been waiting for that clock to tick over.”

I shake my head. “He told me he had a calendar alert.”

Roman’s face pinches, and he asks, clearly skeptical, “That’s what he told you, huh?”

“That’s what I said,” Liam murmurs.

I add, “He wants to meet in person.”

“Oh, yeah?” asks Roman.

“You think I should?”

“That’s not up to me, Addie.” Roman motions to Liam. “What do you think?”

Liam shrugs. “I think she should.”

“Yeah?” Roman asks.

I tell him, “He thinks I should just get it over and done with.”

“It’s not just that,” Liam says, shaking his head as he faces me.

“I just think a part of you will always wonder what he had to say or how he’d react to whatever you have to say.

And also—three years is a long time to hold in any feelings or thoughts about the whole thing, so now that you have the opportunity, I think you should. ”

There is one thing I’ve wanted to say, but I don’t know if I’m justified in feeling it, so I don’t know if I have the nerve to speak it out loud. I’ve even talked about it in therapy.

With a heavy sigh, I pick up my phone, send Pierson a text.

Addie

Are you free to meet up tomorrow?

He writes back almost immediately.

After reading his reply, I set my phone aside and relay what he’s said. “He wants to meet at a Dave & Busters halfway between us. His girlfriend will be there, too. He wants me to meet her.” I catch Liam’s gaze, a silent question hanging between us.

Roman’s the one who answers it. “Addie, he can’t go into a Dave & Busters. He’ll get mauled.”

“I can try,” Liam’s quick to say, but the wariness in his eyes gives him away.

I pick up my phone again. “I’ll ask if we can meet somewhere more intimate.”

“Don’t,” Roman says. “His girlfriend’s going to be there, and you know nothing about her. What if she’s a fan? What if she snaps a discreet photo of him and posts with his location just for clout?”

My shoulders drop.

Roman turns his attention to Liam. “Look, I think it’s great what you do, but your fan base is crazy.

Not necessarily in a bad way—they pay your bills, but…

” He focuses on me again. “I don’t know, Addie.

We weren’t here when they first took off, but I’ve heard the stories—the security gate they had to put up at the house because girls just started showing up.

Or the ones who camped out on Main St. Or that one girl who got pissed at Lucy in her store because she wouldn’t call them to meet her.

She threw a bunch of books into a trashcan and set it on fire. ”

My eyes widen on that last one, and I look at Liam for confirmation. He nods, his lips pressed tight.

Roman continues, “You’re a grown-ass adult, and you can make your own decisions, but I, personally, don’t want that for you. Not until you’ve been together a little longer.”

“He’s right,” Liam agrees. “Julie had to move to an apartment off campus that has a doorman because someone found out where she lived.”

“Damn,” I breathe out.

“But I’ll take you,” Roman says. “And I’ll sit with you or stay in the car. Whatever you want.”

I think a moment. And as much as I appreciate it—“You’d have to take another day off work.”

Roman smirks. “Lucky your boyfriend has an in with my boss.”

Before I can respond, his phone rings, and now it’s my turn to smirk. “Is it Heidi?” I ask when he silences the call.

Roman rolls his eyes.

“Wait,” Liam says. “You and Heidi?”

I face him. “You know Heidi?”

“She’s one of my sister’s best friends.”

“Oh, how the plot thickens,” I tease, rubbing my hands together.

Roman shakes his head. “Great. It’s the return of the brat.”

Liam chuckles, then says in awe, “So you and Heidi, huh?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Why do you say it like that?”

“What?” he retorts. “I didn’t say it like anything.”

Roman laughs.

I throw an egg roll at his head before smacking Liam’s arm.

“Ooh, she’s jealous,” Roman teases.

“Addie, she’s old,” Liam argues. “She’s, like, thirty .”

“ I’m , like, thirty,” Roman counters.

Liam and I face him, our stares blank.

Roman sighs. “Guess I’m old, too, then,” he says, then picks up the egg roll that fell on his lap, bites into it.

I turn to Liam, my grin mischievous. “So tell me everything about this Heidi.”

Liam shrugs. “I actually don’t know her too well, but I’m pretty sure her sunbathing in a bikini was Logan’s sexual awakening.”

Roman laughs. Then stops abruptly. “Wait. Which Logan?”

“ Our Logan.”

I ask, “How many Logans do you know?”

“Two,” they say in unison.

Liam adds, “Logan Preston —brother, builder.”

“And Logan Matthews. Friend. Doctor,” Roman says.

My head cocks, filled with another vague memory. “Why do I know that name?”

“He was the catcher when I was in high school.”

“Right,” I say, nodding, though I still can’t picture him in my mind. “I’m gonna need a summary of your friend group. They’re separate from Juan, right?”

“Who’s Juan?” Liam asks, and I’m only now realizing how relaxed he is. I wish I could pinpoint the exact moment his anxieties fled, so I know how to repeat it for next time.

“Juan was my cellmate in prison.”

“And now he’s Roman’s tattoo artist,” I add. “Show him your arms.”

Roman holds out both arms over the coffee table, rotating them slightly.

“Aren’t they great?” I ask.

“Yeah. He’s insanely talented.”

“Right?” Roman agrees.

I ask Liam, “Which one’s your favorite?”

“The ribbon,” he answers, not skipping a beat. “Definitely the ribbon.”