Page 24

As if I’d just been thrown into a frigid lake, my body goes rigid and trembles uncontrollably for a full three seconds from the shock.

“Sorry,” I mumble at Liam, and this time I’m the one not meeting his eyes.

That was way too intense for my British sensibilities. I’m going to have to suck it up before Monday, though, because this needs to go flawlessly.

I turn and walk out of the living room back to where we came from, and when I get to the hallway I see CJ, Wolf, Hawk, and Derek all standing around with big suitcases around them.

“What are you doing here?” I call out as I walk to them, and I smile so they forget about the harsh tone I couldn’t control.

I feel actual fear when Wolf points over my shoulder and nods. “We’re here for him. ”

“What?” I demand, and okay, maybe it sounds a bit shrill and hysterical, but really, would anyone blame me?

“We booked him for two days,” Hawk says, and his always happy and cheery tone makes me breathe easier even though I still don’t understand what they’re talking about.

“Booked for what?” I mumble, turning back to look at Liam when I feel him coming up behind me.

“To play the piano, silly,” Hawk says, looking at me like he’s surprised I’m this clueless.

Can’t blame him.

“Mr. CJ,” Milton’s voice comes from behind us. “I hope you had a good flight?” he asks while he’s already walking over to take a couple of bags.

“It was fine,” CJ tells him with a soft smile. “You can leave those, Milton, we’ll carry them.”

“Nonsense,” he says breezily and starts rolling bags to the back of the brownstone. “The elevator will do just fine. I made sure the two suites were aired out and put new bedding on the beds, and dinner is ready in the dining room for all of you.”

“Wait, you knew they were coming?” I finally catch up.

He only hums and keeps walking down the hallway.

I don’t even think about restraining my scowl when I look back at CJ.

“What the hell? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“Can you save the verbal sparring until we’re eating?” Derek interrupts whatever asinine excuse CJ was about to give me—there’s no good reason for him not to have told me he was coming.

Of course, it’s his house, and I would never even think of being mad about him coming to visit, but we’re best friends for fuck’s sake. Why wouldn’t he tell me?

“I’m starving too,” Wolf grumbles.

“Fine, come on.” I wave a hand at them and lock eyes with Liam. I feel the words bubbling up and I can’t stop them, though I don’t know if I would’ve if I could’ve. “Stay for dinner?” I whisper, looking him straight in the eyes again.

It seems like only yesterday he couldn’t look me in the eyes for more than a couple of seconds, and hell, maybe it was only yesterday, but now he holds eye contact like a pro.

“If that’s what you want,” he whispers.

“Please,” I say just to show him I do.

“Then I’ll stay.”

We all file into the dining room, and sit silently while the four newcomers pile food onto their plates like they’ve been starved for a week and not only a few hours.

The worst thing is, they probably had something to eat on the damn plane.

CJ might’ve sold his family’s private jets, but the Storms can’t really just go on commercial flights. Not even their bodyguards would help in those situations.

Speaking of. “Where are Rich and Tate?” I ask about them.

“At the Certon down the block,” Hawk mumbles with his mouth full. It would be disgusting on anyone else, but he has this superpower of making everything he does look endearing.

“We have two more rooms here, you know,” I point out to CJ with raised eyebrows.

He nods without looking up, somehow knowing I’m talking to him .

“I know, and they know too, but we wanted to give them their space and the night off.”

That sounds like them.

“Now, will you explain yourself?” I demand, not able to put it off any longer.

CJ barely looks up and his shoulders droop. He’s sure doing his best to look like a kicked puppy, but I’m immune to it from him.

“Milton is worried about you,” he says quickly, like a confession.

“When he called about his thoughts on the brownstone, he said how much time you’re spending at work and that you only come home to sleep and then you’re right back at it.

So I was planning on sending Wolf to annoy you into being social. ”

I scoff at that. If anything, hanging out with Wolf all day would make me more antisocial.

“I know, I know,” CJ continues. “That wasn’t my best plan, but... a few things changed,” he says mysteriously. CJ is a straightforward man; hedging isn’t really his style.

“What things?” I press, narrowing my eyes at him.

“We knew we needed Liam,” Wolf pipes in, and now I know something is going on, but I’ll get it out of CJ eventually.

“For what?” I ask again.

“I told you how I wouldn’t have time tomorrow or on Friday, right?” Liam speaks for the first time, his voice low. He’s looking down at his glass of water this time.

“Yes.”

“It’s to work with them.”

“What do they have to do with ESoothe?” I ask, seriously confused .

“No, my other work.”

“You have another job? How did I not know this?” I mumble almost to myself.

“I—” He starts to explain, but Wolf interrupts, again . God, he’s lucky I love his surly arse.

“Liam here is basically the best piano player in the world.”

“Well—”

“One of them at least.” Wolf interrupts Liam again, and now he’s really grating on my nerves. “It’s an industry secret that when you want your track to have some sick keys, you call Liam and he records it. All of the big musicians use him and fly to New York so they get to work with him.”

“Yeah,” Hawk adds happily. “We’ve been asking him to play for us since our first album. On two or three songs, depending, but this one is big,” he finishes with his eyes wide open, looking earnestly at Liam.

I turn back to Liam who looks sheepish, no trace of his frown this time.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whisper the question.

He shrugs. “No one outside the industry really knows. I’m credited with an alias in all those songs.”

“Not even...” I trail off, feeling like my friends don’t really deserve to know this. Yes, I’m being petty, I know that.

“No, he doesn’t know.”

“How is that possible?” I press, my voice slightly higher this time. They just said he helped them with their first album which came out almost twenty years ago... when they were all teenagers.

God, they’re all such overachievers .

It’s as annoying as it is inspiring, but I regress. If he’s been doing it for that long, then he was for sure doing it while he was in a relationship with the grave robber.

“My parents told me it might be best to not tell anyone,” he says, like it’s that simple.

Something about that has my heart racing.

Maybe it’s the fact that even all those years with the Dick didn’t give Liam enough trust in him to be completely honest.

Okay, maybe it doesn’t bother me. It’s actually a good thing, unless...

“Is that why you didn’t tell me before?” I nod my head in the general direction of the living room.

“Honestly, it didn’t even occur to me because my life is mostly filled with ESoothe. I doubted this would come up, but now I know it will.”

“So you knew they were coming?” I nod at my friends.

“I did, but I didn’t—” He stops himself and looks pained. “I didn’t connect the dots, that you would see them or talk to them. I never thought about it, sorry.”

I can barely hear that last word with how low he whispers, and I feel like an arse.

“It’s okay,” I assure him, and pat his hand on top of the table before I can stop myself.

I even squeeze it.

“Soooooo,” Hawk draws out the word in his patented little shit voice. “What’s going on with you guys ?”

I don’t turn away from Liam. I wish I didn’t have to ask out loud, but we’re not at the mind-reading stage of our friendship yet .

“Is it okay if I tell them?” I ask quietly.

“Yes.” He nods once, and I pull my hand back, straighten in my seat and look at them all with their stupid-arse faces.

They get stupider the more I talk, and by the end I’m half laughing at them while I finish the story.

“So, we’re going to this ball thing on Monday to show that arsehole that Liam’s better off without him. Liam’s gonna get his deal done, and then he can put the grave robber behind him for good.”

Wolf bursts out laughing.

“Grave robber,” he repeats between chuckles. “That’s priceless.”

“It’s what I’ve been calling him in my head since yesterday,” I admit.

“I’m going to call Aunt Lyla. I bet she can get us some tickets to that thing,” Hawk declares and stands as he gets out his phone from his hoodie.

“Yes,” CJ speaks again. “We’ll be there to support you, Liam.”

“And help sell the story that Carter has been your boyfriend for two years,” Derek adds drily.

They all laugh again, but I’m stuck on CJ’s words.

He said support Liam , not me, and that makes me forget about how he’s been scheming with Milton behind my back.

Well not forget it, really, but be grateful for it.

“We need to figure out if Adam and Mike are going so you can tell them too—” CJ gets into organization mode and leaves the room as well .

Derek and Wolf are still shoveling food into their mouths, the sudden silence clearly doesn’t bother them in the least.

Derek’s been like that ever since Adam introduced us during our Freshman year at Cavendish more than a decade ago, and Wolf has been too as far as I know. It’s why it was so easy for them to become the best of friends when they met in LA.

I’m glad to see them back to being their usual selves now that they’re over their whole friendship breakup that happened when Wolf was in rehab. The natural order is them being grumpy together and communicating with grunts.

Which they do right now, and they even turn to nod at each other at the same time, which is creepy. Almost like they can read each other’s thoughts. I’m about to make some snarky remark, since that’s how I communicate with them, when Liam stands abruptly.