Page 98 of Over the Line

To my surprise, he replied quickly.

Same to you. It’s good here. How are things with you?

It’s been a blast. Good to spend some time with my kids.

Glad you’re having a good time. It’s been awesome having my parents here.

I bet. Some downtime for once!

My fingers tingled with the impulse to add “I miss you” and “I can’t wait to see you again.” That all felt like too much. And it felt irrationally like an incantation; like if I said those words or typed them and put them out there into the universe, my kids would remember all our bullshit and kick me out.

Then Liam responded.

NGL, I wish I could spend some of this downtime with you.

My throat tightened around my breath. Fucking hell.

Me too. We’ll have some time after you get back from Miami, though, right?

You better believe it.

I exhaled. Glanced at my kids, who were laughing as they watched that childhood classic on Chris’s huge flat-screen. Lowered my gaze to my phone.

Fuck it.

Want to FaceTime later?

The response was almost instantaneous.

YES.

I huffed a relieved laugh, which my kids fortunately didn’t notice.

Text you around 10?

I’ll be here.

It was closer to 11:00 when I got home. The kids had wanted to watch the live-action Grinch movie next, and then we’d all gotten carried away, laughing and talking until way too late.

It was perfect, and I loved every minute.

As soon as I left, though, I couldn’t get home fast enough. I texted Liam from Chris’s parking lot, letting him know I’d be home in twenty. Then I spent the whole drive home listening for the ping of a response, my heart pounding and my stomach sinking with every mile that passed without one. By the time I pulled into my apartment’s garage, my phone was still quiet.

Damn. I’d missed him, hadn’t I? He’d gone to bed already. They didn’t have practice tomorrow for once, but he was probably indulging in the chance to sleep for⁠—

Ping.

I almost dropped my damn phone. After fumbling it, I finally got it upright and looked at the screen.

Liam

Just got free myself. Ready whenever you are.

Closing my eyes, I exhaled a relieved cloud into the cold night. It wasn’t a big deal. Really, it wasn’t. If we missed each other tonight, we’d just reconnect later. It happened.

But we hadn’t missed each other, and suddenly I couldn’t get into my apartment fast enough.

Less than two minutes after I’d parked, I was sitting against my headboard with the FaceTime request sent to Liam.