“What is?” I asked dumbly, the point of the conversation having completely vacated me.
I mean…Liam Danvers in a backward ball cap.Who could fucking blame me?
“The chicken parm sandwich?” he said, though he phrased it more like a question, his eyes narrowing on me. My face flamed, and he must’ve noticed because he added, “Are you okay?”
“Fine!” I said quickly, tone way too high to be believable. “That Rumchata is just working its magic.”
The excuse was lame, and we both knew it, but he let it go.
Desperate for a subject change, I said, “So tell me about this road trip you’re taking.”
Liam’s entire countenance lit up like I’d just flipped a switch on him, and I couldn’t help grinning in response as he launched into his plan, his fingers tracing patterns on the table as though mapping his entire route from here to Portland.
“Your brother is getting married, right?” I asked when he paused his storytelling long enough for Tanya to deliver our food.
Like I’d flipped that earlier switch that lit him up in the opposite direction, Liam’s body language shifted again, stress and tension now lining his shoulders, his jaw muscles jumping as heground his teeth together.
Then he exhaled heavily and said, “Yeah.”
That was it. That single syllable. But I could tell there was a lot he was holding back, and I could also see that pressing the issue would be equivalent to breaking a dam.
I had no desire to see what was on the other side, not when I was still dealing with my own shit.
But I hated the thought of him embarking on that journey alone, knowing he was racing toward something that clearly caused him so much distress.
So I did the only thing I could think of to provide him even a modicum of comfort and ease.
I blurted four words.
“Take me with you.”
Take me with you.
Those words hung in the air between us.
Ella, horrified by her outburst, clapped a hand over her mouth, and I was doing everything I could to not immediately and vehemently agree.
“But why?” I blurted, then mentally punched myself in the face.
My dream girl—who was finally single for the first time in three years—wanted to take this two-week long vacation with me, and I wasquestioning it?
Christ, Danvers. Get your shit together.
I picked up my sandwich and took a massive bite to keep my mouth busy, lest I say something even dumber.
“I…need to get out of here,” she said quietly, her tone toeing the line of pleading. Somehow, I sensed that wasn’t all there was to it, but it was a solid reason nonetheless. She picked up a fry and popped it in her mouth, chewing and swallowing beforecontinuing. “I’ve been doing better since the breakup. But I could really use the chance to regroup away from everything.” She waved a hand in the air, as if to encompass her whole life in Apple Blossom Bay.
Her whole family.
I understood that sentiment well. Hell, isn’t that exactly what I’d done when things with Mellie imploded? I ran away from home and found myself in the middle of nowhere, Michigan. Licking my wounds and making a new name for myself. I knew Ella would return home at the end of the trip. I wasn’t in danger of losing her to some far flung locale like my family had lost me.
But Iwasin danger of losing her, period. If I let the space between us grow further, the chasm opening wider between where we were and where I wanted us to be. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew I had to jump at this chance if I ever wanted things to change between us. If ever there was an opportunity to show this woman how fucking good I could be to her—how perfect we could be together—this was it.
Her calling me tonight had been a good sign, right? That she’d come to me for help when all of her family was busy? She’d been so frazzled when I arrived at the flower shop, and it gave me an extreme sense of pride to know I’d been the one to soothe her.
I’d come to her rescue every goddamn day if she’d let me.
I had to be careful, though. I couldn’t appear too eager, because the last thing Ella needed was me forcing her into something she wasn’t ready for. And I definitely wasn’t the kind of guy to take advantage of her situation.
