“I know, Peaches, don’t worry.”
He gives my hand a reassuring squeeze before returning his attention to navigating the throngs of people on the platform while mine stays glued to the harsh worry lines rimming the edge of his mouth. A sudden halt in our steps jerks me back to alert, and I pull my eyes off his gold flecks and soft pillow lips to find the Eiffel Tower shining in the distance.
Illuminated throughout, it stands sharply against the black expanse of sky. Light and shadows meld together to turn the harsh iron latticework into a crocheted piece of lace, delicately weaving the golden strands together through the darkness.
Liam’s mouth hangs slightly agape, attention devoted to the tower. Pride warms my chest to be a part of this with him. No one forgets their first time.
Montmartre at midnight. That was mine.
The hopeless romantic that I was, I opted to hike the stairs of Sacré-Coeur, pivoting for a glance of the city at the top. The soft serenade of a violin playing “Sous le Ciel de Paris”in a nearby apartment accompanied the reveal, stealing my breath and my heart in an instant.
The soft voice of a street performer nearby breaks me out of my revelry as it floats over the general chaos of this platform. I strain my ears trying to pick up the song. It’s vaguely familiar, but maybe the acoustic guitar is throwing me off. Almost like it’s—yup, that’s the Rick Astley song. Nice. Very Parisian.
I stand at Liam’s side, watching him in whatever semblance of a moment he has through the music choice. The harsh worried lines rimming his mouth relax, and a heaviness in my chest lightens.
“Nana would have loved this,” he whispers.
“She really would have.” I breathe out. My gaze roams over the illuminated waters of the garden fountains below the platform.
“Are we getting RickRolled right now?” he asks, a strong dose of humor in his voice, eyes still trained forward.
“Yes. Yes, we are. I’m so sorry that’s what’s playing during your first time.”
“Company isn’t half bad.”
Liam’s pinky finger brushes against mine, lightly curling around it. I fight the pull to glance down, keeping my gaze out in front of us, roaming over the groups of tourists posing for pictures. Couples. Families. Friends. Girls’ night out. An engagement unfolding. Chaos whirls around us, and yet there’s a beat of silence in our little bubble. A tiny truce.
Anxiety roils in the pit of my stomach. He’s right, Nana would have loved this, but she would have hated us.
Who Liam and I became.
How so many things came between us. That we’re all but strangers at best and the greatest adversaries at our worst.
It’s okay that you like being alone, Evelina, but that boy needs you as much as you’ll need him when I’m not here anymore. Life will throw curveballs at you all along your journey, but if you have your friends and you support each other, every little thing will turn out alright.
I’m not sure Nana knew the curveballs life would hurl my way would be more like getting pelted with paintballs repeatedly without any protective gear, but I can’t help but feel like she has a hand in all this—in pushing us back together, here. When I need him now more than ever to get through this wedding.
“Thank you for coming to my rescue multiple times, especially after I was horrid to you.” I sigh. “I’m going to try my best not to jump to conclusions anymore, I promise. If you owe me anything, I at least owe you that.”
He smiles softly, and his left dimple puckers his cheek. “Can’t say I was exactly a knight in shining armor with that rescue but you’re welcome.”
“I’d have been worried there was an invasion-of-the-body-snatchers situation unraveling if you didn’t tease me while you were helping. But I’m sorry for getting us into another situation, I’m sure this isn’t what you wanted to do on your Friday night.”
“Honestly, standing here with you right now kind of makes up for it, even if I had told Harmony this morning I had work to do tonight.”
My brows furrow. “How—but—you met her tonight.”
Liam threads a hand through his hair, still not acknowledging our interlocked fingers. “She DM’d me on Instagram earlier, followed it from the tag in the photo or something. Said if I wanted someone to show me around Paris, she would be more than happy to.”
A jealous heat flushes through my body. Harmony came into the bar pretending to be so happy for my relationship, and the whole time she sat there, she’d already planted the seeds to steal Liam away. I’d say it’s reassuring to find at least one person from my past hasn’t changed but— “That bitch.” The words bypass my filter with mortifying speed. Heat rises to my cheeks, and my embarrassment makes it damn near impossible to meet Liam’s eyes.
We’re not together. This reaction is entirely unwarranted.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, finally forcing my gaze his way. “I know this isn’t real and I have no right to be jealous. It’s just, she doesn’t know that.”
He snorts. “You can let her know I’m very taken if you want, Peaches.”
“You know what? Maybe I will.” I fight back the muscles wanting to tense around our locked fingers. Harmony’s just like the girls who swarmed Liam at the college bar. The type of person who felt confident enough to wear figure-flattering outfits because they didn’t have to worry about their endo belly and sported perfectly tousled hair because they had the energy to expend on it. An ugly, unsettling feeling swelled in my chest, knowing they were everything I wasn’t, everything Caroline wanted me to be, and Liam didn’t desert and torture.
