Me:I’m glad. It was nice to have her there.
Liam:So what else did you do today? Or was the rogue pregnancy test the highlight?
I started to reply but saw the dots bouncing again so I waited.
Liam:I know the game wasn’t the highlight.
I winced.
Me:The game was not the highlight, though your goal was quite nice.
Liam:Quite nice. How effusive of you.
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face.
Me:That’s a pretty big word for a dumb jock.
The grin slipped when the phone started to ring in my hand. Crap. I stared at Liam’s name on the screen for a long moment, frozen with nerves. Finally, I tapped the accept button and brought it to my ear.
“Hello?” I said uncertainly, wondering if maybe he’d called on accident while texting.
“Who are you calling a dumb jock?” God, the sound of his voice, so low and gravely, right in my ear had goosebumps erupting over my skin. I sank back into the pillows, cradling the phone against my cheek.
“Pretty sure I never said that. You must have been texting someone else.”
His low chuckle made my tummy dip. “So, what else did you do today? Besides watch our shitty game?”
“I found a new restaurant!”
“And you sound very excited about it.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“I am! Finding good restaurants is one of my very favorite things about living in Austin.”
“Yeah?”
“Definitely. There are so many great places around here to eat and hang out. Before I got here, I’d never tried so many different kinds of foods.”
“Yeah, Minnesota isn’t exactly known for our exotic palette.”
I giggled. “But you have to admit the hotdish is pretty good.”
“Hotdish,” he half moaned. “God, I haven’t had it in forever. I’m going to have to get my mom to cook it when my parents come down.”
Thinking about his mother gave me a little pang in my chest. Leigh O’Conner had always been so good to me. I had a feeling Liam had told her about my shitty home life—she seemed like the type of woman who found joy in looking after strays.
She always made sure I stuck around a while to chat after our tutoring sessions, usually arguing with me until I stayed for dinner—which, unsurprisingly, was very often hotdish, the creamy casserole consisting of canned soup, veggies, ground beef, and tater tots, a much-loved staple in Minnesota. Sometimes Mrs. O’Conner would leave little treats by my purse where I left it in the mudroom, fresh baked cookies or fancy little soaps she thought I’d like. Once she’d even knitted me a new scarf.
I still had that scarf in my closet, even though Austin had never gotten cold enough to wear it in all the time I’d lived here. I couldn’t bring myself to part with it.
“Where’d you go?” Liam murmured over the line.
I cleared my throat. “Just thinking about your mom.”
“She would love to see you when they’re here,” he said, and his voice sounded suddenly husky.
“I would like that.”
Silence stretched between us for a long moment, and I wondered if he was remembering the same things I was. I wondered if those memories made his heart twinge in quite the same way.
