Liam glanced at me like I was an irritant he was only just noticing. “Fans like their autographs,” he said slowly.
“On their boobs?” I groaned. “Please.”
“Some of the women I’ve met really know and love the game,” he said.
“True.” I glared at him. “Some women do. But those women don’t normally give out their personal phone numbers, do they?”
“I don’t mind.”
“I’m sure you don’t.” I wanted to wipe off his amused expression. “What man doesn’t mind a woman who throws her bra, her number—and herself—at him? Personally, I don’t find an athlete attractive.”
“Oh yeah?” His green eyes assessed me. “What’s your type?”
“Smart,” I snapped. “Serious about things that matter—like protecting the planet, or saving koalas from extinction, or making sure everyone has access to clean water.”
“Liam’s really into the environment, too,” Hunter said. “Maybe you two can…”
“We can’t,” Liam said quickly.
He shut me down.
That stung.
And yet…I couldn’t look away from his irritatingly confident stare.
Our staring turned to glaring, and then it felt almost…sexual. Like the way I’d feel if I were having hate sex with someone. Yet Liam and I weren’t even touching.
Someone at the table changed the subject, and the moment was broken.
So we’re not exactly enemies, but we’re far from friendly.
Liam stares back at me now, his normally stormy green eyes soft with what I perceive as pity. “Haley?”
His southern accent gets me every time. Slow and sexy. I never thought I cared about a Southern accent until I met him.
“Hey, Liam.”
He immediately bends down to retrieve my glasses, which he hands over to me.
“Thank you,” I get out while I thank God for small favors that the glasses aren’t broken.
He picks up my suitcase next from where it had fallen a foot away from me. I take the handle from him and secure the suitcase next to me.
“Are you okay?”
I wipe at my eyes again before putting my glasses back on my face. “I’m…doing fine.”
He bends down again and then hands me a tissue from the little pink backpack at his feet.
“Um, thanks.” I laugh shakily and make a quick attempt to both stop my crying and also blot the tears on my cheeks with the tissue.
When I think the worst of the waterworks are under control, I shove the used tissue into my purse and look up at Liam again.
His lips turn down in a frown. “You’re not okay.” He says it in the gentlest tone I’ve ever heard out of a man.
I suck in a breath.
Shit. With three simple words, this man just took my air.
