Again, with the people pleasing.
No.You’re doing him a favor,I chastise myself.Your house, your rules. Your house, your vibes, I chant to myself as I go about watering and dusting all my plants in the guest room, making sure to put their favorite Vitamin String Quartet playlist on. He’s moving into my space, who cares if he thinks it’s a mess.
Making my way to the plants in my living room, I’m interrupted by the doorbell ringing.
The moment of truth.
Not only will I be seeing Liam after years of avoiding him, but I’ll be living with him for an indeterminate period of time. Ronan told me that the doctors are expecting him to be good to go home around February or March, but who knows how long his leg could take to heal. If he’s still a grumpy know-it-all like he was when I knew him, his healing isn’t going to be the easiest process.
When he was seventeen, he dislocated his shoulder—tearing and damaging some muscle—but he refused to listen to his physiotherapist and doctors and had to stay in physiotherapy for an extra three months due to having reinjured himself.
He better not do that this time.
There’s another knock against my front door, followed by some loud voices. One I recognize as Ronan, the other, deeper one, I can only assume belongs to Liam.
I don’t remember his voice being so gruff.
With a deep breath, I drop my watering can on the light brown Ikea coffee table I have sitting in the middle of my living room, and slowly make my way to open the front door, proud that Gigi hasn’t said a word yet.
“Squirt! About time you open your damn door!” I hear, right before I’m pulled into a big bear hug, courtesy of my big brother. “What were you doing?” he asks, pushing his way around me, carrying a duffle bag, to my small entryway leading into my living room, where he spots my watering can. “Ah! Taking care of your babies I see.” Forall his faults and annoying habits, he’s never questioned my obsession with plants. Cassie, my sister-in-law, walks in behind him with an eye roll, dropping a kiss on my cheek, before she carries the grocery bags she has in her hands to my kitchen.
Caught up in the tornado that is Ronan, I don’t realize that I’m left standing here with Liam. A Liam that is clearly unhappy and uncomfortable standing on my front porch in crutches after a long ride. “Are you going to let me in . . .Squirt?” he asks sarcastically. “Or just watch me stand here?” he continues, in a curt tone accompanied by a look that’s just asking me to shut the door in his face.
Good to know he hasn’t changed since I last saw him.
Rolling my eyes, I turn around and wave him in. He wants to be an ass when I’m doing him a favor? He can figure out how to close the door himself.
“Sure, come in. Make yourself at home. Your bedroom is the first door on the right, past the kitchen. I’m sure my brother will show you around,” I tell him dismissively, and go back to caring for my plants, mumbling about what a dick he is. But I keep looking at him out of the corner of my eye—I can’t help it; I haven’t seen him in years. For a moment, my heart hurts for him as I watch him struggle to make the few steps past me. He’s no longer the sure-footed guy I used to know.
However, he’ll be quick to learn that even though I might still be as quiet as I used to be, that I’d still rather be in the background, I’m not as shy anymore. Over the years, especially after spending more and more time with Cassie, Ronan’s wife, I’ve learned to not let people walkall over me. Or, I’ve tried to—old habits die hard, though. But that doesn’t mean I don’t deserve respect. Especially in my own home.
My house is like my little sanctuary where I get to be unapologetically me, and he’d better respect that.
Thankfully this arrangement is only for a few months, then he’s back home, far away from me. Back to his life, and leaving me to live on my own.
Chapter 2
I feel my jaw drop as she leaves me standing there with an eye roll. I never thought I’d see the day where little Sloane Callahan would roll her eyes at me. I can’t say I knew what to expect from her, given I haven’t seen her in years. I can definitely say I was not expecting an eye roll, though.
Or for her to look so, so . . . grown up. She has grown quite a bit since the last time I was in the same room with her, over seven years ago. I’d say if she’s not eye to eye with my six-foot-one-inch frame, she’s not far from it, and it’s all shapely legs. I have to admit, she grew up to be a gorgeous woman, with all that long dark-brown hair. She’s gorgeous, and wicked smart, from what Ronan has been saying about her over the years. Not that I didn’t already know that.
“You coming in, Liam, or you just gonna stand there?” Ronan asks, giving me a look I can’t decipher. Shit, I don’t even see Sloane anymore. How long have I been standing here not moving?
Awkwardly closing the door behind me, I hobble my way into the living room, trying to hide my wince at everystep I take. Sitting in the car for an extended period of time was not a good idea. My leg is throbbing and the scars are pulling like they never have before at every step. I need my pills and a bed.
I make my way further into the house and my jaw drops as I take in the dozens upon dozens of plants littering every wall, window, and available space in the living room, taking my mind off my pain for a split second.
“She might have a slight obsession,” Cassie explains. “Your room is down the hall. And before you ask, yes, it has plants. Just go with it.”
There’s no way in hell I’m living in a room full of plants.
Leading me down the hall at a slow pace, past what looks like a home office, a bathroom, and what I’m assuming is Sloane’s bedroom, Cassie pushes open the last door on the right . . .
You have got to be fucking kidding me. The kid has plantseverywhere. She’d better not expect me to take care of these, and she better not expect to be allowed in my room—
She better come get these out of here—now.
I hate having people in my space. It’s bad enough I have to live with her, but there are going to have to be boundaries set somewhere, and this will be one of them.
