I almost asked why he didn’t ask his parents—anyone other than me, really—but I remembered vaguely that they’d never gotten along all that well.
We had that in common.
“I dunno what to tell you,” I said. “I was never really from here. I never really felt like I wasfromanywhere.”
After Mom and Dad had gotten divorced, Dad had moved seven times in ten years for work, and even Mom moved twice. Otter Bay was the one constant, but I was only here a few weeks a year. I’d never felt like it was any kind of… hometown, or anything.
“Tell me the world’s bigger than this place?” he asked.
Another time, I might have laughed. Of course it was, Liam had to know that, he wasn’tcompletelystupid.
But the sound of his voice made me hesitate. This was a man confiding in me.
Why the hell he’d confide inme, of all people, was a mystery. But it was happening all the same.
“It is,” I said. “You should get out and see it.”
Liam nodded, and I was rescued from any further conversation by someone else approaching the bar.
Once I’d escaped with the drinks, I picked my way through the crowd to get back to the table, slipping into my spot on the long bench next to Iggy.
“What were you talking to Liam about?” Iggy asked as I handed him his drink.
“Uh. He asked me what I studied in college,” I said. “I get the feeling he’s going through some things.”
Iggy nodded, setting his drink down on the table and rubbing his hands together.
“You cold?” I asked, reaching out to touch him.
I hissed as soon as the back of my hand made contact with his icy skin.
“Little bit,” he murmured, shivering.
“Iggy, you’refreezing,” I said, unwinding my scarf and shrugging out of my coat. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Stubbornness,” Iggy said. “Didn’t want to hear anI told you so.”
“You’re so lucky you’re cute.” I sighed, standing and wrapping him in my coat.
He made an unhappy sound as I wound the scarf around his neck, making sure it was high enough to cover his ears—also ice-cold—and tucking it into the front of the coat to keep the warmth in.
“Nowyou’regonna freeze,” Iggy complained, bundled up like a kid in his winter coat.
He was adorable like this.
“The tip of your nose goes red when you’re cold,” I said, grinning at him. “That’s enough to keep me warm.”
Iggy huffed, breath fogging in front of him. Itwascold out here, I just hadn’t noticed before now. That coat had gotten me through a lot of chilly winters—I’d bought it for my first job in Chicago, which just happened to fall in January.
I was willing to bet Otter Bay winters hadnothingon that.
I sat back down and took both of his hands in mine, rubbing them together to work some warmth into them, ignoring the petulant pout.
Well, ninety percent ignoring it, ten percent thinking about biting it.
Hewascute like this, freezing cold or not.
“NoI told you so?”Iggy asked after a few moments, finally meeting my eyes.
