“Yes.”
“If anyone can survive economic uncertainty, it’s you, Ben. So, fuck it. Show our daughter that you don’t give a shit about other people’s opinions of you. And, if you insist on being with thisgirl…” There it was! The dramatic eyeroll coupled with a twist ofthe mouth! “Make sure it counts. She’ll never respect you again if you toss this new girl aside the way you did Liam.”
Oh, no, he was grinding his teeth again. “Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself? Is it really Drew you mean?”
Sydney checked her phone before putting it back into her bag. “Like mother, like daughter.”
Oh, he was in it now.
Chapter 15
Eden
“You know, Icouldmove in with Ben.” She had that on her mind as Liam watched her clean out the top shelf in her closet.I have too much shit for such a small space.She looked into a box of scarves she was convinced she needed back in college, but should probably now donate. “But won’t you get jealous?”
He was curled up in her beanbag chair that she often forgot she had.I got that so I could lounge with a book.Turned out, she’d rather read in her bathtub or on the loveseat. Cuddled up against Liam’s chest was one of her bed pillows that she had stolen on a lark.He looks quite comfortable.Unlike Eden, who was getting too hot in her sweatshirt after tackling some spring cleaning on that otherwise lovely Friday afternoon.
“Why would I be jealous about my two favorite people in the same place?”
She dangled two scarves from her hands as she turned toward him. “Because then he’ll have me all to himself. No more asking me out or if I’m available. Don’t tell me you won’t get a little jealous.”
“You’re not thinking this through.” Liam stretched the full length of his body, pillow pushing against his stomach. “You’ll be with himevery night,assuming I haven’t stolen you away. So, that means you have to deal with Ben at his worst. He can’t hide it from you. Imagine a world where he snores every night and has IBS around you. Ask him what he thinks about Mexican food.”
“He has IBS?”
“Doesn’t everyone now?”
“Hmph. You would know.”
“What’s that mean?”
Eden dumped one of the scarves into a paper bag marked for donations. The other one wrapped around Liam’s neck when she approached him. “It means you know all of his dirty business, and I’m still learning.”
“When I was practically living with him,” Liam continued, coiling the scarf around his arm for Eden to fetch, “he was the one with the 9-5, and my hours were eitherwork dinneror like two hours of meeting up with Wyatt or nothing at all. I ended up cookingso manyof his dinners for him. Like, he never asked me to. I just did it because it made sense for me to make dinner if I didn’t want his ass eating takeout every night. I don’t wanna eat takeout every night!”
Eden straddled his lap, knees digging into the beanbag chair as she rubbed the pastel scarf between their arms. “Me neither. He seems the type, though.”
“Which means you’ll be cooking for him all the time.”
“He cooks breakfast all the time.”
“Look, I’m not knocking what the man does do around the house. But you’re gonna be laundering his boxers, too.”
“I’m assuming he keeps them clean, at least.”
“Thank God.”
She put both of her palms against his chest, enjoying that the warmer weather brought out short sleeves on both of her boyfriends.Don’t you cut a nice T-shirt, Mr. Ashe?Eden had to remind herself that there was cleaning to do. Flirting could come later.
“I don’t mind,” she said. “I need to improve my cooking skills.”
“Hey, if you don’t mind…”
“What?”
Liam folded his hands behind his head. “I’d be a little jealous. Not just him having you to himself so much… the other way around, too.”
I figured as much.“Maybe you should move in with us. Let’s all get a bigger place together. I don’t even need my own room.” That was a lie. Eden wanted her own room, or at least her own space where she could do whatever she wanted. “We’ll take turns cooking because our big Ben is such a hardworking man and you’re like… doing whatever it is you do.”
