“That shouldn’t help, but it really does. Thank you. Liam, you’ve been a total dickhead, but saying that, I think this relationship was fizzling out anyway, and I did kiss someone else behind your back. That was wrong and I’m sorry. Anyway, please could I have my key back?”
He plods off toward the bedroom and Bianca and I wait in silence until he returns, placing my flat key into the palm of my hand.
“Great, well, I should go.”
“Wait, Harper,” Liam says, grabbing my arm, “are you sure you don’t want to talk things through? It feels sad to break up in this way.”
“I’m not sure there’s much to talk about, Liam, because there’s a half-naked girl on your sofa. I think we can agree this is over and the best thing to do is to wish each other luck and move on.”
He looks downcast. “Can I call or message you? I have things I want to say.”
I glance at Bianca. She shrugs, looking as bewildered as I feel.
“Um… maybe message, if you’d really like.”
“Thank you,” he says in a gratingly austere manner.
He holds his arms out to me, and I realize he wants a hug, which I guess is appropriate if we want to end this amicably. And even though I’m disgusted that he’s been shagging Bianca, I want out of this relationship, and there’s no need to make this even more excruciatingly awkward than it already is. I hug him back and he holds me tighter than I was expecting, causing me to stumble as he pulls me closer.
“Thanks for everything,” he whispers into my hair. “I’m so sorry this didn’t work out.”
“Me too,” I reply, hoping he’ll release me soon. “Goodbye, Liam.”
He squeezes me once more, before giving me a forceful kiss on the cheek and then letting me go from his grasp. I step back, smile at him, and then head toward the door, desperate to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.
I’m moments from freedom when he calls out, “Harper, wait!” causing me to stop in the doorway, forced to turn around again.
“Yes?”
“I just want to check,” he says, his expression brightening, “you’ll still write a profile piece on Halo Skewed, right? They really are fantastic. I think they’re a great fit for the magazine. Oh, and don’t forget about that hot new talent agencies article I pitched.”
I stare at him. “I… I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Great.” He gives me a thumbs-up.
And on that note, I leave, never more grateful to hear a door slam shut behind me.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“When I message Mimi to tell her about the breakup the next morning, she is over at my flat in a flash with some kind of gross green juice that she forces me to drink because, according to her, it is important that I look after myself “during this tumultuous time.”
She doesn’t know the half of it.
Once she’s sat down on my sofa and I’ve had a few gulps of the green sludge, I decide to tell her about the kiss with Ryan, too. I hold back on revealing our history—I’m not ready to go into all of that now, I don’t have the energy—but I tell her about the trip to Manchester and what happened when we got back to his London flat.
“What kind of kiss was it?” she asks, her eyes wide with excitement. “Was it like a tentative peck? Or was it passionate?”
“Wait,” I say, surprised by her reaction. “You’re not shocked that Ryan and I kissed in the first place?”
She shakes her head. “Not at all. Itoldyou there was chemistry there. I called it as soon as I saw the way you two looked at each other in Meeting Room Three! Now… I ask again, what kind of kiss are we talking about here?”
“I was up against the wall.”
She exhales. “Sounds hot.”
“Itwashot. It was the best kiss of my life.”
Which is the absolute truth.
