“Infinitely.”
He offered his hand. “Ready for ice cream?”
I intertwined my fingers with his. “Lead the way.”
The air had cooled, and faint sounds carried across the lake. A few porch lights glowed in the distance, and somewhere down the block someone laughed loudly.
Above us the sky stretched wide and clear, a myriad of stars scattered across it.
I tilted my head back to look. “Wow. You don’t see them this clearly in Albany.”
“No,” he said softly. “I’m sure you don’t.”
We kept walking, his hand large and warm around mine. My thumb brushed against the side of his hand without me entirely meaning to do it.
He tightened his grip slightly.
Ugh. I was absolutely catching feelings. It was becoming increasingly difficult to deny.
It probably should have been alarming, but as I walked down a quiet Adirondack street in my comfy sandals with Liam Beltane holding my hand under a sky full of stars, it mostly just felt…
Really good.
Chapter 25
Liam
The building lookedlike a dentist’s office, which seemed appropriate because every instinct in my body insisted that walking inside was going to hurt.
I sat in my truck for another minute anyway.
The card Connor had handed me at the bar rested on the center console. I had already read it three times. The letters had not changed.
Shifter Support Group
Tuesdays
7:00 PM
The clock on my dashboard read 6:58. I kept my hands still on the steering wheel and told myself that if I stayed in the truck another two minutes, it would count as trying. I’d have made an effort. After that I could leave, head back to the lodge, and return to the system of routines that had kept my life contained for years, that I’d managed so carefully that being alone had started to feel interchangeable with being safe.
Beside me, Zoey sat with one knee pulled slightly toward her chest, scrolling through something on her phone.
She had insisted on coming.
“I’m not going inside,” she had said on the drive over. “But I can sit in the car and provide moral support. Or sarcastic commentary. Whichever proves more useful.”
Now, she glanced up from her screen and studied my face. “You look like you’re about to be executed.”
“I’m considering leaving.”
“That seems premature.”
“I’ve technically already arrived.”
“Liam, this is not how bravery works,” she said matter-of-factly, calmly. Not pushing, just present.
I looked at the small building across the parking lot, its windows glowing a soft yellow against the dark. People moved inside, talking. The whole place carried the easy warmth of something shared. My chest constricted slightly.
