Page 76 of Best Kind of Trouble
I lead them into the back, making sure the kegs were dropped off in the right place, and then into the barrel room. The soft lighting and beautiful garland-draped barrels remind me of the effort Liam went to the day he and Otis set this up, and guilt sneaks into my veins as my friends get settled—Sophie and Hannah on the chairs, Nora on a barrel.
I sigh as I pour them glasses of the latest beer Liam brought in for me to try—a delicious spring beer with a hint of elderberry and lemon verbena. After handing them out, I take a seat on another of the empty barrels.
“So what are you doing for the holidays, Nora?” Hannah asks. “Let us live vicariously.”
Nora takes a swig from her drink. “I’m sorry to report that my mom and I are having the Peebles men over for Christmas dinner.”
“You’re complaining about dinner with Eugene?” Hannah asks. “Howdareyou. I love that salty bastard.”
“Well, you’re more than welcome to cancel your trip and join us. Mom’s making meatloaf.”
I sigh. “That sounds nice. I hate spending Christmas with my parents. They always invite some investor or someone they want to impress and dress me up like a doll.”
“Ugh, I’m adding another plate for you.” Nora waves her glass at me. “I’m not joking. You’ll be saving me, and I’ll be saving you. You heard what Liam said about Cormac. He’s going to spend all night talking about his high school science project. I’ll need to get hammered just to get through it alive.”
“I might actually take you up on that.”
“Good,” she says, smiling, then gestures her glass toward the door. “You can ask Liam to come if you want. I’ll even let him give me a hard time about my ginger beer. Brewers love to gab about how their stuff is better.”
“He probably would too,” Hannah grumbles. “But I’ll tell you right now, he won’t come. He hates Christmas.”
“Yes, damn all those happy people with their presents and smiles,” Sophie says with an easy grin.
But suddenly my heart is beating hard. My intuition tells me this is significant for some reason.
“Why?” I ask, my gaze on Hannah.
She shrugs. “His ex-girlfriend’s birthday was on Christmas. It reminds him of her. He always gets tanked. Even when he’s around family. He was supposed—” She cuts herself off.
“He has an ex-girlfriend?” I ask, dumbfounded. “But you said…”
She waves a hand. “Yeah, I know, but this was a long time ago. It’s been years since he’s dated anyone for longer than a month. He doesn’t like it when I talk about his ex, though, so I’ve probably said too much.”
The conversation moves on, but I don’t…
Liam has an ex-girlfriend.
He cared about her enough that he hates Christmas because it reminds him of her.
He hasn’t dated anyone seriously since they broke up, which means he hasn’t moved on.
Nausea twists my stomach, putting me in danger of a Code V.
Stupid girl.
I thought something special was building between us, but maybe that’s just the way it feels when you spend every day with someone, working toward the same goal. For all I know, I’m no more important to him than any other part of Silver Star. The paint. The mortar. The?—
The twinkling lights arranged over the barrels catch my eye. He didn’t need to help Otis put this room together for me. It was nowhere in his job description. He also didn’t need to watchRockywith me or sing to the beer.
Working on this room was like giving me a big bear hug. Maybe I don’t mean as much to him as this Christmas girl, but I mean something. We’re friends, at least.
But the way he kissed me…
That wasn’t the way you kiss a friend.
I wrap my arms around my chest, which doesn’t ease the confused ache in my chest.
Hannah and Sophie leave—Hannah with anoh shit,because she’s running late—but Nora hasn’t finished her beer yet, so she agrees to stay for another five minutes.
