Page 29 of Don't Date Your Nemesis

I turned, ready to unleash, but he just stood there, mouth opening and closing, clearly trying to find words that wouldn’t make this worse.

My annoyance increased with each passing second of silence.

And then my stomach growled.

Loudly.

I covered it with my free hand, mortified, and he said quietly, “Let’s grab breakfast.”

I should have said no and walked out, called a cab and gone home and pretended this never happened.

Instead, I heard myself say, “Fine.”

Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I added, “I hope you choke.”

His laugh was softer this time, almost fond. “There she is.”

He released my wrist, and I hated how much I missed the contact.

I’m so screwed.

9

SHE SAID YES

LIAM

I had fucked up.

The words had left my mouth and watched Deepika’s face transform from flushed and playful to distant in the span of a heartbeat.

It was like watching a door slam shut in my face.

I regretted it immediately. It was cruel, yes, but I also saw the flash of genuine pain in her eyes before she locked it away and buried it deep. It was the pain that came from a wound that hadn’t healed yet, that would never heal, and I had just stuck my finger directly into it.

For what? To win an argument? To protect my own bruised ego?

I was an asshole.

But I was going to make up for it. I knew I would. I was Liam fucking James after all. And got named ‘Heartbreaker’ by Cosmopolitan in twenty-nineteen (yes, they should’ve come up with a better nickname.)

Now we were walking side by side in Los Angeles in the late morning sun, neither of us speaking, and the silence heavy with everything we weren’t saying.

The weather was perfect at seventy-two degrees, clear skies, that particular LA light that made everything look like a movie set. Palm trees swayed lazily overhead, and the air smelled like jasmine and car exhaust.

Deepika had her arms wrapped around herself despite the warmth, like she was trying to hold herself together. Her hair was flowing down her back and shoulders in an attempt to hide the hickey on her neck. She didn’t have make-up with her, so she couldn’t cover it, but every time she turned her head, it was visible.

My hickey. I tried not to feel too smug about that.

“I’m only doing this for Ethan and Kiara’s sake,” she said, huffing.

A skateboarder came flying past us on the sidewalk, and I automatically tugged Deepika closer with my hand on her lower back.

Thankfully, she didn’t pull away.

“Sure,” I said, unable to help myself. “It’s definitely not because your stomach has been growling like you haven’t eaten in weeks.”

“Shut up,” she mumbled, without hitting me or slapping me.