Crossing Paths (17 page)

We are both still for a moment, smiling at one another, and then he slowly brushes his closed hand across my cheek before he shuts the door. As he walks away, I wrap my arms around myself, not willing to let the warmth escape from me. Eventually, I come to terms with the fact that I have to go home, but at least I have comfort in knowing that I’ll see him again tomorrow.

Tuesday

Today passes by without seeing Liam. He texts me early in the day to let me know he has meetings through lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m feeling a little down about not seeing him or having the chance to talk through anything. I still haven’t given June any clue about us, and it is killing me. It hasn’t been too difficult to keep our secret though since I haven’t seen her at all. She’s been spending time with her new lover boy from work.

Wednesday

Tonight, June is out to dinner for work, so I decide to be bold and call Liam. After the phone rings several times, I’m about to hang up when I hear his voice.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Liam. It’s Caroline.”

“Caroline! This week has been murder. How are you doing?”

“Well, I’m okay. I was actually calling because June is out tonight, and I don’t have any plans. I was wondering if you might want to come over and have that talk?”

“That would be great. Give me twenty minutes.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“Bye.”

What was I thinking? Do I have enough time to shower? What should I wear? I know this talk needs to happen, but what will I say? What do I want?
I feel like one of those annoying toys stuck in the plexiglass box, running its head into the sides over and over again. I need a reset button. I decide not to go overboard, and I put on some purple sweatpants and a college logo T-shirt.

Punctual as always, Liam is knocking at my door twenty minutes later. I comb my fingers through my hair, straighten my shirt, and then open the door. Liam is standing a few feet away, looking down at his phone. He’s through the door and hugging me before I have a chance to react.

“Well, hello,” I say, laughing.

I walk into the living room and sit on the couch when I notice Liam isn’t following. He’s stopped off in the kitchen, gotten a glass, and is filling it with water.

“Make yourself at home. I guess you know where the glasses are.”

“I should since I moved all this in while you were on a great Hawaiian vacation with your family.” He smirks as he heads toward me, plopping onto the opposite side of the couch.

“So, the other day, you said we should talk?” I ask with caution in my tone.

Liam takes a drink of water, looking at me over the rim of his glass. “Sure, um…I just didn’t want you to get the wrong impression.”

I feel my heart sink into my stomach.

“I enjoyed taking you to the charity event. I had a wonderful time. The baseball game was great even though I wish I would have told Eli to back off on the alcohol consumption.”

I begin to panic, watching him stare intently into the bottom of his glass.
Did he come over just to tell me he’s not interested? What about Sunday at his parents’ house and Monday night at his place?

“Listen, Liam, I am so sorry about the baseball game. I don’t normally drink that much, and I don’t know anything about sports. It wasn’t Eli’s fault. I should have been more responsible. I completely understand if you don’t want me to tell June about any of it.”

“I think that not telling June would be a good idea for now,” he says with a serious look on his face.

“Okay, but what do you mean by ‘for now’? I mean, I understand if you don’t think I’m your type.”

“Not my type?” Liam’s brows furrow. He reaches across the couch and takes my hand. “The only reason I don’t want to tell June is because I’m afraid she might steer you away from me. My family seems to believe that the high school me has never grown up. I’m almost certain that June thinks I ruin every girl I touch.”

My lungs begin filling with air again as my breathing returns to normal. “I feel the same way. I don’t have the best track record with dating, and I don’t think June would approve.”

“Let’s enjoy some time getting to know each other and not worry about June or the rest of my family for now. Would that be okay?”

“I think that would be alright.”

“Are we done talking?” Liam asks as he moves his body closer to me.

“I am.”

“Good,” he whispers before he places his lips against mine.

I move one hand to where his hand is on my thigh. His hips rest on mine, and he deepens the kiss, placing my back softly against the couch. The feeling of his body on top of me is intoxicating. He places my hand to his chest, and then he slides his hand to my waist, caressing the skin just above my sweatpants. I can feel his muscles flex as he holds his upper body above me. I’m struggling to keep my breath even, not wanting to make any desperate sounds. As our tongues meet, my phone begins to vibrate on the coffee table.

“Leave it,” Liam says before he takes my lower lip between his teeth.

Reluctant to break free from this moment, I wrap my arms around his waist, drawing him even closer. The phone vibrates again. “I can’t.” I grab it and tap the screen to see the message.

You better still be up! He kissed me! I’ll be home in 10 minutes. —June

I jump up from the couch, dumping Liam onto the floor. “Crap. I’m sorry. It’s from June. She’s going to be home in ten minutes. You better go if you don’t want to tell her about us.”

Liam gets to his feet and wraps his arms around me. “So, you’re really okay with not telling June?”

“I’m not sure I can keep it a secret for long, but I think it’ll be okay for a little while.”

“Alright.”

He leans in to kiss me, but I turn my face for a kiss on the cheek instead.

“If you keep kissing me, we won’t have a choice but to tell June.”

“You’re probably right. I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can go out this weekend?”

“Sure, that sounds great.”

We walk to the door, and I wave as he heads down the hallway to the stairs. After closing the door softly, I run to the bathroom to make sure I don’t look like a mess.

Five minutes later, June steps in through the door. I’m beginning to wonder if their whole family is this punctual. She stalks straight to where I am standing and hugs me until I’m scared I won’t have any breath remaining.

“You are not going to believe my night!” she squeals.

She recounts dinner and his confession of having feelings for her. She tells every detail of their kiss that brought her to tears. It is all so beautiful. I’m beginning to get a little jealous that she can talk so freely about her budding relationship, but then she says something that stops my thoughts in their tracks. She says his name—
Cohen
.
Did she really just say Cohen?

Trying to hide my shock, I get up from the couch and move to the kitchen for a glass of water. “Where is he from?”

“He lives in Washington.”

Alright, Caroline. Be cool. Don’t freak out.
“That’s awesome. Where does he work?”

“The Bushing Company.”

Oh my god! This can’t be possible! What does she know about him? Should I tell her?
This could get really bad. I’m feeling sick to my stomach.

“Why do you ask?” June says with concern in her eyes.

“No reason. Listen, I need to get to bed. I have an early day tomorrow. I’m so glad you had a good night.” I give her a tight hug.

“Are you okay?” June questions.

“I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

As I walk down the hall to my room, I grab my phone and text my brother.

What the hell are you doing with June? —Caroline

What are you talking about? —Cohen

June is my best friend. How did you not put two and two together? Or did you just not care? We need to talk. You can’t do this to her. —Caroline

I can’t talk right now. Just found out I have to leave Friday morning to head back home. Please don’t tell her. I’ll explain soon. I promise. —Cohen

Everything is getting more complicated by the minute. Thirty minutes ago, I agreed to keep lying to my best friend about dating her brother. Now, I have to lie about knowing she is dating my brother even though every part of my being wants to tell her to run in the other direction. I want to rewind my night to around thirty minutes ago and push pause, so I can enjoy a little more bliss instead of this chaos.

Thursday

I show up for work on Thursday with a huge smile plastered to my face. This week has been perfect. The only time in my life that consisted of this many exciting days in a row was when my parents took me to Disney World at the age of eight. I shouldn’t have to explain how a theme park vacation pales in comparison to my last three days.

I replayed my kiss with Cohen a million times before I fell asleep last night, and then I dreamed about it while I was sleeping. I am fairly certain no kiss will ever replace the space in my mind where this one resides.

I am trying to be careful of placing my emotions for Cohen into a box where they don’t belong because I’ve had so many letdowns in the past. He is so wonderful though. Not only is he handsome and sweet, but he’s also always professional. I still can’t believe that he had all those feelings for me, but he was able to play it off as nothing while at work.

Although I know that our physical connection will have to be minimal today, just thinking about seeing him gives me a jolt of electricity.
Maybe Mr. Hargrove will have to back out on lunch again today.

After grabbing a cup of coffee from the office kitchen, I get started on some projects I need to complete before the weekend. My happiness makes it easy to work, and before I know it, the clock says two o’clock. I haven’t eaten lunch or seen Cohen today.
That’s odd.

My stomach growls so loudly that I’m sure the entire office thinks I’ve deprived myself of food for days. I get up from my desk, walk out of my office and into the mass of cubicles. Cohen is talking with one of my coworkers at a cubicle across the large space. He looks up at me and gives me a small smile. I know we have to keep things under wraps since we are working on this project together, but a large part of me wants to jump over these desks and tackle him to the ground. Instead, I follow his example of professionalism, and I decide to feed my hunger with a trip to the kitchen to heat up a frozen meal.
Should be tasty.