“My beautiful and somewhat insane wife has befriended a raccoon,” Miles says.
“Why the name Bear?”
“He likes to eat gummy bears,” Maggie says.
“You’re joking.”
She scrolls through her phone and pulls up a photo. Sure enough, there’s a real-life fluffy raccoon holding a snack-sized bag of gummy bears, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say the little creature was actually smiling.
“Awww. He’s cute.”
“He’s feral,” Miles counters.
Maggie backhands him. “Don’t talk about him like that. He’s sweet.”
Max yips at her feet like he’s offended, and Maggie crouches to give him pets. “Don’t worry, you’re still the best boy in the world, Max.”
Miles chuckles and buries his face against her neck. “I can be the best boy too, if it’ll get me head scratches.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she says, threading her fingers through his.
They say their goodbyes, leaving the six of us around the fire: Cara and Dean, Paige and Cade, and Liam and me.
The fire isn’t burning as brightly now, and I shiver as the breeze coming off the lake hits me just right. Liam takes off his plaid flannel and drapes it over my shoulders, giving me a tentative squeeze. When his hand skates up the length of my spine and back down, I shiver again, but not from the cold.
It comes to a stop at the small of my back and stays there, and my body responds like a marshmallow over a fire, melting into him. I lay my head on his shoulder and soak in his warmth, hoping like hell I won't get burned.
“It’s almost too quiet without the kids,” Cade says.
“And Miles,” Paige says. “He’s basically three toddlers in a trench coat.”
Cara snorts into her wine and dissolves into a fit of giggles, leaning into Dean as he smiles down at her. She’s morerelaxed than I’ve ever seen her, but that might have something to do with the alcohol.
Paige turns to me. “You brought your guitar. Why don’t you play something for us?”
“I don’t know…”
Liam plucks the wine glass from my hand and places the guitar across my lap instead. “Do it for me.”
After slipping my arms into the sleeves of his shirt, I finger the chords, gravitating toward the one song that’s always been my comfort. My heart speeds up as I sing, and each word is like a long-held confession.
I feel his gaze on me, but I can’t bring myself to look his way. I close my eyes and pretend I’m lost in the song, when I’m really trying not to let myself get lost in him. The effort is in vain; for better or worse, I’ve been losing myself to this man for years.
Liam starts to sing along, his voice is a quiet rumble more than anything. It’s deeper now, more resonant than it was all those years ago. A small smile forms on my lips as we sing the bridge, and the entire world around us disappears. It’s just me, Liam, and our song floating out across the lake.
When it ends, there’s a quiet round of applause.
“I forgot you could sing,” I say.
“I never forgot a damn thing about you,” he says, his voice a quiet rasp near my ear.
I draw in a sharp breath. His gaze dips to my lips, and I lean in, silently pleading with him to kiss me. To finally lay waste to this last barrier between us and give in to what I know we both want.
My stomach sinks as he looks away and pinches his eyes shut, almost like it pains him to reject me. It couldn’t possibly hurt as much as being on the receiving end.
After everything that happened the other day, he’s still denying this thing between us. I won't lie and say it doesn’thurt, but a girl can only take so much rejection before she snaps, and I’m already wound tighter than a guitar string.
“Think I’m ready to call it a night.”
