“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“You did not just ‘ma’am’ me.”

I laugh and immediately like her. “No. Never.”

“That’s what I thought. Now, sit and let’s get some alcohol going so Natalie looks like she can breathe.” She smiles and makes us sit.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“So, tell me, how much can you bench press?” Reanell tilts her head as she looks me up and down before shifting forward with her chin on her fist.

Natalie slaps her arm so her chin falls off. She and Mason laugh as Reanell gives her the death stare. “Stop being stupid and drink your beer.”

“It was a valid question,” she says and orders a round for all of us.

Natalie relaxes a bit and begins to talk about her job and Aarabelle. We laugh and enjoy small touches. She places her hand on my leg and looks at me under her long lashes with a shy smile. My hand covers hers and squeezes. The little things like this are hard for her, but I appreciate them. I lean back and put my arm around her and she sinks into my side.

The lights dim, indicating it’s a slow song. “Wanna dance?” I ask her quietly for two reasons. One, if she says no, I’ll never live it down with these assholes. Two, I don’t want her to feel like she has to say yes.

Before she can answer me, a short blonde comes up behind me and places her hand on my shoulder. It takes a second to register.

“Hi, Liam. Would you like to dance?”

Fuck. Brittany.

The girl I almost used to fuck Natalie out of my mind.

Liam shifts as a really pretty woman stands behind him. They obviously know each other and I swear she looks familiar. I can’t place her though.

“No, thanks though,” Liam replies.

“I haven’t seen you since that night,” she says and looks over at me. Well, isn’t this nice.

Liam stands and extends his hand to me, making his intentions clear. My palm touches his and he squeezes my hand pulling me up. “Yeah,” he tries to brush her off.

“I figured you’d call.”

“Listen, Brittany, I’m here with my girl and I appreciate you coming over, but I’m not interested.”

Brittany turns to me and extends her hand. “Hi, I’m Brittany Monaco.”

I stand and look at her hand. It’s bothering me, because I know I’ve seen her around. “Natalie Gilcher,” I reply and her eyes widen quickly but then she looks away and recovers.

Odd.

“I’m—” she begins to speak, but Liam clears his throat dragging my attention to him.

“Come on, sweetheart. We have a dance floor waiting.” Liam’s eyes never leave mine as he speaks, focusing all his attention on me.

“Okay.” My voice wavers a tiny bit. He seems anxious to get me away from her and I wonder. My stomach flutters as we walk toward the wooden square. I want to ask him about her, but I’m not sure I have that right. We’re not exclusive—well, I am—but I’ve never given him that definition.

The wheels spin in my mind, each spoke that passes bringing a new worry. If he did sleep with her . . . does it change anything? He’s with me all the time, so I don’t even know when he would’ve had the chance.

“Ask me, Natalie,” Liam says as his hand wraps around my back and he pulls me against him. “Just ask me.”

I pull back slightly and our eyes lock. I hesitate and look away.

“Ask me, because I know it’s killing you.”

“Why won’t you just tell me?” I ask, still not able to force the words out.

“If you want to know, you’re going to have to ask,” Liam says, looking deep into my eyes.

Drawing on all the strength I have left, I release a deep sigh and ask, “Did you sleep with her?”

“No.” The honesty is clear in his eyes and his voice. He didn’t blink or pause. “I wanted to. I won’t lie to you, but I never got close.”

“When?”

“Before I ever touched you.” He pauses and presses his forehead to mine. The music plays and he holds me close to him. We sway to the music and my heart thumps erratically in my chest. Liam sighs and rubs his nose against mine. “I was thinking about you all the time and I wanted it to stop. I wanted to get you out of my fucking mind.” Liam’s voice is low and sounds almost angry.

“Why didn’t you?” I ask apprehensively.

There’s no reason for me to feel threatened, but I do. He’s single, incredibly sexy, and has no reason to stay. I have a past, a child, and fears that gnaw at me about getting close to him. He has every excuse at his disposal, nonetheless he keeps coming back.

“Because she wasn’t you.” I look at him, and his eyes stay closed. He looks pained and I want to ease it. I lift my chin slightly and gently touch my lips to his. Here in the middle of the bar surrounded by our friends, I kiss him. I don’t care that I’m sure people are looking. I want him to know how much his words mean. How even though we weren’t together, he chose me in some strange way.

He pulls back and rests his head against mine again as we slowly sway to the music. His arms encase me and he guides me through the dance. I can feel the eyes burning holes in my back. The stares of friends who now know where I stand. Where we stand.

“It was the night Aarabelle got sick. I had her in my car,” Liam begins to tell me quietly. “The whole time she was sitting in the front seat, I kept thinking how all I wanted was to drop her off and go to you. Tell you how I was starting to feel. And then you called.”

“Liam, you don’t have to tell me,” I murmur.

“I know I don’t, sweetheart. But I want you to know everything. I won’t keep shit from you.” He kisses the tip of my nose and I melt into his embrace. “When I saw your name on my screen, I knew there was no way I wanted to touch her. I turned around before I even answered and then when I heard what was going on . . .” he trails off and I look over at Brittany. She shifts and stares at me, biting her nail. “There was no fucking way I wasn’t going to be with you, and if I had touched her,” he pulls my chin back toward him, “I would’ve been wishing it was you.”

His words soothe my heart and I smile tenderly. “You make this easy for me. You make it hard to fight because you make sense to me. How can you know exactly what I need all the time?” I ask.

“Because I know you. And this is easy for both of us because it’s right. I know your heart, and I won’t take that for granted.”

“I know you won’t,” I reply as the song ends. This time it’s Liam who kisses me.

We walk hand and hand off the dance floor as Reanell’s eyes light up. I’m going to need more beer.

We sit and enjoy a few beers and I even get Liam to dance with me during a couple’s dance. I’m not the best dancer by any means, but I do love it. I used to come here with my friends a lot when Aaron was deployed. Liam dances with me even though he has no idea of the steps. I give him an “A” for effort—he really is something special.

Throughout the night we all talk and laugh, and I can’t help but look over at Brittany. There’s something festering inside of me about her. She looks over a couple of times, but looks away quickly. Maybe it’s nothing, but then I don’t know. Maybe she did sleep with Liam and he’s lying. Which doesn’t make sense because he seemed so genuinely honest. Plus, he has no reason to lie to me.