Chapter 119

Liam’s POV

Aria had no idea that while she was having her conversation with Logan, Joe was camped out behind the door to the kitchen, eavesdropping.

I may or may not have spotted him early on, but decided not to intervene, leaving Joe as a scout of sorts.

Yes, I trusted Aria and Logan, but I could tell Aria had been a little distant with me lately. I’d thought it was because of the long-distance of my almost new job, but even since I’d rectified that situation, she’d been more reserved around me than I’d like.

There had to be something else going on. Something she wasn’t telling me. Maybe Joe could find out what, even if I couldn’t.

I waited until Logan and Aria came outside near the pool, then I went to find Joe. He was in the kitchen, trying to steal some of the icing off of the side of Logan’s cake.

“What are you up to, kid?” I asked, making my presence known. Joe leaped a few inches into the air, then swiveled to face me.

“Nothing…” he said, hiding his hands behind his back.

“Nothing, huh? So if I looked at your finger, I wouldn’t see it covered in icing?”

Joe, a good kid, hung his head. “I was hungry.”

Coming closer, I could see the swatch of icing he had disturbed. Going to the counter, I grabbed a butter knife out of one of the drawers.

“I’m going to cover for you, but you can’t do this again, okay? Next time you want a snack, ask me or your mom,” I told him. Carefully, I smoothed out the icing of the cake.

Joe put his finger in his mouth and destroyed the evidence. “Mom was busying talking to Uncle Logan.”

“Oh?” I tried to play it cool. “What were they talking about?”

“Boring stuff,” Joe said.

“Like what?”

Joe kicked at the floor. “About how mean William’s mom was, when they went to see her…”

Ah. So maybe Sophia said something to upset Aria after all, something that she couldn’t shake off.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“I don’t know. When are we going to have the cake?” Joe asked.

Honestly, for a 6 year old, I guessed I was lucky to get the information I did, even if it didn’t amount to much. I wouldn’t push him any harder than I already had.

“The cake comes later, pal. You want something else? How about some pretzels to hold you over.”

“Okay…”

As I worked on throwing a snack together for Joe, some worries lingered in my mind.

Aria had a pretty thick skin where Sophia was concerned. After dealing with her for so long, I didn’t think there could be anything Sophia could say that would affect Aria this much.

Clearly something had.

But what?

Aria’s POV

Since speaking with Sophia, I’d had worries that she had been telling me at least a kernel of truth about Liam’s past, even if I hadn’t wanted to believe it. Since then, I’d wrestled with the idea, knowing Liam cared for me now, but what if he hadn’t back then?

What if everything we built together was based on a lie?

The worries bothered me, but I’d been able to keep them at bay, not trusting Sophia as a reliable source.

Logan was an entirely different matter. He was a good man and a friend. His friendship with me developed out of a lie itself, but he had since come clean and we reconciled. He wasn’t trying to hurt Liam or me anymore. Now, he was simply a good friend.

So for him to hint that Sophia might not have been lying… it hurt. Logan wouldn’t lie to me, even if Sophia would.

Liam was hiding something, in his past, in his present? I didn’t know. But it was something buried so deep that even Logan wasn’t totally sure about it. If he’d known the full truth, I had no doubt he would tell me.

Instead, Logan’s solution was for me to ask Liam. How could I, knowing I got the information from Sophia? He could easily deny it, laugh it all off, or push me away. Then I’d be no closer to knowing the truth, and it would hurt me for him to lie to my face.

Maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he’d actually tell me the truth this time if I asked.

But all I kept thinking about were moments in the past, when I tried so hard to talk to him, and he pushed me away. I didn’t want that to happen again. I’d almost rather just avoid the issue altogether.

Conflicted, I made my way to the champagne table and started drinking. As one of the hosts of the party, I had to be social, so mingling kept me busy. But between the talking, when I had a moment to myself to think, those intrusive thoughts kept returning. So I just kept drinking.

Two champagnes became three became four, and suddenly nothing really hurt so much anymore.

I didn’t need the truth. Why would I? I had Liam now, and that was good enough for me. In fact, why was I being so insistent that we remain so distant from each other?

Before, intimacy had been the best way we communicated. If we weren’t naked, why bother, seemed like our motto.

I hadn’t been with anyone since Liam, though he’d probably been with dozens of women since me. Maybe it was past time for me to stake my claim once again, right here in front of everyone. Liam was my man, and no one else could have him.

To my champagne-addled mind, this seemed like the best idea I’d ever had in my life.

By now, the party was winding down anyway. No one would mind if Liam and I dipped out for a while.

On shaky, wobbly legs, I strutted as sexily as I could toward Liam. He was alone at the drink table, refilling a glass of water. As soon as he saw me approach, both of his brows went all the way up his forehead.

“You’re drunk,” he said.

“That’s irrela… Irrelava… That doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, no?” He plucked the champagne flute from my hand and set it down on the table. It was empty now anyway, nothing lost. In its place, he pressed a cup of water into my hand. Then he started pouring another for himself. “Drink some of that. You’ll feel better.”

“I feel perfect right now,” I said. My troubles felt so muted and so far away, that only good feelings remained. In the morning, I’d likely be mad at myself, but that was tomorrow-me’s problem. Tonight-me wanted to forget about Sophia and Logan and just love on Liam for a while.

“Aria…”

“I like when you say my name,” I told him, dropping my voice low into what I hoped was a sultry whisper. It was hard to tell through the bubbly haze of my mind.

His gaze softened somewhat. “I think maybe we should get you to bed.”

Placing my hand on his chest, I leaned forward suggestively. Licking my lips, I told him, “Baby, that’s exactly what I had in mind.”

His eyes went wide.