14. Ollie

Ollie

Chapter fourteen

Cor and Rory had crashed my perfect morning to settle a debate about fucking hoagies.

Rory insisted the best hoagie was at Elio’s Deli, while Cor argued it came from Danny’s Pizza. They’d shown up to drag me out and taste-test hoagies and didn’t give a damn I had plans that didn’t include them. In the past, I probably would’ve rolled along with whatever. Josie and I hadn’t done much together over the last few years of our relationship besides obligatory events.

However, today, I didn’t give a flying fuck about their stupid-ass lark. Liam had just raced out my door like I’d hurt his feelings, and I needed to fix it. I wasn’t sure where I’d screwed up, but I definitely had. My biggest mistake was not telling my family about Josie yet. Had I even told Liam my parents and siblings didn’t know?

Rory blathered on about something, but I’d checked out from the moment Liam hustled into the room and bolted right out. Cor had asked if Liam was okay, but before I could respond, my brothers had started arguing again.

“Okay, but that thick-cut meat is fucking nasty,” Cor shot back, gesturing with his hands.

“Whatever, you like thick-cut meat,” Rory said, waggling his pierced eyebrows.

My stomach tied in knots. What could be running through Liam’s head right now? Fuck—could he have thought I didn’t want my family to know about us? They weren’t even aware I was getting divorced, and I didn’t want them wrongly assuming I was cheating, but hell… My feet itched with the need to chase after my best friend.

Cor rolled his eyes. “Maybe in men but not sandwiches.”

“What’s the deal with your place?” Rory asked as if he’d just noticed the barren walls and the holes where knickknacks and vases used to be.

“Uh, we’re renovating,” I lied in a less-than-smooth fashion. My brothers weren’t stupid, though. Josie’s car wasn’t in the driveway, and while she’d been skipping out on family shindigs more often than not over the past few years, she’d made enough appearances people would start noticing. Honestly, I needed to tell Rory and Cor, but not just them. If Mom and Dad found out from my brothers and not me, they’d murder me. Aislin definitely would.

Shame prickled over my skin. I should be confessing about how I’d discovered my best friend was everything I’d ever hoped for in a partner, how I’d wasted years in the wrong relationship to stumble into everything right. Except here I sat hemming and hawing over breaking the news Josie and I were getting a divorce.

At the end of the day, my hesitation wasn’t even about my family’s sadness at losing her from their lives. I swallowed hard, the guilt flushing through me like I’d mainlined Drano. No, this was all my fucking ego. I’d been the only sibling married, and I’d taken a sense of pride in that, which was one of the many reasons I’d held on for so long, trying to make it work. None of that mattered for shit, though, if I’d hurt Liam.

Because he meant more to me than any bruised ego or pride.

I’d go track him down, and we would talk. Then I would gather my family together and break the news about everything.

I couldn’t imagine the alternative.

“Danny’s Pizza is known for pizza, not lunchmeat,” Rory argued, leaning back in his seat. “It doesn’t even hold a candle to Elio’s.” The sheen of the second skin stuff he put over new tattoos shone on the back of his hand, but I hadn’t made out the details of whatever ink he’d just gotten.

Cor shot him daggers. “You just think the guy who runs that place is hot. That’s not a good gauge of hoagie quality.”

Shit, why was I still here listening to my brothers bicker instead of running after Liam?

“Fine, then let’s get our goddamn sandwiches.” Rory pushed up from the couch.

My brain still whirled with all the chaos that had descended in such a short timeframe. I’d gone from a cozy morning in bed with the guy I wanted to call my boyfriend and the promise of blow jobs on the table to watch my brothers fight over fucking hoagies while Liam raced out my door like his ass was on fire.

“Sorry, guys, raincheck,” I said as I rose to a stand. No way could I stomach anything until I sat down and smoothed out any miscommunications with Liam.

“What, do you have plans with Josie or something?” Cor asked, glancing around the room as if he were putting together pieces of the puzzle all too fast.

“Yeah, got to go meet her for lunch,” I muttered, hating the lie on my tongue even as I said it.

Soon.

I’d gather the family soon, and I’d tell them everything. Meanwhile, I had to go find Liam. Rory and Cor were giving me sketchy looks, but I just heaved a sigh.

“Don’t you both have a hoagie quest to go on?” I crossed my arms as I waited for Cor to stop lounging around and for the two of them to get the hell out of my house. I loved my family more than anything, but their random bickering could wait.

Liam came first.

While my brothers took their time leaving, I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my necessities, because I’d be following them out. Maybe I wasn’t the most aware—especially considering I’d been surprised by Josie asking for a divorce that had been coming a mile away—but I knew Liam. And I knew I’d fucked up.

“See you around,” Rory said, clapping a hand on my shoulder before he made his way to the door. Cor tipped a nod in my direction and followed Rory, scrutinizing the empty picture spots on the walls as he went. My stomach might’ve flipped at the thought of him uncovering my secret, but now I wanted to burst out with the words, if only to get this secret off my chest.

Never in a thousand years would I have expected to get divorced and fall in love again in a month, but then I woke up in bed with my best friend, and yeah. Liam Kelly was it for me.

The door clicked shut, but I was heading out it a moment later. My keys jingled as I locked up, and I hurried to my Jeep. Before I hopped in, I shot off a message to Liam.

Hey, are you home? We need to talk.

Two hours later and all the anxious energy I’d been riding on had deflated.

I’d tried Liam’s house to no avail. Neither his nor Maeve’s car was in the driveway, and I didn’t have a clue what she was up to tonight. I’d also checked the coffee shop they both frequented and struck out there. The coffee I’d drunk sat in my stomach like a brick. After stopping by Anson B. Nixon park and our trail on the off-chance Liam had snuck out there to think, I’d exhausted my list of spots where he could be. My phone remained silent.

Liam was normally fast to answer unless he was at work, so that worsened the queasy feeling in my stomach as I drove around the backroads of Kennett Square, dipping into pockets of Oxford and then over closer to West Chester. I’d been operating on impulse from the moment Liam and I had first hooked up and hadn’t even paused to think or talk to him about any of what had been unfolding between us.

My chest tightened as I curved down another winding road featuring golden fields, plenty of oak trees alongside, and the occasional historical markers for different buildings of interest. The sun beamed in through my window, and a sweet breeze rolled through, but it did nothing to cool my anxiety.

I pressed the call button on my phone and tried Liam for the thousandth time, not caring if I came off desperate. I’d always been a needy-as-fuck friend, so if he hadn’t been anticipating this response from me, he didn’t know me at all.

The phone started ringing, but he didn’t answer.

Trouble was, Liam understood me better than anyone. And yes, I wouldn’t give up our friendship for anything, but after discovering the dimensions we’d tapped into, the depth of these feelings we could share? I sure as hell refused to backtrack.

Liam’s voice came through, but it was only his voicemail, and the beep signaled to record a message.

“Liam, it’s me,” I said, my heart in my throat. “I’m sorry about this morning. That should’ve unfolded so damn differently, and if you give me a chance, I hope we can talk. You’re the most important person in my life, and I need you in it, always.”

I ended the call and tossed the phone onto the passenger’s seat. I wouldn’t get a call back—not anytime soon. I’d drive around a bit longer to burn off the excess nerves running through me. Pacing around my half-empty house would just depress me. Yesterday, my luck seemed to be changing—the divorce opening the doors to something even greater than I could’ve imagined.

And Liam was the reason for that.

My best friend might be ducking and running because I’d fucked up with handling my family or because he was afraid or for whatever reason he’d rushed out my door this morning. However, this connection between us was too powerful, too potent, and too damn perfect. I hadn’t realized the exact thing I’d been searching for existed under my nose the whole time.

I refused to give up on him—on us.