Sugarlips (Beefcakes Book 2) by Katana Collins (best love novels of all time TXT) 📗

He huffed a small, short laugh. With his hands stuffed into his pockets in a false show of apathy, he leaned in, just a couple inches. There was still plenty of space between us, but he looked me dead in the eye as he said, “Or maybe, you just wanted to see my face… period.” His gaze flicked quickly to Liam before he turned and strolled to the door. “I’ll see myself out.”

Liam and I stood in front of the chair in silence until I heard the engine of his truck idle and growl as he drove away. I whirled around to face Liam. “What the hell was that?”

Liam shrugged, taking on a seeming nonchalance. But shirtless, I could see the tension knotted in his shoulders. “He thinks we’re dating. It made sense to keep up false pretenses in front of him.”

“Or you wanted to mark your territory,” I snapped. “I’m not a fire hydrant, so don’t piss all over me.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “You’re being a little dramatic.”

“And I think you’re being a little jealous.” Maybe a lot jealous.

“Maybe. But regardless of whether you see it or not… that man realizes how much he fucked up.” Liam stalked toward the front door, pointing. “Right this very second, he’s driving to the office wondering why the hell he ever let a woman as beautiful, smart, talented, and driven as you slip through his fingers. One of these days, he’s going to come crawling back to you.”

In so many ways, my ego wanted that to happen. Not because I would ever consider taking Dan back… but because it was the dream of every girl who’s ever been cheated on. Even still, my chest ached with Liam’s words. I dated a lot. Even before Dan, you couldn’t throw a stone in Maple Grove without hitting a guy in my age bracket that I’d at least made out with. But Liam? I don’t recall ever seeing him with a girlfriend.

“What was your last relationship?” I asked and I was mad at myself that I hadn’t asked the question sooner. How self-absorbed was I that Liam could know the entirety of my dating history and I didn’t know a single one of his ex-girlfriend’s names.

He snorted and shook his head. “You don’t want to know.”

“I do.”

“I haven’t had a girlfriend since college,” he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Cheer.”

My brow furrowed. “Cheers? Are we toasting to your ex?”

He laughed, shaking his head. “No… Cheer. That was her name. It was a nickname… short for Charlotte.”

“Oh.” That was actually sort of an adorable name… even if she was probably playing tennis with Muffy right this second. “How long were you together?”

“A couple years in culinary school. But she moved to Chicago after graduation and… well, you know my story. I came home to try to help my mom’s bakery.” He gestured, palm up in front of him, as though his story were a picture laid out before us.

Even before she was diagnosed with cancer, Liam had come back to help Linda try to get out from under her debt.

“Were you in love?”

He shrugged… a non-answer. So I elbowed him in the ribs and asked again. “Come on. We talk about my exes and Dan all the time and I know nothing about Cheer. Were you in love?”

“I think so,” he said. “Young love. Love that probably wouldn’t have lasted into adulthood. But yeah, I loved her.”

I nodded, my throat growing tight. It never bothered me before, hearing about my partner’s ex-girlfriends. But Liam wasn’t even my boyfriend and the thought of him in love with another woman sent a searing hot stab of pain into my chest. I never thought of myself as a jealous person, but the idea that there was a woman out there that Liam had been in love with—and it didn’t end because they fell out of love, but just because circumstances had changed—it struck a chord with me. A bad chord. An ugly chord. Like an irate toddler strumming guitar for the first time.

Liam’s chuckle crawled under my skin and I jerked my gaze back to his. “What’s so funny?”

He lifted a finger and poked my nose gently. “That face you’re making,” he said. “So, now picture this: you come downstairs after a shower and find Cheer and me standing here, staring at each other longingly.”

I rolled my eyes. “Dan and I were not staring longingly.”

“You weren’t. He was.” He walked to the kitchen, grabbing one of the mugs of coffee I had left out there and sipped it. “Dan thinks we’re a couple… so I leaned into it.”

He sure did. My body was still buzzing with how hard he’d leaned into it.

And I couldn’t say I didn’t like it.

29 Chloe

“Why in the hell are we painting our nails ourselves?” I winced as Tanja’s whine pierced through my quiet living room.

“Because,” I said prudently, “gel manicures at the salon run thirty dollars. More with tip.” And for me, that would normally be sixty dollars because I usually paid for Tanja’s, too. At the time, it hadn’t bothered me. Dan and I had more than enough, and my best friend was an out-of-work actor. I didn’t mind footing the bill for manicures and dinners and wine tastings. But now? I didn’t exactly have that luxury. And for the first time in our entire friendship, thoughts buzzed around me, whispering in my ear that maybe she’d been taking advantage of me.

I didn’t think she meant to. But when I wasn’t treating her to brunches and manicures, I noticed we didn’t hang out as much. Yes—The Dump Truck was doing well, but we still weren’t swimming in money. And it was successful because Liam and I worked our asses off. Almost non-stop.

Most days that Tanja didn’t have an audition, I saw her around town having lunch. Or getting her hair done. Or on a date. For the