“Yeah, well, I probably shouldn’t be in love with you after a week together, but there it is.”
Her mouth did a little o as I let that sit between us.
“Yep,” I told her matter of factly. “So, take it or leave it.”
“Ask me a truth or dare.”
“Why?”
She curled her hands into my neck. “Just do it.”
“Truth or dare?” I asked, knowing she would choose a dare.
“Truth.” Her eyes were soft, beautifully expressive. I could see her vulnerability, her whole heart.
“What do you want me to ask you?”
She shook her head. “That’s not how it works. You have to ask me a question that I need to answer truthfully. Bear in mind, this is the first time I’ve chosen a truth. So you better make it good.”
I had just told her I loved her. She never chose truth when she played truth or dare because she was too afraid to admit the truth when it really mattered.
It clicked.
“The night we met,” I began, encouraged by her gentle nod. “You told me you loved me.”
She nodded again.
“Do you think you could eventually love me for real?”
“No.”
My entire body froze. That was not what I expected.
She leaned in; her forehead pressed to mine. “I don’t think I could love you for real. Because I already do.”
My breath came back like a tidal wave; my pulse roaring in my ears. “Say it again.”
“Okay.” She leaned back, shaking her hair out. She was fucking magnificent. “Let’s see if I can remember what I said that night.” Her thumb dragged down the line of my jaw. “Liam. I have to tell you that I love you. I know it’s a little soon, but I hope you’ll accept it with an open heart.”
I swallowed. “You… love me.” I’d said those three words once before in wonderment. I felt the same way now.
“Yep. I know it’s kind of soon…”
“Just a bit.”
Tori’s smile was everything I never knew I needed.
“It is a little soon,” I said, though I was rusty on what I had said verbatim. “Please forgive me if it takes me a bit to say the words back.”
“I think I can be patient.”
“Good.” I ran my hand over her hair, committing this moment to memory. “I won’t make you wait too long though. Because I am in love with you too. As crazy as it seems.”
Finally, she kissed me. I wrapped my arms around her, anchoring her to me now and always.
When she pulled away, I kissed her hand and said, “You’re going home to deal with some heavy shit.”
She looked down. “Yeah.”
“You helped me through my heavy shit. Do you want company?”
“Really?” The way her whole face lit up gave me the answer I sought from her.
“Really.” Her mouth covered mine, but I wasn’t done. “Tori,” I whispered against her lips.
“What?”
“Truth or dare.”
She hesitated, so I dragged my hands up her arms reassuringly. “Dare.”
“You never turn down a dare, remember?”
“Of course,” she said, sitting back so she could better see me.
“So, I dare you to take a chance with me. It could be your greatest adventure yet.”
“It could be a mistake…”
“I thought you were done trying to push me away?” I teased, not worried at all about this being a mistake. Nothing could convince me that this feeling was anything except everything.
“I am done pushing you away. But you’re Mr. Risk Assessor. So, what’re the risks here?”
“In this case, the benefits far outweigh the risks. You could break my heart. But for me, this risk is worth it.” We joined hands and I brought them to my mouth, kissing each one of her knuckles. “So, what say you?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, she pressed her mouth to mine. “Yes.”
Epilogue
Mom’s new apartment looked festive as fuck. There must have been four million Christmas lights between the front door and the living room, and even more wrapping the railing on the balcony off of her dining room.
The apartment even smelled like every Christmas of my twenty-four years: mulled wine, gingerbread, and honey-glazed ham. The Christmas tree held a dozen ornaments James and I had made growing up, most of them still in pristine condition. But it felt different. In good and not-so-good ways.
My dad was noticeably absent. In his place, James carved the ham, and I only gave him shit for his poor knife skills once. There were no presents for Dad under the tree, and his famous Christmas cocktails were missing.
Mom, being a bigger person than me or anyone else, had invited him to join us. But I think the new arrangement felt weird to us all, and Dad didn’t feel comfortable in the home my mother had made without him, for the first time in their twenty-seven years of marriage.
But the good far outweighed the bad: James was single again, which meant no random guest of his griping that she was allergic to everything my mother painstakingly cooked or silly things like “Mimosas? Who has alcohol at breakfast?”
Far and away, the best part of this Christmas was Liam.
It didn’t even matter that he was running late. After four months of us taking turns flying back and forth every other weekend, he had taken it upon himself to drive this time—explaining that he was in Utah for work so what was a hop, skip, and a jump over the border? It did make sense. But the poor guy had spent nearly every winter of his life in Las Vegas, so I knew he wasn’t accustomed to Idaho winter roads, which explained his tardiness.
Mom’s apartment looked out over the quiet parking lot so I would be able to see the moment he pulled in. I only looked out the sliding glass door every five seconds or so, got teased by James every other time he caught me.
Part of me felt guilty that we were spending this holiday with Mom, leaving Dad alone for the first time since before James and I had come into existence. But, knowing him, he would have some female entertainer to keep him company.
James hated that I called Dad’s girlfriends—yes, there had been more than once since Mom moved out five months earlier—female entertainers, but that’s all they essentially were to him. It was as if he was reclaiming his youth by seeing a new woman practically every weekend.
Mom, ever the saint, told us that he probably felt robbed of his young adulthood, since she got pregnant with James when they were both twenty. Because it only took one person to make a baby, I guess.
“I’m starving,” James said, dropping on the couch beside me so forcefully that the cushion beneath me nearly bounced me to my feet. All of Mom’s furnishings were brand new, something that she had insisted on. But it made me sad that she had given up the old record player she and Dad had danced to—a gift from her parents—because the memories it held were too vivid and painful.
But, all things considered, Mom was doing better than expected. I guess I had anticipated a weepy few weeks after I arrived home, but Mom was a woman on a mission, getting her own apartment for her and Squeaker and trading in the car she and Dad had bought together in favor of something fun and zippy. She was embracing her singledom too. She recently got some app for older people, but preferred meeting people the old fashioned way. She started volunteering at the shelter and fostering kittens in her spare time. If anything, she was more alive—more vibrant—than ever.
“Have you heard from him?” Mom asked, lighting candles on the table.
“Not since an hour ago.”
“Maybe you’ll have to go rescue him,” Liam joked.
I rolled my eyes. “He’s driving his truck. I’m sure he can handle it.”
My mom patted my shoulder. “If he can handle you, dear, he can handle our snow-covered roads.”
“Good roast, Mom,” James said, holding up his hand for a high-five.
Mom slapped his hand and ruffled his hair. “I forgot to tell you,
you’ll be bunking with Liam while he’s here.”
“What?” James and I asked at the same time.
“Mom, seriously? You’re not going to let us have the guest bed?” I asked.
“If I do that, James will have to sleep on the couch.” She raised an eyebrow. “Besides, you know how I feel about my unmarried children sharing a bed with their significant others.”
Holding up my hand, I showed her the wedding band I still wore. “Technically, I did get married.”
“Not for real. Get married for real and I’ll allow it. Until then, Liam will get the bed and James will get the cot.”
“I get the cot? But I’m your son.”
“Exactly. And Liam is our guest.” Mom patted my shoulder again. “You and I will share my bed. It’ll be fun.”
“Fun,” I said flatly.
“Maybe you should get a hotel,” James said. “Then I won’t be kicked out of my own bed.”
“It’s not your bed,” Mom replied. “It’s for guests. Which Liam is, whenever he gets here.”
As if she had summoned him with those words, I saw familiar headlights pull down the road to the parking lot and ran out the door faster than probably safe, considering the ice-cold and slippery steps.
The temperature must have been below zero, but I didn’t care as I sprinted toward Liam’s approaching truck. He hadn’t even put his vehicle into park before I was wrenching open the driver’s door and climbing onto his lap.
“Hey,” he said with a laugh before I kissed him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and wedged myself uncomfortably between the steering wheel and his body in order to be as close as physically possible. “Mmm,” he hummed as I kissed him with all the passion I’d bottled up in the two weeks since I had last seen him.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I said, feeling warm for the first time since our last goodbye. “I missed you.”
“I can tell. It feels good to be missed.”
I gently punched him in the chest. “No, you’re supposed to say you missed me too.”
Liam’s arm came around my waist, bringing me even closer. “I think it’s pretty obvious I missed you,” he said meaningfully as he grinded me against him.
“I’m sure your penis missed me, but how about the rest of you?”
Liam laughed. “I don’t think there’s a single atom of my body that didn’t miss you.” He took my hands in his. “Oh, you’re cold.” He brought them up to his mouth and blew warm air over them as he rubbed them warm. “Wait, where’s your coat?”
“I ran out without one,” I replied, snuggling into him. God, it felt fucking spectacular to have him home.
“Then come here.” He opened his coat and my arms came around his middle as I settled my face into his neck. He was so warm and smelled like everything I’d missed in his absence.
“Do you want to go inside?” he asked after a minute.
“Not really. I want you all to myself.”
He chuckled, running his hands down my back. “I want that too. But I don’t want you to be out in this cold any longer. It would be a terrible thing to catch frostbite. I’m pretty fond of your fingers.” He shifted me so he could hold my hand. He smiled down at the wedding band I still wore and said, “Especially this one.”
I didn’t have to ask if he was wearing his; I already knew. Something silly, probably, but we had not taken them off since Vegas. He was still my boyfriend—not my husband—but I loved having that physical reminder of him always.
Inside, Liam was embraced by my mom, who fretted over his pink nose and pushed a glass of mulled wine into his hands. James gave him some dude handshake and asked him about his truck. While they talked engines, I helped my mom set the table. Despite it being just the four of us, she made it feel homey and warm. “Did you tell him yet?” she whispered to me as we filled glasses with water.
I glanced at Liam, who was looking at something on James’s phone. “Not yet. After dinner. We will probably stay up late.”
“If you stay up too late, Santa won’t come,” she teased.
“We won’t be too late. I just want some alone time with him.”
She pointed to my couch. “That couch is new, Victoria Renee. Don’t you dare—”
“Mom!” I exclaimed, interrupting her. “I won’t defile your couch, okay?”
She nodded once. “Good. Now let’s get them to the table so we can eat.”
After dinner, when my mom and James had gone to bed, Liam and I cuddled on the couch. When I told Liam what my mom had said, he laughed. “No defiling. Check.”
I was sprawled on his lap, his hand in mine, as I played with the band around his finger.
“I love you,” he said. “And one day, that ring is going to mean something.”
“It already does.”
“You’re right, it does. Okay, fine. One day, I’m going to give you a new ring, with new promises. I said yes to you before, but you were a stranger then. Next time, I will make that promise knowing all of you.”
My stomach fluttered like a whole army of butterflies were about to lift me far and away from here. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.” He moved my hair out of my face and gazed at me tenderly. “I could make those promises to you now. But I’m patient. I will wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“You’re a woman who surprises me every day. I want to surprise you when I get down on one knee.”
“When...” I echoed his choice of word.
“When. Not if. I have a ring. It’s not made of paper this time.”
I felt faint. “But I love my paper ring. It’s in my jewelry box.”
He grinned. “I know it is.”
“Did you go snooping?” I dropped my head onto his shoulder, feeling a little weak from the topic of conversation.
“Your mom told me.”
“My mom?” I asked incredulously. “You talk to her?”
“She’s the most important woman in your life. And since you’re the most important in mine, it seemed right to talk to her.”
“I love you,” I blurted out, my heart aching. “A whole lot.”
“Good.” He tapped me gently on the chin. “Because I love you too, Victoria McLaughlin. A whole lot.”
I winced. “Don’t call me Victoria, please. Victoria is fancy. Tori is—”
“You,” he interrupted. “I know. Sorry, Victoria.”
Laughing, I pinched him. “Stop it. Or I won’t tell you my news.”
“Your news?” He lifted one dark eyebrow. He was so handsome when he did that. “What’s that?”
“You said that I surprise you every day.” I ran my hands over his shirt, reveling in his closeness. I wanted it all the time. Every night. Every morning. “I applied to one of the colleges in Vegas, as a workforce instructor. And, well, I got the job. I start next month.”
He looked dumbstruck. “What?”
Smiling, I tugged on his earlobe. “Didn’t you hear me?”
“Yes.” He pressed his lips to my neck. “You sure you want to move to Vegas?”
“So sure.”
“That makes this question so much easier to ask...”
I paused, my heart in my throat as I stared at him with wide eyes. “What question?”
“Will you...”
I held my breath.
“... move in with me?”
It took a full five seconds for me to form a single word. “Liam.”
He grinned mischievously.
“You asshole,” I said without heat. “I can’t believe you.”
“I told you. I’m going to surprise you.”
“I would’ve been surprised!” I crossed my arms over my chest, looking at him like a petulant child.
“Maybe. But this is kind of fun. I like watching you squirm.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I bet you do.” I relaxed into his arms again. “Hey Liam?”
“Mm?”
“Truth or dare?”
“I’m not falling for it,
Tori,” he said as he laughed. “You can’t dare me into marrying you.”
Damn it. “I was dared the first time I married you.”
“Yes. But then it was for everyone else. This time will be for us.”
I guess I couldn’t argue with that. “Are you sure you want me to move in with you?” I asked, remembering what he had said earlier.
“Not even a question. Please, move in with me. I’ll let you hog George all you want.”
“She likes me more anyway.”
“You’re right. Which should make it easy on you to answer.”
“Yes,” I said immediately. “Easiest answer of my life.”
“So far,” he said, tipping his head down.
“So far,” I agreed. “My plan is to follow you back home after Christmas, with all my shit. Since you have your truck, that should make unloading my storage unit even easier.”
“Perfect.”
“Really? You’re not even the littlest bit nervous about me moving in?”
“I’ve been waiting for you and me to live in the same place ever since the first time I had to say goodbye.”
I was a happy person by nature, but I didn’t think anyone could inspire the number of smiles that Liam did when he spoke like that. I snuggled even deeper into his chest.
“How are things going with Vince?”
“Seth has been going out to San Diego to check in on him.” Liam shrugged. “He’s doing ... okay, I guess. Seth says he wasn’t drinking to excess, but I don’t have much more than that. We will never be friends like we were growing up, but that doesn’t mean I stopped caring about him.”
“I’m glad Seth has gone out to see him.” My own feelings about Vince were complicated. I had only known one side to him—I wasn’t privy to what the rest of them were. But I knew how he treated Liam, and I knew he hadn’t apologized.
“I think he’ll eventually figure things out. But he’s a proud man. He doesn’t like to admit when he’s wrong, and he hates to apologize. I’ve always known that about him, but I guess it never really affected me.”
“I don’t like to admit when I’m wrong either. But I also can’t imagine saying the things he said.”
“Don’t dwell on it. It’s okay, Tori.”
One Little Dare Page 22
