Lemonade (WLGYL #2)

Chapter 17-Present

"I miss you," Liam said over the phone. He had been gone for over a week already and our daily phone calls weren't enough for me to get my fix of him.

I smiled. "I miss you too. How is it over there?"

"Mexico's great," he said. "As expected. This resort is fancy as hell."

I raised my eyebrows, even though he couldn't see. "You'll have to take me there someday."

Liam laughed, his voice light. "I'd love nothing more."

"Is your internship still pestering you?" Even though Liam had gotten time off for vacation, he had told me he was still getting texted by people he worked with for help on their project.

He sighed. "A little, but I don't mind. At least I got time off." He paused, laughing a little. "Bridget said the funniest thing in our work group chat the other day."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Like I told Liam the last time we got into an argument about Bridget, I was totally okay with him having female friends, but I still couldn't help the twinge of jealousy in the pit of my stomach. "It seems like she says a lot of funny things."

"Do I detect jealousy, Ms. Branson?"

"Me? Never!"

Liam laughed again. "Good. I think you'd like her."

I smiled. "Well, if you think I will, then you're probably right." The twinge in my stomach pestered me again, but this time from nerves. I bit my lip. "I think I'm ready."

I could sense Liam's confusion. "Ready?"

"You know...ready." I had thought about it a lot over the past few months, and especially while Liam had been gone this past week. I couldn't think of a reason to not have sex with Liam. He was kind, he cared about me, and he respected me. And he was nice to look at. I was pretty sure I loved him or, at the very least, I knew I could get there someday. Might as well seize the moment now. Mason was the only person I had ever had sex with, and I didn't want that reminder to be there anymore.

"Oh shit." I could hear Liam hesitate. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," I said with a grin. "When you come home."

"Do you think I could come home today instead of tomorrow?"

I laughed. "Easy, tiger. I'll still be here when you get back."

I could sense Liam's smile through the phone. "Deal."

***

Mason and I scoured the aisles at the Target nearest us, dutifully ignoring our conversation from the night before, when Mason practically told me he still had some kind of feelings for me.

We were running on scraps for a couple of days now, and we definitely needed a restock. We made the mistake of grocery shopping the day before the 4th of July, and the store was packed.

"Pasta sauce?" I called out.

Mason's eyes scrolled the list we wrote out on the back of an old envelope. "Yes."

I tossed the jar into the cart. "Pasta noodles?"

"Yes, but only elbows."

I nodded, tossing the box of pasta into the cart as well.

When we made our way to the produce department, we split the list in half to collect all the fruits and veggies we would need for the next couple of weeks. I grabbed strawberries and celery before stopping in front of the apples. I wasn't picky, but Mason was, and I didn't remember if he wanted Gala or Honeycrisp. "Hey, Mase?" I started to call out, when I noticed Mason was otherwise occupied.