Seven Letter Words #Wattys2016

Part 36

Juliet

I understand why tall men are attractive to women. I understand why strong bodies and deep voices make us all flustered. I completely agree that certain physical aspects of the male population call to us females because those traits are the best at ensuring the survival of our offspring. I get it. But why did watching Liam discuss tires and wheels and rims...and...and...god, I wasn't even paying attention to the words anymore. Now I was focused on the way his bicep stretched out his sleeve and how his firm, strong hand wrapped around the outstretched palm of the manger as he thanked him and said goodbye. What about all of this was making my ovaries kick into overdrive?

I swear I felt the flutters of them calling attention to the rest of my female organs like the hyped up cheerleaders at a pep rally. There were no defensive cheers being called this time, instead they were rallying the team to play offense. Quick coaching calls like, "Get him!" and "It's touchdown time!" I was the player nodding my head, completely wrapped up in the excitement of every hormone zooming through my system. I mean, a touchdown sounded pretty good. Who was I to deny my ovaries if they were so invested in scoring?

"Juliet?" His voice sounded a little distant, but when I shook off the fog of lust I saw he was staring at me with a concerned expression on his face.

I cleared my throat. Maybe I'd had too much sugar. "What?"

"I asked if you were ready to go? Dave offered us a ride back with the new tire." Dave? I quickly looked at the manager's nametag and sure enough—DAVE.

"Sure. That sounds great." I adjusted a little, feeling my face flush and hoping they would both assume it was the warm air that had begun to fill the store around us. Liam's brows pulled together in a look that gave away he still had no idea why I was so lost in the conversation that had been taking place right in front of me. A shy smile stretched across my face and I gave him a small shrug of my shoulders.

Dave's truck was old, but it was better than trying to roll the new tire back. It was a bench seat and Liam pulled me close again as we rode back to Ken's truck. This time his need to have me near felt natural and not possessive. His arm fell over my shoulder and I made myself comfortable against his chest. I realized in that moment I would have been stranded here if I had tried to make this ride myself. That's if I'd even made it this far.

I sat up a little. Ken had to have known that one of his friends would step up. I hadn't really thought about it until that moment. Ken would not have encouraged me to make the trip alone, but he never spelled out whom I was supposed to take it with. I closed my eyes and tried hard to bring up the conversation we had. Had he hinted? Had he told me not to go alone at some point? I felt myself worrying my bottom lip between my teeth just a second before Liam squeezed my knee and whispered, "Almost there," into my ear.

Once we were out of the truck and Dave had driven off, Liam motioned for me climb up into my seat. He pulled my knees around so that he could stand before me and look up into my eyes. His hands were on my thighs and I could see the concern in his features. "What's the matter?" he asked. It was hot and we were on the side of the road with hours of driving still ahead of us.

"It's not important." At least not important enough to warrant any worry from him. I just wanted to think everything through. I wanted to put the puzzle pieces together and figure out exactly what my brother had known about his friends before he made me promise to carry out his last request.

Liam reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear. His eyebrows lifted and his lips pulled together, "I have a lot to get done and doing it is going to suck. It's hot and the ground is getting warmer every minute this sun is up. I've changed a lot of tires, but never on your brother's truck. Normally it doesn't matter whose vehicle it is," his grin was sly like we were sharing an inside joke, "but your brother already fucked me over with that dud spare so I'm not ruling out anymore surprises." He was clearly sincere as he looked into my eyes. "I'm not going to be able to concentrate on any part of that job," he pointed to the tire as if it was exhibit A in the case, "if you don't tell me what had you chewing that lip in Dave's truck."

He lifted his chin enough for his mouth to brush against mine. "Tell me," he whispered before softly kissing me, letting my bottom lip slip between his as if kissing it to make it better.

My hands rested on his shoulders. "Do you think my brother would have let me make this drive alone?"

"No." His answer was quick and definite.

"Have you thought about that? If I wasn't supposed to go alone, who was supposed to go with me?"

"Your boyfriend." Liam said the words like it hurt his tongue. I was already shaking my head.

"He wouldn't have gone with me. Ken knew that."

"No guy lets the girl the loves drive across the country by herself."

I shrugged my shoulders again, letting my thumb sneak beneath his collar. I wanted to feel his skin. "Then maybe he didn't love me as much as I thought. But I have no doubt Ken already knew that. He never said 'have Garrett drive you,' or 'Garrett can take you,' I've been thinking about it. Maybe I pictured him with me, but Ken hadn't."

Liam watched my face for a minute. A small breeze passed, cooling the sweat on the back of my neck. "You think he knew one of us would take you." It wasn't a question; it was a statement. It was also correct. I nodded my head. I could see he was thinking about it, then the corner of his lips curled up. "Well, I would bet he was praying it wouldn't be me."

"If not you, then who?"

"Garver." He said it with authority. Like it was the only possible answer.

"The only one of you with a wife?" I asked incredulously. He clearly would not have been as available to take me somewhere while on leave as the rest of his single friends.

"Exactly." Liam chuckled.

I shook my head about to argue, but Liam slid his hands up my thighs and nuzzled his face in the curve of my neck. He kissed a trail from my shoulder to my jaw before taking my lips with his own. I could feel the connection between us, and the excitement of his hands moving across my skin. I'd almost forgotten what we were talking about when Liam pulled away.

"Garver is the only one of us that would have been able to keep his hands off of you."

"You think his big plan was that Garver would bring his wife along as I dragged them across the country during the only few days they'd have to be together during leave?" I couldn't imagine that to be the case. I knew my brother had been giving Garver a lot of grief for always spending so much time with her.

"No baby," Liam said softly, his expression changing from jest to sadness quickly. "I think his big plan was to come home to you." I felt the emotion race up from my heart and clog my throat. I pulled my arms tighter around his neck, hugging him as I fought back the tears. My brother was my hero. I believed he knew the right answer to every question there was. But if he had thought Liam wasn't the man for this job--he was wrong. It had always been meant to be the two of us on this road together.

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