“No,” Liam said, succinctly. “Probably not. But if Hellspawn had needed you in some way…” His grimace spoke volumes and I raised a hand to stave off any other response.
“Intellectual exercise only. You made it clear you would shoot me if I continued to press the proposal.” Probably not the best idea to tweak him, but the flat look he gave me was enough to make me chuckle.
“Jackass,” Liam commented.
“Sometimes,” I agreed. “Non-intellectual exercise of a question. I also need you to be my friend for a few minutes.”
“I’ve been your friend for a lot longer than you deserved it,” Liam reminded me. “Ask. If I can answer it, I will. Leave Hellspawn out of whatever it is.”
“Done.” Not a hard promise to make. “Lainey…” This was a challenge to even discuss. I never brought her up to Liam. Keeping her compartmentalized had been about protecting her from all of us. “Lainey has decided the multiple partner relationship is for her.”
Liam nodded once, not commenting. I had all of his attention.
“Ezra… I can handle. But that’s another issue. Cavendish was an unexpected wrinkle and Milo…”
“…is well and truly already established and you don’t mind him or you’d still be calling him Hardigan.”
I shrugged. “I don’t actually mind either Bodhi or Milo, as shocking as that feels to admit. I loathed the idea of anyone touching her that wasn’t me, but now? No, they’d gut anyone who touched her and they can take care of her in ways I didn’t. They can also protect her when I’m not there.”
“They make her happy.” Again, not a question.
“Yes.” I could keep it succinct too. That was it in a nutshell. It made Lainey happy. The four of them were there for her. I’d already gotten used to them and had started to rely on them too.
Milo and Bodhi had both been there for when my father took her and when Ezra went down.
“I think there’s something a little different for us though.”
“Such as?” Liam prompted when I didn’t keep speaking. Instead, I took a long drink of the coffee.
“It feels almost stupid to say this, now that I’m trying to verbalize it.”
“Discussing feelings in general pretty much sucks,” he told me and he really wasn’t wrong.
“Agreed,” I said. “So, I’m going to rip the Band-Aid off and just get through this. My best friend is in love with me…and I am pretty damn sure I love him too. Love him enough to attempt a relationship with him as well as with Lainey. Yes, before you ask, she knows and she is encouraging us.”
“Cool.”
I blinked.
“That’s it?”
Liam raised his eyebrows. “Were you expecting something else?”
Falling back in the seat, I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I just told you that Ezra and I are…probably, no, not probably. We’re definitely starting a relationship. I’m going to be with him and Lainey both and you say—cool?”
“Adam, you two have been a couple for as long as I’ve known you. You even fight like a couple.” The blunt delivery—and frank acceptance—shocked me even more than his casual “cool.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Liam said, then shrugged. “Look, I don’t judge. You’re not an asshole most of the time. Ezra can be, but his heart is generally in the right place even if his mouth is constantly writing checks the rest of him has to pay.”
A more accurate description I’d never heard.
“But if he makes you happy and the two of you are also making her happy, who gives a fuck what I have to say on it? The only people who are important are you three. I assume Milo and Bodhi are fine with it.”
They hadn’t said a damn word. They’d just—accepted it. Bodhi parked me and Ezra in the same room even, which I appreciated more and more. Beyond that, they were helping us look after Ezra.
“Just…”
“Just?” Liam nudged verbally as he sat forward. His coffee was gone and he focused on me. “Just what? You thought your girlfriend was your sister for years. You sacrificed to keep her safe. Then you find out she’s not, but now, you and your best friend are ass deep in trouble with King, with the Royals—with your father.”
My father. Ezra’s father.
Bastards, all of them.
“Now, we have more problems, but we’re also eliminating enemies. Life doesn’t always give us that many opportunities to be happy. You gotta make the choice to take what you can, to embrace it, and to make the most of it.”
“When did you get so damn wise?” It should irk me more, but I really needed to hear him say all of that.
“I’ve always been the smartest one of us. Don’t let the good looks fool you.” He grinned easily.
“You’re an ass,” I said, shaking my head and chuckling for real.
“Smartass,” Liam confirmed. “But you feel better, right?”
I did. “Thanks,” I said, meaning it.
“Anytime.” The moment lasted about three seconds before Liam said, “Though, if you ever really need me to knock some sense into you—I got you covered.”
