Chapter 21

Kelvinhall

Liam

I’m seriously struggling to work out how on earth Tasha managed to get her claws into Chloe’s ex. Because while I know I’ve had a lot of “What a coincidence!” moments in my life, I also know that

this

is definitely not one of them.

I’m also worried about what Tasha might do if she gets wind of any vibe between me and Chloe. Which I guess says a lot about my thoughts on Tasha these days; that I wouldn’t trust her not to try to metaphorically burn the whole pub down with all of us still inside. Tasha wreaks havoc when she doesn’t get her own way. I may have had blinkers on when we started going out, but by the end of our relationship, my eyes had been fully opened to this.

But has she seriously hunted down and started dating a member of my friendship group – albeit one on the periphery – just to get to me? Or am I seriously reading too much into this?

Everyone else who knows her seems to be in agreement with me, though.

On top of this, my phone buzzes, and I can see I have yet another message from Sandy.

Where’s your group at? We’ve made it to Hillhead, skipped a few stops. Any luck with the girl,

or have you changed your mind yet? Xx

x

Seriously, will she let it go? I type back a brief message to try and shut her up.

Becky’s back, having conducted a brief interrogation at the bar. “She’s still playing the innocent,” she reports. “Claims she met Michael in Waxy’s two months ago and ‘just knew he was special’.” She rolls her eyes as she air-quotes. Becky only met Tasha a few times, but I know she was never really a fan.

Poor Michael. He’s getting a bit of a short shrift from us in this, isn’t he? Honestly, though, if you knew Tasha at all, you’d understand our doubts.

“Wait . . . Didn’t your Glasgow stag night start in Waxy’s?” Chloe asks Luke suddenly. “And that was around two months ago, wasn’t it?”

Ah, the infamous stag night . . . Where Alex well and truly fell out with me. I think back to that day; why was I running late again?

Oh,

that’s

right, because Tasha had turned up at my door as I was about to get ready, wanting to talk. To ask me to reconsider-

again

– giving things another try. I told her my thoughts hadn’t changed, but it was difficult to get her to leave. I ended up being 45 minutes late to the night out as a result.

Had she followed me that night?

I’d stupidly told her where we were starting off, weakened by the arguing. Although she may have already known that, if Alex had told her.

Waxy O’Connor’s in the city centre is known well by Glaswegians as being a bit of a maze. With different levels, rooms, and alcoves, it’s a running joke that you can get lost just going for a piss. Even when sober. It actually would have probably been pretty easy for Tasha to be there without any of us spotting her. And to work out who was part of the stag group.

And possibly identify and pick off the weakest one in the herd?

Again

, sorry, Michael.

I can tell Luke is on the same page as me. He remembers the harassed state I was in when I got to the pub, and exactly why that was.

“I never saw Michael with a girl that night,” I say aloud. Remembering that I had no reason to believe at that point that he wasn’t still with Chloe, and he hadn’t given me cause to think otherwise.

Luke seems thoughtful. “Do you know, I actually do remember him saying to me later on in the night that a girl had given him her number, though.” He laughs. “He seemed a bit confused about what to do with it.”

We all laugh at that. Even Chloe.

“So she

is

at it!” Becky exclaims. “She’s here to get to you, Liam. 100 per cent.”

At that moment, Alex rejoins the group. He’s frowning. And, weirdly, making direct eye contact with me. “Liam, I think there’s something you should know,” he says.

“If you’re talking about the fact that your sister has clearly targeted Michael at Luke’s stag night to somehow get to Liam, we already worked that one out.” Becky interrupts. I think the amount of alcohol she has had is probably making her seem abrupt, but I also think most of us have had our fill of Alex today thanks to his snarky behaviour.

Alex looks helpless all of a sudden. He glances at Becky and then back at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she would do this.”

I shrug. “Well, you need to realise that I’m not entirely to blame in what happened between me and your sister, and she’s not perfect.”

He nods and slinks away to the other end of the group.

So what now? We’re just going to have to play happy families for the rest of the subcrawl? I’m not sure I can handle that.

Once again, I wish I was still in Chloe’s flat.

I meet her eyes then and try to smile reassuringly, but I think it falls flat. Her own smile is decidedly forced, too. I can’t really blame her. I wasn’t expecting Tasha to appear minutes after we agreed to give things a try either. Although I had been worried something might go wrong, I would never have anticipated it would be my ex appearing.

“I think it might be a good idea to move pubs,” Luke decides. “If the lovebirds aren’t finished their drink yet, they can just get us in there. With any luck, they’ll get lost.”

Change of scenery. Great idea.

I doubt we’ll manage to shake Tasha, though. Now she’s wormed her way in, she’ll probably be here for the long haul.

At least, that’s what I’m afraid of anyway.

Chapter 22

Hillhead

Chloe

We end up walking to the next pub.

I don’t think any of us can be bothered getting back on a busy subway train to just go one stop, and, as I mentioned earlier, walking is sometimes quicker.

I’m considering bailing. I’ve already been out far longer than I ever planned to be, and my social meter is running on empty. I also keep seeing Tasha giving me sly sidelong looks and . . . do you ever just get the feeling someone is just looking for an opportunity to get you alone? That’s how I feel about her right now. She’s

definitely

lying in wait, ready to strike like a snake.

I don’t know what she wants from me, but I’m more than a little scared. Thankfully, the gin has been taking the edge off, but I’m still me, and I don’t

do

confrontation.

However, I also don’t want to leave Liam in her clutches; I’m feeling strangely possessive of him. I kinda like him. So, for now, I guess I’m sticking around.

Albeit extremely reluctantly.

“Oh look, Liam, isn’t that where we went for our first date?” Tasha points at an Italian restaurant on Byres Road, shooting a calculated look over at him and winking. His face darkens as she turns back to Michael. “We really should go there soon, Michael. I think you’d love it.”

I’m feeling incredibly sorry for my ex-boyfriend by this stage. He is clearly starting to realise that there’s more to this little coincidence than meets the eye. It’s his turn to shoot me a look, one of mild desperation.

I don’t understand what

is going on

, it seems to be saying.

Get me out of this.

Right now, I think most of us are feeling this way. So, sorry Michael, but you’re on your own for now.

“What pub are we going to?” Becky asks, cutting over anything else Tasha is thinking about saying. “Tennant’s is right there; it doesn’t look too busy for once. Shall we give it a shot?’

“Or let them give

us

a shot then go home?” I mutter under my breath. Liam is the only one who hears me, and he sniggers and squeezes my arm lightly. He does it subtly but still, I can feel Tasha’s laser beam eyes burning into the side of my head.

I suspect she knows about us, and I’m not sure how.

Unless Michael told her about the video? I suppose it’s a possibility. However, then it strikes me how quickly Tasha came into that last pub after we got there.

She saw us kissing

, I realise suddenly. She’s witnessed that moment we shared just before we went into the pub.

I feel a bit sick just thinking about her watching us, knowing she was about to come in and use my ex as a way to get at her own. It slightly taints my memory of it, and that makes me feel quite furious.

“She knows about us,” I mutter to Liam as we enter the pub. He looks momentarily confused and then I see his eyes narrow thoughtfully as he does the mental maths and comes to the same conclusion as me..

“

Fuck

,” he responds succinctly. “Just . . . Try and give her a wide berth.”

“Trust me, I

am

trying,” I assure him through gritted teeth.

The pub is standing room only but there’s plenty of space so it doesn’t feel as claustrophobic as the previous one. We gather around one corner of the bar, me edging as far away from Tasha as possible. Once again, out of the corner of my eye I can see her looking me up and down. I know she finds me lacking.

I would do several dares right now if it would somehow get her to leave and not return.

Come back Lola, all is forgiven!

I’m starting to need the loo but I’m worried she’ll follow me. Damn and blast my tiny bladder.

I turn to Becky. “So what’s the deal with Liam and Tasha?” I ask quietly. “What happened there? He said she fucked him over.”

She sucks in a sharp breath. “That’s an understatement. She was two-timing him with another guy. Thought he had more money, better prospects, than Liam so she was keeping them both happy. He basically caught them at it one night. He was devastated at the time.”

“Ouch.” It’s all I can say. I’m glad he got the wake up call with her he clearly needed, although it must have been a horrible one.

“Apparently she eventually realised she fucked up as she has been trying to get Liam back for the last year or so. But he’s not been interested for a long time.” Becky looks at me pointedly. “Just telling you that so you know you’re not some sort of rebound. Since I’m assuming,” she wriggles her eyebrows before continuing, “something happened when you two went away together?”

I don’t have to say anything. My blush gives me away as always.

“I’m so delighted,” Becky whispers. “You both deserve a happy ending.”

Oh, that reminds me, actually. “What’s the dodgy definition of a happy ending?” I ask. “Like the urban dictionary meaning.”

She laughs. “If you don’t remember, you don’t want to know. And that isn’t the kind of happy ending I’m referring to anyway.” Her eyes are sparkling. “You two are so cute together. The way he looks at you . . . It’s sweet. Aw, he’s doing it right now.” She clasps her hands together in glee as I look over towards Liam and spot exactly what she means.

Yep. Unguarded, happy and – oh god – a wee bit

hungry

. My insides turn over in want. He’s so bloody good-looking. It’s been such a long time since I’ve had a crush like this.

Especially

one that’s reciprocated.

“See?” Becky whispers. I nod, unable to take my eyes off him as he smiles across at me. Why do our blasted exes have to both be here? All I want to do right now is push my way through the group and throw myself on him.

“I need the loo,” my cousin adds, breaking the spell. “Want to come?” I nod gratefully, noting that Tasha is currently preoccupied at the bar.

As I come out of the cubicle to wash my hands, Becky’s already done and primping herself in the mirror. “So what’s actually happening with you and Liam? Are you going to go on a date or what?”

“I think so,” I nod, lathering my hands in liquid soap. “We’ve basically said we’ll give things a try, get to know each other a bit better.”

“Good.” Becky smiles and is about to say something else when her phone starts buzzing. “Shit, it’s Lola. I’d better get this, she’ll probably be mortified.”

“Good luck,” I laugh as she heads outside to take the call. I have a feeling she’s going to have to talk Lola down off a ledge, and I don’t envy that one bit.

Quickly I wash the soap off my hands and dig in my bag for my lip balm. Prepping my lips just in case, y’know. (Wink wink.) Barely containing a lust-fuelled sigh, I turn to the door.

And of

course

Tasha is standing there.

She tosses her hair back and fixes her cold blue eyes on me, her own lips curving in a smug smirk.

“Chloe,” she says softly, a vague threat in her tone. “I think it’s time we had a little chat, don’t you?”

Chapter 23

Hillhead

Chloe

Tasha takes a step closer to me. I take a step back, which results in me banging my hip on the sink. It smarts, but I try not to react. I have enough to deal with right now

“I know it must be hard for you to see Michael with someone else,” she says. Her face is suddenly the picture of innocence.

“It’s a bit weird, yeah, but I’m okay with it,” I reply carefully. “We broke up a while ago. I’m glad he’s moved on.” I’d rather he’d moved on with someone other than

her

, but we’ll try and keep schtum on that, eh?

“Oh good, I’m so glad you’re coping,” she says gently, as if speaking to a scared kitten. I suppose, metaphorically, I

am

. “I remember Liam mentioning in the past that you struggle to cope with awkward situations.” She giggles, and it seems at odds with everything about her spiky personality. “He used to tell me a

lot

of things about you, actually. I always got the impression he didn’t like you very much. He also said he ruined your favourite film – he seemed quite proud of that, weirdly.”

My heart is slamming in my chest again. I know she’s full of shit but she’s not pulled this stuff out of nowhere… he

has

to have spoken about me to her at one point for her to know this, surely?

“I thought this was about Michael,” I manage to say. “Why are you bringing Liam into the equation?”

She smiles again. Completely void of any warmth. “You might think Liam likes you, but he doesn’t, not really. He’s been obsessed with me for years. It’s actually quite pathetic. Anything he might do with you . . . Well, he’s only doing it to make me jealous.”

And, despite what Becky’s told me – hell, even despite what Liam

himself

has told me, I start to doubt myself. It really

was

all too good to be true, wasn’t it?

Okay, so he didn’t know Tasha was going to turn up today. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still harbour feelings for her. That he’s not going to run right back to her like an eager little puppy if she throws him the tiniest bone.

I don’t particularly like having these doubts, but it just seems typical of my life that the first guy I’d fancied in a long time would just be using me to get to another girl. I can’t help the way my mind works sometimes. It’s a curse.

“And

you

?” I force myself to challenge her. “You’re clearly just using Michael to make Liam jealous. Don’t you think

that’s

a bit pathetic?”

A flash of anger flickers in her eyes. It seems Tasha is used to getting her own way. I don’t think she expected me to bite back. I’m surprised at

myself

, to be honest. But I’m not just angry on my own behalf. I’m angry for Liam, too. And Michael. Who is a mere indispensable pawn in her little game, apparently. He deserves better than that.

“I don’t need to make Liam jealous,” she recovers herself, laughing coldly. “He

already

wants me. I’m not sure what part of that you’re not getting.”

“Except he doesn’t want

you

.”

We both look around in surprise at the third voice, but there’s no one else there. Seconds later, I hear a toilet flush, and the door to one of the cubicles opens.

It’s that girl from earlier.

Sandy. The one who kept talking to Liam and winding me up.

I didn’t notice she was even in this pub. I hadn’t even realised there’d been anyone else in the loos. She saunters over to the sink next to me, shooting me the ghost of a wink, and turns the tap on.

“Who the fuck are

you

?” Tasha snaps.

“I’m Sandy.” She wipes her hands with a paper towel and turns around, leaning against the sink with her arms crossed. “And I don’t know who the fuck

you

are – and I don’t

care

– but I’m here to tell you that you’ve got it all wrong.”

“You know nothing about this situation so just piss off,” Tasha hisses, her face reddening. She looks a bit nervous though. Sandy is a force to be reckoned with.

“Oh yeah?” She laughs now. “It’s funny you should say that as I actually know for a fact that Liam is majorly into

Chloe

.”

“You’re delusional,” Tasha states.

“Nope, that would be

you

, love.” Sandy shakes her head. “I spoke to Liam for a good while earlier and I know all about their history. How he’s fancied her for years but she was with that other guy – Michael, I’m assuming – and today he finally felt like he might have a chance with her.”

Liam’s fancied me for years?

“Funnily enough, there was no mention of

you

, whoever you are,” Sandy continues, scorn in her voice. “But Chloe was mentioned a

lot

. Oh, and he feels

terrible

about ruining her favourite film, not proud, so you’re full of shit.”

I suddenly can’t stop smiling. I can’t believe that the whole time Liam was talking to Sandy he was discussing me. Even the Ferris Bueller incident.

Tasha is incandescent with rage by now. “You don’t know anything!” She spits. “Liam only wants me.”

Sandy smirks, digs around in the back pocket of her jeans and pulls out her phone. “I messaged Liam about half an hour ago to ask how he was getting on with Chloe.” She glances at me slightly apologetically as she flicks through to her texts. “I mean, I had an ulterior motive as I kind of fancied him too. But this was his reply.”

She clears her throat, puts on a gruff Irish accent. I’m starting to really quite like Sandy. “‘Things are going well with Chloe, thanks. Turns out she does like me back, we’re going to spend a bit more time together and see how it goes.'”

She puts her phone away. “Well, that was

me

put in my place,” she adds ruefully in her own voice before she raises her eyebrows at Tasha. “But I think it proves that Liam isn’t just using Chloe to make you jealous. So maybe you should just fuck back off to whatever drain you crawled out of.”

I think at that point Tasha realises she’s done. She can’t even look at me anymore, and I suddenly can’t stop giggling. I can’t be certain but I

think

it was Sandy’s terrible attempt at pretending to be Liam that set me off. Tasha mutters “Bitch!” in Sandy’s direction before storming out of the bathroom.

I’m left in the loos with Sandy. “Um . . . Thanks for that,” I say uncertainly. She’s turned back to the mirror and is checking her dark eye make-up, which is ever-so-slightly smudged, but she can pull it off. This feels

weird

. I wasn’t expecting her to be an ally.

“If there’s one thing I hate, it’s a bully,” she replies. “That girl needed put in her place. Don’t get me wrong, you were holding your own. But I figured a bit of back-up might be in order.”

I have to ask. “Did Liam . . . um . . . Was he

really

talking to you about me all that time?” I ask uncertainly.

Sandy looks me up and down before she nods. “Yep. I got the whole history of your interactions over the years. It was really quite annoying . . . But very sweet.” She smiles. “He really fucking likes you. I’m very jealous.”

“Sorry,” I say awkwardly.

“Hey, the heart wants what it wants,” she shrugs, holding the door open for me. “No hard feelings.

“But just remember,” she adds, grinning at me good-naturedly. “If you get sick of him, I have first dibs.”

It’s official. Sandy is my hero.

Chapter 24

Hillhead

Liam

I hadn’t realised immediately that Tasha had followed Chloe to the loos. Probably for the best as I couldn’t exactly go in there for back-up.

In fact, it only hits me about twenty seconds before Tasha storms past me, muttering “fuck you, Liam” under her breath and marching straight for the door. Michael, who has seemingly been forgotten, looks bewildered as he gives chase.

I can’t help but glance towards the toilets anxiously but a moment or two later Chloe materialises beside me, flanked by

Sandy

of all people. “Are you okay?” I ask her. I’m worried Tasha could potentially have well and truly scared her off. She can be pretty terrifying when she wants to be.

She nods. “I’m fine. I had some moral support.” She indicates Sandy.

“Not that she needed it,” my phone friend adds. She smiles widely at me. “We just informed your ex of some home truths and I don’t think she could handle it.”

“I heard you’ve spent a lot of time today discussing me too.” Chloe looks a bit smug as she shoots me a sidelong glance, and I feel my face heat up. What the

hell

has Sandy told her? Oh fuck it, whatever it was, it seems to have actually

helped

my case rather than hindered it so I’m all for that.

Chloe and Sandy proceed to fill me in on what happened in the bathroom. Tasha is even more of a piece of work than I realised.

“She said you’d boasted to her about ruining one of my favourite films, and you told her I was socially anxious.” Chloe bites her lip and I shake my head immediately in protest.

“I can 100 percent promise you, Chloe, I’ve never mentioned anything about you to that girl,” I insist. Nothing insulting

or

complimentary. I would

never

put her in Tasha’s crosshairs by mentioning her in any capacity.

“Yeah,

I

got it all instead,” Sandy mutters under her breath. I ignore that and press on.

“I didn’t even

know

you were socially anxious or shy until today. You must have been hiding it well. Luke told me, said it was interesting that you seemed to be a different person with me,” I admit. “It’s what made me think that I might actually have a chance with you after all.”

“That’s true,” Sandy nods, turning to Chloe. “He told me all this.”

“Sorry, Chloe, I think that was actually

my

fault.” We all turn around to see Michael standing there, looking a bit shame-faced. I can’t help but notice Tasha hasn’t returned with him.

“What do you mean?” Chloe asks him, puzzled.

“Well, I think I’ve probably told Tasha quite a lot about you when we’ve spoken about exes.” He indicates me. “

You

didn’t get the most flattering description, by the way.” He turns his gaze back to Chloe. “I definitely mentioned your social anxiety, not in a bad way but it did come up. And then, earlier today, she tried to suggest that you two might be together . . . I said that probably would never happen because you’d gotten into an argument on your first meeting and never seen eye to eye since.”

Chloe sighs in relief. “That makes sense. I really didn’t want to believe Liam was bitching about me to her.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” I assure her, squeezing her arm.

I realise now that Michael is looking back and forth between us, slight disbelief pinching his eyebrows together. “She wasn’t wrong though, was she?” He asks. “Tasha, I mean, when she said there was something going on. You two are . . .?”

Chloe winces. “We’re still figuring things out. But yeah.”

He blinks and puffs out a long breath. “If he makes you happy, then I’m glad,” he adds. He seems sincere enough, to be fair.

“And what about you and Tasha?” Chloe asks.

He shrugs. “I caught up with her there. She basically told me what I was already starting to suspect, that she’d been here for Liam.” He actually doesn’t look that gutted. “I

think

we might have split up.”

“She was a right wee cow anyway,” Sandy suddenly speaks up, sidling up beside Michael and winking suggestively at him. She seems to have slightly sobered up since earlier; maybe her group did take my advice and forcefeed her a bit of water. “You’re well shot of her. Why don’t I buy you a drink to celebrate?”

He looks surprised but nods. “Okay. Why not?” They move to the bar. Chloe and I both start to laugh. Surely

those

two aren’t going to hit it off?

But then again, I didn’t ever imagine I’d end up with

Chloe

so who really knows!

Chloe leans into me, filling my senses with her sweet smelling hair again. “I’m kinda done with this subcrawl now,” she confesses. “I could really do with getting the hell out of here.”

I’m with her on that. I turn around to Luke who is listening to Becky talking about her call with Lola. Apparently Colin has already forgiven her. “Listen guys, do you think it would be okay if me and Chloe head off now?” I interrupt them to ask.

Becky smiles widely. “Go for it.” She nods at her cousin. “This one has probably beaten some sort of record for lasting on a night out.”

Chloe laughs as we say goodbye to everyone and leave the pub. “What now?” She asks, looking at me curiously.

I press a kiss to her forehead before I slide an arm around her. “I’m thinking maybe it’s time for our first date? We could go grab dinner somewhere?” I suggest hopefully. “If you’ve got the energy left for that.”

She smiles again, her pretty hazel eyes sparkling. “For you, I’ll

make

the energy,” she says softly. “On one condition.”

I shoot her a questioning look, and she starts giggling as she points across the road to the Italian restaurant mentioned earlier. “Don’t you

dare

take me to you and Tasha’s first date restaurant.”

I grin and steer her in the opposite direction, hoping that this first date will be the first of many. “I think I can manage that.”

Chapter 25

Two weeks later . . .

Chloe

“Don’t you kinda

want

him to get caught?” Liam asks.

“Little bit.” I nod, not looking away from the TV screen.

We’re nearly at the end of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, watching him race to beat his parents home. God, he really

is

a smug little git, isn’t he?

“I’ve definitely come to the conclusion that I’d never get tired of punching him in the face,” I add, and Liam bursts out laughing. He winds an arm around me and pulls me in for a kiss as the credits start to roll.

“I’d better go,” he says, with obvious reluctance. “I still need to get ready for the wedding.”

“It’s not like it’s

your

wedding,” I point out, not wanting him to leave.

He smiles. “I actually need to make sure I’m presentable for a change,” he replies. “And I should probably shave.”

“Wow, a clean-shaven Liam . . . I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed that,” I ponder. “I guess I’ve always believed you came out of the womb with stubble.”

“Nah, it didn’t start to grow in until I was six months old,” he jokes, winking at me and standing up. “Come on, walk me to the door.”

When I get back to my room five minutes later, I throw myself back on the bed, my face aching from smiling.

After we left the subcrawl group two weeks ago, we went on our first date, and I was surprised by just how great it was. We chuckled over the nightmare of both our exes being on the subcrawl with us. Straightened out our many misunderstandings over the years. Shared our interests.

Weirdly, it turned out we had more in common than I could ever have imagined. We just hadn’t realised because we’d never really bothered to get to know one another before now. Conversation and laughter just flowed so easily. I’ve never had a date like that before. So when it drew to a close and he asked nervously if I would be willing to try a second date, I could hardly say no. I didn’t want to.

He wasn’t lying about having a lot going on in his life, though. His gran is out of hospital now thankfully, but he is obviously part of a very close knit family and spends a lot of time checking in on her and his dad, as well as helping to look after his sister’s two kids. And that’s on top of a full-time job working for a charity.

He definitely is not the guy I judged him for being. I felt bad for my assumptions; I even apologised to him for it, but he shrugged it off. “It’s not like I went out of my way to tell you anything about my life. And we only ever met at random nights out. As long as you know me now, that’s all that’s important to me,” he said.

He’s very wise.

Despite everything that’s going on, we’ve still managed to go on a few dates since then. He wiped the floor with me at pool. I kicked his arse at ten pin bowling. We’ve shared a cheese fondue and attended a gig.

And tonight, we, of course, finally watched Ferris Bueller together while eating a Dominos.

We haven’t, y’know “done the deed” yet. I know you’re probably wondering. Been pacing ourselves, trying to take it slow. But I’m fairly sure it’s going to happen tomorrow after the wedding, when we’re going to share a hotel room for the first time. And, weirdly, I don’t even feel that nervous about it.

Although, now I come to think of it, I probably have some shaving prep of my

own

that I should do. I wince, grab a new razor, and head to the bathroom.

The day of the wedding dawns clear and sunny, much to everyone’s relief, and the ceremony itself goes off without a hitch. Well, I

think

it does anyway. Liam and I spend most of it looking at each other.

True to his word, he’s shaved. Turns out he does know what hair product is. He scrubs up amazingly in a suit. I feel like I’m crushing on a whole different guy.

But I have to admit I’m actually missing the stubble. It’s just so . . .

him

. Part of the package I fell for.

And I

am

falling.

Which is ridiculous as it’s been a couple of weeks after years of being at each other’s throats. Plus, we haven’t even defined what we are yet. Are we boyfriend and girlfriend now? Do we need to put a label on it?

But I know my feelings, and they’re telling me that this could be

it

.

The Real Thing.

We’re both seated at the top table at dinner, so I can’t even perv on him as we’re in a long line facing the rest of the room. I forgot about that part . . . everyone gets to watch me eat.

Oh,

th

e

joys

. I nibble at my food, my stomach an anxious mess, and hope that people are more interested in the sight of Becky and Luke feeding each other.

And then it’s time for speeches. I’m very glad that’s not something I have to do . . . I would be a wreck! I know Liam is nervous about doing his, or “shitting a brick,” as he put it oh so eloquently last night. I think his obvious nerves endeared him to me even more. But I know he’ll still smash it out of the park, which he absolutely does – he’s a lot better at hiding his shy side than I am.

I’m looking forward to the dancing part of the evening, though, I think as I raise a toast at the end of the speeches and drain the rest of my glass of fizz. That’s the part of a wedding that’s my favourite, really…Once all the formalities are out the way. Then I can relax.

“Want to dance?” Liam asks me ten minutes or so later, appearing beside me with his pierced eyebrow raised in question. His smile is infectious, and I’m sure I feel my heart skip a beat as I remember what’s probably going to be happening later.

“Definitely,” I grin back, letting myself be pulled into the dance floor, feeling content in his arms.

“You look beautiful,” he whispers in my ear, his breath tickling my neck. “I don’t think I got a chance to tell you that.”

I feel like I could burst with happiness in this moment.

A quick blast of feedback from the mic interrupts my bubble, making me jump. “Sorry, guys!” We turn to see Becky standing next to the DJ booth, holding the mic. She is absolutely radiant and can’t seem to stop smiling.

“If I could just have a moment of everyone’s time,” she begins. “I have my own small speech to make.”

The DJ turns the music down low, and Becky clears her throat. “Obviously, the speeches at a wedding are usually about the bride and groom, but

this

one is going to be a little bit different . . . Please indulge me, though, since I

am

the bride after all.”

I glance at Liam, confused, as if to ask if he knows anything about this. All he does in response is shrug and smile.

“Once upon a time,” Becky continues, “There was a girl and a boy. They were thrust together at various points over the years because two of their friends were ridiculously in love. But the girl and the boy . . .” She laughs. “There was no love lost between them.”

It starts to occur to me that she’s talking about

us

. Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so, as I can see other people looking at us too.

Weirdly though, I’m not freaked out or embarrassed at being the centre of attention. With Liam’s arms firmly around me, I feel safe and merely curious as to where this speech is going.

“Two weeks ago, though, that all changed.” Becky walks towards us, leaving me in no doubt she’s talking about us.

“Chloe.” She stops in front of us. “There’s not many people I would let upstage my own wedding, but Liam has a question to ask you.” She passes the mic over to him, and I look at him suspiciously. So

he

was in on this all along, too?

“What’s going on?” I ask him.

He winks at me. “Chloe West, I know it’s only been two weeks, but . . . I was hoping you’d do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend?”

“WOOHOO!” I hear Lola whooping in the background. Taking me right back to the moments just before our first kiss.

“She hasn’t said yes yet,” I hear Colin mutter to shut her up. A ripple of laughter drifts around the room.

Liam is looking at me anxiously now since I still haven’t answered. “Chloe?”

“Sorry,” I wink right back at him. “I was just trying to remember if this was one of the dares on my bingo card.”

He laughs, disbelief shadowing his features as he and Becky exchange glances. “What?” I ask, worriedly. I was just trying to lighten the mood!

“Either you were onto us all along, or you and Liam are way too similar,” Becky says, shaking her head as she extends a dare bingo card out towards me in one hand, and a pen in the other. It looks like it was my original dare card as it has “kiss a stranger” crossed off. But a sticker has been placed over one of the other boxes with a new dare written in.

The new dare is “agree to be Liam’s girlfriend”.

Seems Liam and I are indeed very alike!

I don’t hesitate this time. “Yes.” I say to Liam. I swipe a cross through the dare with the pen before passing the card and pen back to my cousin.

There’s a brief round of applause as he leans in to kiss me. Then, all three of us take a bow.

“I would have said yes even without the dare,” I inform him as the music starts up again, and we melt into each other.

He kisses me again, chuckling against my lips. “I hoped so . . . but I needed some insurance just in case.”

I can’t help but laugh. A dare was where it all began, after all.

In life, you often have to do things you don’t want to do. Thankfully, agreeing to be Liam McCall’s girlfriend was something I

definitely

wanted to do.

However, I’m sincerely hoping that I

never

have to do another subcrawl . . .

___The End___

I hope you enjoyed the story, and enjoyed meeting Chloe and Liam! 💜

And if you enjoyed this one you might want to check out the other stories on my profile. 😊