“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Liam!”

 

I don’t just want to thank him verbally, but that’s all I can do right now. If there was any way to get him naked here and now, I’d love to have him thrust into me while he pins me up against the closest wall of the very Starbucks we’re standing in. Unfortunately, we can’t do that, so my words will have to do.

 

“It’s no problem,” he says, with a chuckle. “Any time. Although, I hope those two have learned their lesson.”

 

“You probably have to get back to work now, huh? I’m sorry for taking up so much of your break,” I tell him, in a lower volume.

 

I notice him checking his watch and letting out a big sigh of what I can only assume is disappointment. I’m not sure if he’s disappointed that he has to leave or that I’ve made him late.

 

“Y’know,” he tells me, “that was quite fun. And I wasn’t half bad.”

 

A wave of relief washes over me. This hunk of a man hasn’t known me for more than a couple minutes and already knows the right thing to say at any given moment.

 

“So, sweet darlin’ of mine, what do you think about going to that housewarming party?” he asks, in a way that I can’t tell whether is a joking or serious manner.

 

I laugh the question off and thank him again for playing along with such a sudden and highly dramatic situation. The next couple of minutes are utter bliss. He asks me if he can get to know his betrothed a bit better, a request I’d of course comply with.

 

I tell him about my life draining job, my artistic desires, and give him a bit more of the details on the whole Brittany-Scott situation. Liam doesn’t tell me much about himself, though. Instead he again asks what I think about going to Brittany and Scott’s housewarming party.

 

“You’re not joking?”

 

He laughs. “No, I’m serious. What if we actually show up on Friday? Wouldn’t that be a riot?”

 

Part of me thinks that he’s just using this housewarming party as an excuse to see me again. And not a single part of me has a problem with that. I’m enjoying his company so much that I don’t even want him to go back behind the counter. Besides, I can’t think of any downsides to going to this party other than having to share space with that whore, Brittany, and that mouse of a man I used to date.

 

“I guess we could,” I tell him.

 

“Sure, we could,” he proclaims. “You and I dress to the nines and show ‘em who looks better together. Maybe we can even mess up something of theirs, while we’re at their new place, just like they messed up your life.”

 

“Mess up something?” I ask him. “Like what?”

 

He pauses for a moment to think about his answer. “Their sheets?”

 

If anyone else had answered that I’d probably be grossed out, but I can’t help but feel a bit titillated by his answer. But because I take so long to actually react to his answer, he laughs, and acts as though he was just joking about messing up their sheets.

 

Something in my gut tells me that he was not being facetious in the slightest when he suggested that. Finally, I laugh too, and think that it’s something I might actually do if given the right opportunity and the right man— which, it appears I may have.

 

My phone pings and shoots me out of this suspended reality thick with sexual tension. It’s a message from my work friend Lyssa.

 

Not showin up 2day?

 

“Shit,” I exclaim. “I’m late for work.”

 

Of fucking course. That’s why Brittany and Scott left when they did. It wasn’t because Liam had made the conversation too uncomfortable, since they don’t read situations like normal people do, being the entitled assholes that they are— it’s because Brittany had to get to work on time.

 

Intent on making my life as problem free as possible, Liam tells me not to apologize for having to leave. He explains that he has somewhere to be himself. He must have to clock back in soon.

 

Before I step out of the coffee shop, Liam stops me and asks me if he can put his number in my phone. A normal person would just ask for my number, but Liam is dead set on not being normal but in the best, most attractive and charming way.

 

He takes my phone and not only adds his name and number to my list of contacts but also takes a selfie to add to his contact profile. When he hands me back my phone, he not only wishes me a great day at work, but blows me a kiss goodbye before stepping back into the Starbucks.

 

For the first time in six months, I’m biking the rest of the way to work with a smile on my face. Instead of dreading the day ahead, I’m thinking about meeting up with and spending more time with this gorgeous Irish fellow.

 

A monumentally stressful situation was turned manageable and even enjoyable with Liam’s aid and that’s all that’s running through my mind. Just replaying the events of this morning makes the day more bearable.