Like clockwork, as soon as the bell rings my class becomes a whirlwind of chaos. More so today since it’s the last day before the winter break. Squeals and whoops ring through the air as the kids slide their chairs along the tiled floor. Ben is the only student left in my class. He’s sitting at his desk, scrolling through his phone.
“Ben?” I call out to him. “What’s up, buddy?”
His gaze lifts to me. “My dad told me to wait for him here. He said he’s taking you home.”
I can feel my brows scrunch as I think back to this morning when he gave me a ride to work. I hadn’t asked him to pick me up. Besides, I normally have to grab Jenna and Trevor after work and take them to their dad’s house if they aren’t staying with me.
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
Ben shrugs, dragging his gaze back to his phone. I open my desk drawer to grab my purse and pull my phone from it. There aren’t any texts from Liam. There’s a quick knock on the closed classroom door, and I hear it creak open. I pull my gaze from my phone, and a huge bouquet full of wildflowers enters my room, followed by a delivery man and then Liam.
I can’t take my eyes off of Liam. He’s wearing a green flight suit and black boots, and the material is tight around his arms and thighs. I can only imagine what his backside looks like.
“Ma’am.” The delivery guy pushes a clipboard towards me, waiting for my signature.
“Oh, sorry.” I blush listening to Liam chuckle as I sign my name. “Thank you,” I tell the man as he strides from my classroom.
“What are those for?” he asks.
“Well, since it’s my birthday,” I respond as I pull the card from the envelope. A smile pulls at my lips as I read what he wrote on the heavy card stock: Love Always, Heath
“Why didn’t I know it was your birthday?” I barely register Liam’s voice.
I snap my head up. “Wh–what?”
He takes a step closer to me. “I said I didn’t know it was your birthday. I thought we were friends.” He gives me a lopsided grin.
My head turns towards Ben who’s busy packing up his bag. “Well, since technically that only started this morning, we haven’t had the time to go over all the basic friend stuff yet. So I’ll let this one slide.” I tap his shoulder with the card.
He takes another step closer to me, and I find my throat has grown dry. I swallow, trying to find my voice. “What are you doing?” I ask in a low voice, knowingly sweeping my eyes over his form again.
“I’m taking you out tonight.”
“No.”
“Yes.” He stares at me.
I grip the paper in my hand, remembering who sent me the flowers, and I take a step back from Liam. “I need to make a call.” He nods, walking over to his son. Pressing the ‘call’ button on Heath’s name, he answers on the second ring.
“Hello.”
“Hey. I wanted to thank you for the flowers. That was sweet.” The line goes quiet. “Heath?” I take the phone from my ear to see if the line was disconnected, but when I bring the phone back to my ear, I can hear him cursing. “Shit, Whit… Those flowers… Alice set up that a while ago. I didn’t know they were still scheduled for delivery. If I would’ve remembered, then I would’ve had her cancel them. I’m sorry about that.”
“Oh.” Defeat flows heavily over my body as I drop my head. My stomach drops, and my nose burns as I feel the sting in the back of my eyes. When I look up, I find Liam watching me. “Well, um, they’re beautiful,” I choke.
“No! Christ, that’s not what I meant. I meant that I should have had her cancel them because I wanted to take them to you personally. It’s just been… Shit. It’s been busy here, and I haven’t been able to break away.”
“Okay.” My eyes are trained on Liam’s interaction with his son.
“Okay? Whitney?” Heath’s voice pulls my concentration away from Liam.
“Yeah?”
“Let me take you out tonight.” I hear him shuffle papers around on his desk. “Let’s do a late dinner.”
My eyes catch Liam’s again as he gives me one of his boyish smiles. “I have plans. I’m sorry.”
“Plans? With who?”
“Um, Ruby and my neighbor. Maybe we can get together this weekend. Maybe with the kids.”
“Yeah, all right. Sure. I’ll plan something fun.”
“All right.”
“Bye Whitney, happy birthday. I love you.”
“Thanks.” I end the call without saying I love you in return.
“Ready?” Liam asks.
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to talk about that?” He points to the phone.
“Not really,” I tell him.
He tightens his lip before nodding. “All right, have it your way. But just to let you know, I did hear you tell him that we have plans tonight, so there’s no backing out now. You wouldn’t want me to think you’re a liar now, would you?” He gives me a wink which makes me smile.
“I don’t remember us making plans for you to pick me up. I have to get my kids.”
“It’s not a problem. I kinda figured that.” He turns his attention to his son. “Let’s go, buddy. We’ve got kids to pick up.” Ben walks past his dad as Liam ruffles his hair and follows him to the door. Ben exits, not looking back at us.
“You don’t need to do this,” I call after him. “I was going to call my friend Ruby to come get me, or I’m sure I can get Steve to come. He needs to be more Team Whitney than Team Heath anyways. Not that taking a side is important, it’s just–”
“Whitney.” Liam’s voice startles me. I take a deep breath, knowing that I was just rambling. “It’s not a big deal. We’re neighbors and friends. It’s my day to grab the kids, so I’m heading in the same direction. Getting to the high school to grab Trevor isn’t a big deal either. I have the room.”
“All right.” I nod. “Let me grab my things.” I give him a small smile. “Thank you, Liam.”
“It’s not a problem.”
He waits for me as I grab my bag and jacket. When I pass him, I can feel his hand land on my lower back as he ushers me out of my room, but I stumble a bit when I see Ben standing down the hall, talking to his mother.
“Shit,” Liam mumbles.
“Let me call Ruby,” I tell him as I watch Priscilla’s features harden. Her eyes turn cold, her mouth pinches as she rakes her eyes between Liam and me. I don’t want to cause any problems between him and his wife, and I don’t want Ben to think I’m intruding on his parents.
“No. We’re getting the kids, and then I’m taking you to dinner,” Liam says as the pressure on my lower back increases, pushing me forward.
“Liam,” Priscilla sneers his name. Her gaze lands on Liam’s hand on my lower back, and her jaw hardens when she finally addresses me. “Mrs. James.”
“Here, buddy…” Liam fishes his keys from his pocket, handing them over to Ben. “Go get into the car. We’ll only be a moment.”
Ben nods, turning around and runs down the hall, and out of the school. The metal door slams closed after him.
“What’s going on here?” Priscilla’s eyes dart between the two of us.
I readjust my jacket, pulling it down as I take a small step away from Liam, causing his arm to fall to his side. She doesn’t miss the movement, making her smirk in satisfaction.
“Nothing’s going on. Whitney’s my neighbor and her car wouldn’t start, so I gave her a ride. Now I’m here to pick her up.”
She ignores Liam, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t you have a husband to do that for you?” She glares at me. “Is there a reason why you’re using mine?”
Liam takes a step towards her, his voice low enough so that he doesn’t cause a scene. “Stop, Priscilla. Stop being such a bitch. I’m your husband on paper and only on paper, which I plan to rectify–very soon. You made sure of that all by yourself.”
I try to slink away from this awkward situation. “Yeah… I’m going to go now.”
“No.” Liam’s hand shoots out and grabs my arm. “We’re leaving– together.” Priscilla opens her mouth to speak, but Liam cuts her off. “You have no place here, Priscilla. I’m taking care of my kids, and that’s all you need to know. Nothing more. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have kids to pick up from school.”
I can feel the presence of his hand on my lower back once again as we both leave his wife standing in the hall.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I ask Liam for the third time since he’s picked Trevor up from the high school. The car is full of kids now. Dillion and Ben take up the back row, while Trevor is in the middle with Jenna and Talia.
“It’s fine.”
“Hey, Liam,” Jenna calls him.
His eyes find her’s in the rearview mirror. “Yes?”
“Is it possible that you can take Westover Road to my dad’s house?”
He takes a quick look at me before finding her again in the mirror. “Why?”
“Because the lighting is best.” She lifts up her phone, snapping a picture. When she examines it and sees that it doesn’t make her standards, she deletes it and tries again.
“No, Jenna,” I tell her, turning in my seat. “That’s not happening.”
Her shoulders drop. “But it’s the golden hour. Look.” She shoves her phone in my face. It’s a picture of her, brown hair falling into waves over her shoulders. Her eyes, which are normally brown, seem to glow golden in the rays of the late afternoon sun, and her eyebrows are hitched slightly as her lips do a slight pucker. My daughter is stunning, but sadly, by her incessant need for selfies and appraisals from her classmates, I’m sure she doesn’t see her natural beauty.
“I don’t care. That’s rude of you to ask,” I tell her.
“That’s messed up, Jenna,” Trevor pipes in. “He doesn’t need to drive down a certain street because of your need to take the perfect selfie.”
“It’s not that big of a deal, geez,” she whines.
Dillon’s face is buried in his phone, shaking his head. “What about you Dillion?” I ask. “Do your selfies rely on the right amount of sunlight?”
He drops his phone in his lap. “Well, most guys aren’t hung up on selfies, Mrs. James. That’s a chick thing. But hey, if you need a certain light to make you feel better about yourself, have at it. What you look like on the outside doesn’t change how you are on the inside. No amount of sunlight or filters can change the real you.”
Wow, I hadn’t expected Dillon’s response. He seems more mature for his age.
“I can drive down the street. It’s not a big deal.” Liam looks to me and the road.
“No, it’s okay,” I hear Jenna say. When I turn around, I see that she’s not on her phone, but looking out the window.
“Jenna,” Dillon calls from the back, making her turn around. “For what it’s worth, I wasn’t referring to you. Filter or not, you’re as pretty on the inside as you are on the outside. You just need to see it for yourself.” He gives her a wink, and when she turns back around, she continues to look out the window, but with a smile on her face.
When I turn back around, there’s a satisfied look on Liam’s face. “He takes after his old man,” he says proudly.
“I think he does.”