And, well, Liam is right. If we start making out in front of her, she'll probably whip out her camera.
After we take our seats, Liam helps Trish bring out our tea, snacks, water. Then he sits and slips into his role.
"Adam is still upstairs?" he asks.
Danielle nods.
"You wear him out that well?"
"Maybe," she says.
"Are you blushing?" he asks. "I can't tell."
She shrugs.
"When did you get so easygoing?" he asks.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" she teases.
"I would. And I bet you would too." He raises a brow. "The two of you have all sorts of freaky details to share."
"And why would I tell you?" she asks.
"'Cause you're an exhibitionist. You want to," he says.
"I thought I was a voyeur."
"Both. You're a real freak," he says.
She laughs. "What do you propose?"
"I have the perfect trade. I'm happy to propose it. But you have to promise to give it a chance."
She looks at him incredulously. "I do?"
"Oh yeah." He offers his hand. "Promise?"
She shakes. "Game on."
Chapter Thirty-Six
Briar
Liam stands dramatically. He places his hands on the table with utmost seriousness. "Never. Have. I. Ever."
"Never have I ever?" Danielle laughs. "Are you kidding?"
"Do I kid?" Liam asks.
"All you do is kid," she says. "And you didn't even ask your fiancée if she wants to play."
"Uh…"
"See." She motions to me. "Never have I ever is for high schoolers. Why not play truth or dare?"
"Why not?" He raises a brow. "I'm game."
"Let me guess. You pick dare and your first dare is streak in the backyard," she says.
"Danielle, I can't pick dare and then pick my own dare. Now, if you want to dare me to take my clothes off… well, that's on brand for you," he says.
She laughs. "I dare you to step in front of my camera?"
"Truth comes out." Liam turns to me. "If you think it's too high school, fine. But I went to an all-boys school. And the game is not nearly as fun that way."
"No?" she asks.
"You ever read Catcher in the Rye?" he asks.
"Have you?" she asks.
"I did," he says.
"You did? Really?" I ask.
He nods. "Only book I read in four years. About a kid who goes crazy because all boy's boarding schools are hell."
She laughs. "It doesn't end well in Dead Poets Society."
"It's terrible. You have to resort to naming magazines. Never have I ever borrowed Jimmy's Playboys."
"You went to school with Jimmy?" I ask.
"Why else would I talk to him?" Liam asks.
"Was he more obnoxious than you back then?" I ask.
"No. We were equally obnoxious. But he became Jimmy. And I…" He pulls his shirt down low enough to show off the Latin quote on his pec. "I may be a tool, but I'm not Jimmy."
"What compliments. To yourself," I say.
"Thanks. One of my better works, I agree."
A door upstairs opens.
Danielle lights up.
Liam notices. Chuckles. "You didn't wear him out that well." He places his hand over his mouth and stage whispers, "Quick. A dirty detail."
"About what?" she asks.
"Never have I ever let my fiancée tie me up." Liam holds up all ten fingers.
"What if we take fiancée out of that sentence?" Danielle holds up her two hands. "Then?"
"All right. No fiancée." He drops a finger.
She does too.
They look to me to participate in their game.
"This is very high school." But I guess that makes sense. We're at Liam's childhood home. We're seeing family. We're attending his high school friend's wedding. I hold up all ten fingers.
"Really? No one?" Danielle asks.
"Danielle, the point of the game is not to shame the inexperienced," Liam says.
"There's a point to this game?" she asks.
"To embarrass your friends," he says.
"Sorry, Briar. I'm not trying to embarrass you. There's no shame in not being into something," she says.
Oh god, talk about embarrassing. My cheeks flush.
Danielle drops her hands and turns to her fiancé.
Adam steps into the dining room with a serious expression. He looks every bit the Adam I recognize. Tall and broad and brooding.
It's easy to picture him as a beast, sulking around his castle, locking people out. He's not angry, at least, not on the surface, but he wears his pain all over his face.
I guess he can't help it, with the scars. But it's not the scars, really. It's the way he holds himself. His expression.
He looks strange in jeans and a t-shirt. Out of place.
Then he looks into Danielle's eyes, and the pain disappears. He's exactly where he wants to be.
He's in heaven.
He pulls her into a tight hug.
She buries her head in his chest. Even in her wedge sandals, she's quite a bit shorter than he is.
They really are an adorable couple. Similar and opposite in so many ways.
"Danielle was just explaining about how much she likes when you tie her up," Liam says.
Adam ignores him. "Do you?" He cups her cheek with his hand. "We can do it more often."