EllieThe club has barely opened and Liam was one of the first customers to walk in. He hasn’t ordered anything, so I don’t guess I can technically call him a customer. Instead, he walked in and stopped directly behind me. I’m standing at the bar, talking to my bartender, but I feel him there and I hate that my heart rate is intensifying and my palms are sweaty. I hate that being around Liam makes me feel alive again, because since leaving Tennessee, I’ve been existing just fine without the emotions he brings out in me.
“If you’re looking for Hayley, she’s been banned from the bar,” I tell Liam when it’s clear he’s not going to move.
“Who?” he asks, sounding genuinely confused.
“The trick you paid to crawl under your table last night?” I remind him dryly, finally turning to look at him.
“I wasn’t looking for her. I wanted to talk to you.”
“Was it to tell me you were leaving town?”
“No.”
“Then, I really don’t want to hear it. I have work to do,” I mumble, as I turn to go to my office.
“Don’t you think we should talk, Ellie? It’s been—”
“I know how long it’s been, Liam. The time for us to talk was before the divorce was final. Now, it’s over. It’s the past and we leave it in the past.” I hold my head down and pinch my nose when Liam follows me. I stop walking and turn to look at him. “I’m asking you to leave me alone.”
“I just want to talk to you, Ice. Don’t you think that after everything we should be able to spend ten minutes talking to one another without giving each other bullshit?”
I study his face, but as usual he gives nothing away. I finally let out a breath, giving in. It’s clear that Liam isn’t about to give up. There’s one thing I know about him, he is like a dog with a bone. I might as well get this over with.
“Fine,” I huff. “Ten minutes, but that’s it and when we’re done, you’re leaving,” I warn him. He doesn’t reply, which should worry me. I lead him to the office and once he walks inside, I close the door.
“How did you end up managing a bar?” he asks, looking around my small office.
I let out an annoyed breath. “I don’t want to do this with you, Liam.”
“Do what?”
“Exchange small talk. How did you find me? Did you think it was funny hiring a hooker in my bar? Trying to get me back for leaving you? That seems petty as hell, especially after hearing nothing from you since I walked out.”
“I can see your opinion of me hasn’t improved in the time we’ve been apart, Ice.”
“Is there a reason it should have?”
“You seriously asking me that shit, Ellie?” he asks, sliding his ass on my desk, ignoring my crap he’s pushing back or the papers he’s wrinkling. “Fuck woman, we lived together for two and a half years. Don’t you think in all of that time you should have at least known me a little?”
“I know you, Liam.”
“It sure as fuck doesn’t sound like it. It sounds like you don’t even like me,” he mutters, his gray eyes cutting into me.
“Jesus Christ and cockleshells, Liam, what’s the point of even getting into this now? It’s over. Why are you even here? I don’t see or hear from you for over a year. You send our separation agreement by certified mail and there’s no note or anything. What does any of this even matter anymore?”
“I forgot the bullshit you used to say when you were upset,” he murmurs, smiling at my make-believe curse word. I roll my eyes and say nothing. “I never did get a copy of our divorce decree,” he says, his voice going quieter.
“You should have contacted the courthouse and requested a copy. It’s not my place to take care of that crap for you anymore.”
“I didn’t really want to see it. Seeing it would have made it more real, Ice.”
“We’ve been apart for almost two years. It can’t get much realer than that, Liam,” I respond, my words tight because there’s a pain blooming in my chest I haven’t felt in months. I really can’t handle being this close to Liam again. I’ve always been too vulnerable when he’s around.
“I never wanted this, Ice. I thought we were forever,” he says. I close my eyes at the bittersweet quality to his voice.
“We’re just too different,” I tell him, my voice heartbreakingly sad, as I try to breathe through the heaviness in my chest.
“That’s one of the things I always loved, Ice,” he murmurs, stepping in so close to me that I can smell his aftershave. “Don’t you remember?” His finger strokes against the side of my cheek. My eyelids get heavy, my body sways toward him, but then I jerk myself out of the haze he draws me into. I take a step away from him.