There were so many preparations I knew I had to make if Red’s Tavern was going to be on TV. But of course, in the moment, all I could think about was Liam.
I pulled out my phone and dialed him.
“Red?” he answered.
“God, it is good to hear your voice,” I said.
“Oh,” he said, sounding surprised. “It’s good to hear yours, too.”
“Liam, I think we got it,” I said. “The deal. It looks like it’s going to go through.”
“Holy shit, Red, that’s incredible,” he said. “Red’s is going to be on TV.”
“I think it might,” I said. “And one of the producers knew who you were. He actually asked if you could be there if we film an episode.”
“What?” he said.
“He said he follows your social media. He says he wants to normalize the porn industry.”
“But… I’m not really trying to be Liam-the-porn-star in public these days,” he said, his voice sinking.
“Of course not,” I said quickly. “You wouldn’t have to be. I don’t know, this all happened fast. It’s just an idea they floated.”
“Right,” Liam said, but I could still hear a tinge of worry in his voice.
“Hey. Don’t worry about being on the show if you don’t want to,” I said. “That isn’t why I called, anyway. Sam is dead-set on having a celebration this Saturday. You are invited, of course. If you can come.”
“I thought I was banned from the bar,” he said. He sounded like he was trying to make a joke, but there was clearly a hint of sincerity in his tone.
“I hereby revoke what I said,” I said. “Fuck the ban. I want you here.”
Another jolt of adrenaline surged through me.
I was actually letting Liam back into my life. For so long, I’d been steadfast about keeping him out of it, but all of those walls were crumbling so quickly. It was a little disorienting.
“Okay,” he finally said, surprise in his voice. “I can do that.”
“If it doesn’t interfere with all your gardening plans, of course,” I said.
He laughed. “Fuck off,” he said. “But no, in fact, it doesn’t. Gail and Ava will be okay without me for one evening.”
“Gail and Ava…”
“My new lavender and lupine plants, of course.”
I grinned. “I will make sure there’s not only one, but five different amazing virgin cocktails at the party,” I said.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You are too kind to me.”
“Just as kind as I need to be,” I told him. “I can’t wait. And I also can’t wait for the video to be posted, now, too. I’m going to funnel every last penny into paying off my outstanding bills before we’re on TV. Last thing I need is the electricity going out when we’re being filmed.”
“Electricity going out?” he asked. “Is it… that bad?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “As long as I pay it off by the end of the month, we won’t have our power turned off,” I said. A slight heat of embarrassment pooled in my chest. I wasn’t used to telling anyone about the financial situation of the bar, but for some reason I felt safe talking about it with Liam.
“Shit,” he said softly.
“But it’s okay,” I said. “The video money is going to cover it, no problem.”
“Right,” Liam said. “The video.”
“How is the editing process going? How long will it take, you think?”
“The editing has been... okay,” he said. “Still working on it.”
“Good,” I said. “Oh, and Liam, I had another question. I found out something about you today.”
“Oh God, what was it?” he said.
“You never told me you rescued a damn litter of stray kittens,” I said. “What is that about? You garden and you’re a saintly pet rescuer?”
“Oh, that?” he said. “I forgot about that.”
“And you posted about it on Twitter. At least according to Mark. I need to start following you on there, don’t I?”
Liam laughed. “I rescued some kittens in LA, yes. I’m glad that’s the reputation I have, and not ‘the man who comes really hard and gets railed.’”
“Why not both?” I asked.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Thanks for letting me know, Red,” Liam said. “I’m going to work hard on the video.”
“Fuck yes,” I said. “I’ll see you here on Saturday.”
“See you then.”
For once, I felt purely good about Liam. I had always loved him to the end of the fucking Earth, but in the past, I’d always been so worried about him. All of the stress and worry had clouded everything.
Now I didn’t feel like I had to worry. I didn’t have to think about what might happen if he came to the party already completely wasted. In the past it had always been a roll of the dice, worrying that he might show up somewhere completely sloshed or worse, not show up at all.
He’d been a complete wild card, and as exciting as it could be, it was also disappointing all of the fucking time.