Tell Me It’s Right (Sweetspire #1)

Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

GRACIE

The shop is so busy for the rest of the week that even with an artist working at every station, for the first time since I started working here, Liam has to turn people away. Undeterred, most of the ones who came in for walk-ins end up making an appointment for later. By Wednesday, he asks me to stop posting on socials in the hopes it’ll slow momentum down.

It does no such thing.

He opens early, closes late, and I’m not entirely convinced he hasn’t been sleeping in one of the chairs overnight.

“Okay, enough. No more.”

I flip the sign in the window to Closed as a group of four girls who look like they might still be in high school reach the front door.

“Please! We just want something small!” calls the blonde at the front.

“We’re closed.” I turn the lock for emphasis. “Try again tomorrow. Or call and make an appointment.”

The girls all groan and pout, but mercifully, they leave.

When I turn around, I find Liam perched on the end of the front desk with a bemused smile. The rest of the shop is quiet and dark, since his other artists left an hour and a half ago when we were actually supposed to close.

“Don’t smirk at me,” I say as I head to the back to collect my things.

“You’re cute when you take charge.” He grabs my hand before I can pass and pulls me to a stop in front of him.

I fight against my stupid traitorous lips as they attempt a smile. I poke him in the chest instead. “You need to learn to say no. And take a day off. When’s the last time you slept?”

“You worried about me, Gracie?”

As a matter of fact, I am, but I’m not going to tell him that. He can’t keep up with this pace for long.

His eyes flit between mine. “What are you doing tonight?”

I glance at the book peeking out of the top of my bag. I might not be the one tattooing, but I’ve spent just as many hours in this shop with him this week, and by the time I make it home at night, I’m too exhausted to do much else but zone out in front of the TV with Leo or head straight to bed. My poor book hasn’t been touched in far too long, and I’ve been missing out on the prime summer days. My need to be near the ocean is starting to feel like I’m in withdrawal. Seeing it from a distance on my ride home isn’t cutting it. “I thought I’d read on the beach.”

It occurs to me he’s still holding my hand, and like he’s just realizing it too, he threads his fingers through mine and squeezes. “Want some company?”

I mock gasp. “You mean you’re actually going to take a break ?”

His smile turns a little sheepish. “I was gonna bring my sketchbook and work on some designs.”

“All right, fine.” I pat his cheek twice and pull away. “Just don’t slow me down.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I throw my bag over my shoulder and point a finger at him. “And you can’t make fun of my dragon book.”

He slips the keys from his desk, spins them around his finger, and winks. “That I can’t promise.”

We set up on the quieter part of the beach, down past the pier. I spread out on the towel, savoring the feel of the sun on my face and the salt in the air. The peace from it is immediate. It’s hard to believe it took moving away for me to realize it—how much my soul longs for the water. I guess it was easy to take for granted when I had unlimited access to it growing up. But four years away painted the world in a different light. Not everyone gets this. In fleeting moments, maybe. A weekend trip, a yearly vacation. But to live and breathe day in and day out with the sea air in your lungs is something different entirely.

Liam lies perpendicular to me and rests his head on my stomach, his sketchbook propped on my leg. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach and his pencil scrawling against the page threatens to lull me to sleep. I keep having to backtrack and reread the same page. I’m a chapter in when his pencil pauses.

“Tell me about school,” he says.

I blink up from my book. “School?”

“Yeah. You don’t talk about your time on the West Coast much. How did you like it?”

I smile a little, both at the memories and the earnest way he asks the question, like he genuinely wants to know. Despite only being home for just over a month now, college already feels like a lifetime ago. The all-night study sessions in the library, the occasional frat party my friends would drag me to, the late-night fast-food runs.

It was the place I really found my footing. I’d never seriously considered photography until I took a class freshman year, and it wasn’t until I watched my friend Jo—who was a senior when I was a freshman—go on to start her own photography business and thrive after graduating that I felt confident enough to pursue something creative.

The school itself was small—the student body barely bigger than that of my high school—and I definitely missed the sun during the rainy parts of the year. But for those four years, that place felt like home.

Things felt simpler there.

“I liked it a lot, actually. But I realized early on I wouldn’t want to stay there long-term, you know?”

He cranes his neck to give me a crooked smile. “Missed that Jersey charm, huh?”

I snort and push his head back around.

“People drive any better out there?” he asks.

“Unfortunately, no.”

“I bet our bagels are better.”

“They are. Do you…do you ever wish you’d gone? To college?”

I stiffen, hoping he doesn’t take it the wrong way, but he just tilts his head from side to side.

“Sometimes I wonder about it. Just to have had the experience, I guess. Don’t know what I would’ve studied.”

“Art?” I offer.

He shrugs. “Don’t think I would’ve been able to suffer through all the general education stuff they make you take. My dad would tell you it’s a miracle I graduated high school.”

He says it casually enough, but there’s tension in his body that wasn’t there before. Probably more to do with the topic of his dad than school.

Because he can be as self-deprecating as he wants, but I happen to know Liam is a lot smarter than he pretends. Any low grades in school would’ve been due to him not wanting to invest his time into something he found pointless, not his inability to do it.

I can remember more than one occasion where I’d been sitting at the kitchen counter, stumped on a math or science problem. And after watching Mom, Dad, and even Leo fail to help, all it took was a glance at my homework and Liam would have it figured out in under a minute.

“You might have liked them. At least for me, they had less busy work than in high school. And you had a decent number to choose from.”

He hums. “You keep in touch with anyone?”

“Yeah.” My voice comes out a little too high. I clear my throat. “I’m closest with my friend Marti, but I have a few other friends I still talk to. We all video chat sometimes.”

He rolls over to look at me. I pretend to be very interested in my book.

“You are a terrible, terrible liar.”

My jaw drops open. “I—I am not lying.”

“You’re concealing something. Same thing, basically.”

I shut my book with an audible thunk. “I am not.”

“Your voice only does that weird high-pitched thing when you are.”

I open my mouth, close it. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he knows that.

He sits up and lays a hand on my leg. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to give you a hard time. Are you guys fighting or something?”

I sit up too and squint against the sun reflecting off the ocean. And I realize I don’t want to lie to him. Both because lying is what got me into this mess in the first place, but also because there’s something about talking with Liam that makes admitting it aloud easier. He might hide behind his jokes and sarcasm sometimes, but I’ve never felt judgment from him.

I sigh. “No. I’ve gotten myself into a weird situation with them.”

He sits quietly and waits for me to continue, his thumb stroking idly along my thigh.

“When we graduated, it felt like they all hit the ground running. Found jobs, places to live, new relationships. I didn’t want to be the one person in the group chat who completely fell on her face. It started out with a few white lies that I thought would be more temporary circumstances than they were.”

Liam nods slowly. “So they don’t know that you’re back here?”

I shake my head.

“That you live with Leo?”

Another shake.

“And the shop…”

I wince. “They think I work for a magazine in Philly, and that I’m dating some guy I met through work.”

He nods again.

“Not that I wouldn’t want them to know about that one,” I hurry to add. “I had just already told them before I got the job with you and…”

“It felt like too late to backtrack,” he offers.

“Yeah.”

He frowns and scoots to my side so he can look out at the water too. “So this has been going on since you graduated?”

“I mean, it’s not like it’s constantly brought up, but yeah. That’s when it started.”

He glances at me sideways. “That was months ago.”

My shoulders slump. “I know.”

His frown deepens as he stares out at the waves.

My face grows hotter with each moment of silence that passes. I don’t know why I said anything about it. “I know it probably sounds stupid?—”

His hand shoots out and grasps my knee. “I’m not thinking that.” He turns, his eyes finding mine, that troubled furrow deep between his eyebrows. “I was just thinking you shouldn’t have to do that. If they were good friends to you, you wouldn’t feel like they wouldn’t be there for you.”

“It’s not that. They’re great. I guess I was embarrassed.”

The wind kicks up, blowing my hair in front of my face, but Liam catches it before I have the chance and tucks it behind my ear, then leaves his hand against the side of my face. Quietly, he says, “You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. But I do think you should tell them the truth. They’re your friends. I’m sure some of them feel like they don’t have their lives as figured out as it seems too.”

A begrudging smile forces its way onto my face. “When did you get smart?”

He scoffs and smiles back. “I’ve always been smart.”

We stay like that, smiling and sitting a little too close, but I can’t bring myself to move. Even though we’re out in the open and anyone could see us, maybe that’s part of what makes it fun. Liam leans an inch closer, and my breath catches.

“How’s the dragon book?” he murmurs.

“I’ve been having a hard time focusing on it,” I admit.

His smile grows. “Need me to narrate for you again?”

I laugh, then movement over his shoulder catches my attention. I lurch back and suck in a sharp breath. “Liam.” I squeeze his arm then point behind him.

He turns as the two figures walking along the path swim into view. I thought something about that walk looked familiar. Leo and Keava are walking hand in hand, each holding an ice cream cone. They haven’t noticed us yet, but they’re getting closer.

“Come here.” Liam jumps to his feet and reaches a hand toward me. I take it, scrambling and leaving my shoes and book behind as he pulls us a few yards away beneath the pier. The hot sand burns my toes as we run, and I let out a breath of relief at the temperature change once we hit the shaded area.

My heart hammers in my chest as I poke my head out. I don’t know why I feel so…guilty. It’s not like we were doing anything. But still. Despite how much time together Liam and I have been spending for work, if Leo saw that , there’s no way he wouldn’t find it suspicious.

Keava and Leo turn onto the pier, close enough now that I can hear their laughter.

Liam doesn’t let go of my hand, but he puts a single finger over his lips as their footsteps sound overhead.

“…that’s exactly what I told him!” laughs Keava. “But you know he never thinks before he jumps, and…”

They keep walking, and I watch their shadows disappear through the cracks.

I finally exhale once they’re gone.

“Close call,” Liam whispers.

I laugh quietly and nod, the adrenaline still flooding my system.

He rakes a hand through his hair and cranes his neck like he’s trying to see where they went. “They’re hanging out on a bench down there.”

I eye our abandoned belongings. In perfect view from the end of the pier. This end of the beach is empty enough that if we went out there, even just to collect our things and leave, all it would take is Leo or Keava glancing over here for a split second for them to see us. All six foot whatever of Liam is kind of hard to miss.

When I turn to Liam again, he’s already looking at me.

“You want to wait it out until they leave,” he concludes.

I shrug. How long could it possibly take them to finish a few ice cream cones?

This is getting ridiculous.

I’m not sure exactly how much time has passed, but the sun is now setting on the horizon.

We’ve resumed our earlier position—me sitting with my arms propped behind me, Liam’s head in my lap, though it took only a few minutes for him to start snoring.

I knew he was overworking himself, but he must have been even more exhausted than I realized if all it took was a few moments of quiet for him to pass out.

I lightly run my fingers through the soft strands on his hair, and he hums low in his throat for a moment before the quiet snoring resumes. I smile and leave one hand on the back of his head.

I can’t see the end of the pier from here, but no one has come or gone since Leo and Keava went down there, so they must still be on the bench. Being all romantic and googly-eyed watching the sunset, if I had to guess.

Maybe we should’ve made a break for it.

I sigh and lie back on the sand, careful not to disturb Liam, and admire the vibrant streaks of pink and orange lingering in the sky. Their reflections skate across the waves gently lapping against the shore. It’s peaceful, and quiet, and?—

“ Gracie .”

I startle awake at someone shaking me by the shoulders. When I open my eyes, everything is dark.

“Gracie, wake up.”

It takes my brain another moment to process it’s Liam’s voice, and that’s the sound of the ocean behind him…

And those are the night stars overhead.

“Oh my God.” I scramble into a seated position and look around at the eerily vacant beach. I must have fallen asleep too. “What time is it?”

“Come on.” Liam helps me to my feet, then I hurry after him to where our things are discarded a few yards away.

“Liam—” I start, my voice already several octaves too high.

“I know. I know. Come on.”

My bag and shoes in one hand and my other gripping Liam’s, we take off at a jog toward the parking lot, empty save for Liam’s truck.

“Shit,” I hiss as he starts the car and the time flashes on the clock—nearly midnight. “Leo is going to be so mad.”

Liam speeds down the road as I dig around in my bag for my phone. Unsurprisingly, the screen is covered in missed calls, voicemails, and texts from Leo, wondering where the hell I am, each more frantic than the last.

I shoot him a quick text that I’m on my way back now, hoping that’ll calm him until I get there and can explain, but that just invites a whole new string of messages. The texts pop on the screen, one after the other in a never-ending rampage.

“You want me to…” Liam starts.

“No, no, I’ve got it. Park a little down the block so he doesn’t see you.”

Liam presses his lips together like he’s holding back from what he really wants to say, but he does it, then hops out to help me get my bike.

We both pause for a moment as I take the handlebars from him.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

I shake my head. “It’s not your fault.”

“I’ll call you later?”

I nod and hurry off down the street. It’s not until I reach Leo’s house that I hear him restart the truck. The lights are on as I stash the bike in the garage and head inside. The second I open the door, Leo lunges up from the kitchen table, Keava shortly behind.

“Where the hell have you been?” he demands. “Do you have any idea how close I came to calling the police?”

“Leo—”

“I get it—you’re not a kid and you don’t need a curfew, but you couldn’t have called?”

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry! I ran into Carson after work, and we ended up hanging out and watching TV, and we both fell asleep. I texted you the moment I woke up and realized.”

I wince at how easily the lie rolls off my tongue.

Leo seems to buy it though because he sighs and rubs his eyes.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

He sighs again and slumps into one of the kitchen chairs. “You had me…I was imagining a lot of worst-case scenarios.”

“Sounds like I’m rubbing off on you.”

He gives me an unamused smirk. Well, he tries to. His eyes tell me he thought it was at least a little funny.

I cross the distance between us and hug him from behind. “I really am sorry.”

He pats my arm a few times. “I owe my new gray hair to you.”

I glance up to find Keava watching us with her head tilted to the side, and there’s something about the look in her eyes that tells me she doesn’t quite believe me.