Kaia officially became my favorite, repeating the rule I whispered in her ear a few minutes ago. What a quick learner. Liam glares at me as I hold back a laugh. He lifts a finger, conveniently flashing me the middle one. I curl over from escaped giggles.
He lets out his own rough laugh. “Last one.”
“Watch out for bananas and smells.” Elyse can’t pronounce her sh sound clearly yet.
Liam set up the track with a crew from McCoy throwing fake shells and bananas at the adults’ karts like a real game. Where he found the time to plan all of this beats me. Words can’t describe how proud I am of him trying with them.
We each hop in our karts and give Elyse a head start. Lukas has a special kid carrier for Kaia since she’s still too young for racing on her own. Liam and Lukas declare a rematch after Liam won the F1 car round, proposing whoever wins buys a round of beers.
Our karts take off down the track, rumbling and chugging along. I somehow get in front of Liam and fling a banana peel in his way. He narrowly misses. His laugh can be heard over the vrooming sound of the tiny engine in my kart, his deep rumble running against my spine in a caress.
“You’re going to have to try better than that. You throw like a girl.” His voice carries loud and clear despite the muffling of his helmet.
I push down on the pedal hard, my height not exactly giving me an advantage here.
“Told you I could get you a booster seat.” He drives next to me.
“Over my dead body would I use a booster seat.”
“Then enjoy being in last place.” Liam pushes down on his accelerator and surges past me.
We go around and around the track, avoiding banana peels and shells. The girls enjoy themselves, with Kaia tossing peels and Elyse driving through grass patches.
Turns out Elyse, the little cherub, gets the checkered flag much to Lukas’s shock. We may have the very first female F1 racer here.
Liam carries his niece on his shoulder, tugging at every single heartstring inside of me like a pull-apart pi?ata. Weeks ago, he told me how he and Kaia have never been close. I would have never believed it. Seriously, I can’t breathe at the sight of him tickling her and throwing her up in the air. Kids are amazing and forgiving because the two baby Zanders accept Liam wholeheartedly.
Lukas grabs the hand of his tiny clone and leads us toward the podium where Liam hopes to place first on Sunday.
This time, Liam trades champagne for sparkling apple juice. The girls get showered in the sticky substance while Liam and Lukas dance around them to a Disney song. I keep a safe distance away until Liam drags me onto the stage and sprays a fresh bottle on me, liquid spraying on my face and body. The sickly sweet smell invades my nose.
Liam gets down on one knee and chugs straight from the bottle.
“You look ridiculous.” I fail at holding back my smile.
He pulls the bottle away from his lips. “Well, I’d prefer you on your knees, but I’ll compromise.”
I release a loud laugh. “You can’t talk like that in front of kids.”
Liam glances over at Lukas washing the girls down with a hose. “Seeing as they’re about to knock out from a sugar high, I think we are safe. Plus, I can’t help myself, with what you stir up inside of me.”
“Erections don’t count.”
“God, I love your mouth.” He shoots me a smile that has my knees shaking.
Somewhere between Shanghai and Germany, this happy yet noncommittal man wrapped his hands around my heart and owned me. I memorize his every detail, from the hidden scar at his hairline to the razor cut he got on his neck yesterday from a fresh blade.
I love him from his head to his toes. For his quick wit, boyish charm, and back scratches in the middle of the night. Our story fits a tragedy. It’s ironic how, while exploring myself and learning who I am, I discovered someone else who brought out the absolute best and the downright worst in me. Falling in love is ugly like that.
And damn if ours turns out to be the ugliest of them all.
27
Sophie
“I never pegged you as a narcissist, but now I’m second-guessing myself.” I stare at the custom shirt Liam had made for me with his number and name.
“What gave me away? My stiff cock at seeing you wear my name or how I fucked you in front of a mirror this morning?”
“Here I was thinking you were staring at me in the mirror.” My cheeks sear at the memory of Liam pulling me into his suite bathroom, claiming we needed to cross off try mirror sex from our list. Our list like we made it together.
Never in a million years would I have thought mirror sex could be one of the most erotic experiences of my life. Leave it to Liam to tear down all my beliefs, challenging my expectations at every turn. He does it so well with everything else in my life.