The Duality of Swans by Lilly Atlas

Author:Lilly Atlas [Atlas, Lilly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lilly Atlas Books LLC
Published: 2024-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BY THE TIME evening rolled around, Liam had worked himself into a tizzy. Round and round, he’d gone through the spectrum of emotions from anger to embarrassment to sadness and even compassion.

Right now, he was back to anger. “I get that he’s not ready to come out,” he muttered as he yanked the cork out of a bottle of wine. Not the same brand Tate had purchased for him. That would be sad and pathetic.

Fine. It was the same.

“I really do get it. And I respect it.” He poured a healthy glass of wine. “But for fuck’s sake, did he have to act like I was a damn leper? I was the one who suggested we go upstairs to my bed where we could have had privacy.” He gulped a large swallow of wine. “But he was all, ‘It’s too far away.’ Damn him and his hotness.”

Liam sighed and took another sip of wine.

“And now I’m talking to myself again.” As he’d done way too much that afternoon.

Just as he was about to pull a box of cereal from his cabinet, a heavy knock came at the back door.

He stared at it, knowing full well who’d come to see him.

Was he ready for this? Was he willing to listen to Tate’s apology?

If he didn’t, he’d spend the entire night awake, staring at the ceiling as he wondered what thoughts were going through Tate’s head. He’d also worry whether Tate was okay and if Randy suspected anything, which pissed him off. Why the hell should he be worried about someone who obviously didn’t give a shit about him?

Good. This was the energy he needed to have when faced with Tate. He shook out his arms and legs, then marched toward the door leading to the itty-bitty balcony behind his apartment.

He yanked the door open, prepared to blast the man, only to freeze. Tate stood there holding a giant bouquet of beautiful wildflowers. Had a man ever brought him flowers? It didn’t take more than one second to think back through the men he dated and come up with the answer. A big, fat no.

The gorgeous bouquet wasn’t enough to distract from the man who looked like shit. Bits of grout and dust covered his white T-shirt and work jeans. He even had some in his disheveled hair, but it was the devastation and self-hatred on his face that had Liam’s anger melting away.

Dammit.

“I fucked up,” Tate blurted.

Liam didn’t say anything.

“These are for you.” Tate thrust the flowers into Liam’s hands. “I didn’t know what kind you like or if you even like flowers, but the lady at the store said this was a good idea because it had a bunch of different flowers. Something for everyone, I think she said. She also said it should match well with whatever your house looks like. If you hate them, I can, I don’t know, give them to my mom or something.”

Holy crap, a nervous, bumbling Tate was adorable. There he stood, filthy from work, tall, gruff, and completely out of his element.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.