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Opal laughs "Honest The best proain Releases us to pull Simon from his conversation with his brothers

They look civil, but Liam kno to make hostility look civil

His eyes lock on mine He raises a brow should we?

I nod we should, excuse myself, meet him in the upstairs hallway

He leads me to the roons of teenage Liam, but I see shelves of books, a massive , a view of the ocean

The library

"Do you need a minute with the books?" Liam presses the door closed "Or you ready to come on my hand now?"

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Liam

Briar looks around the room ide eyes She takes in the endless view of the ocean, the blue sky, the afternoon light falling over the oak furniture

Then the bookshelves

She's in heaven, surrounded by three walls of bookshelves

"Did I cock blockthis room?"

"No" She brings her eyes to mine "It's perfect"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah" Her cheeks flush "I alanted to have sex in a library"

Thank fuck I need to be inside her and out of ainst a shelf?"

"Won't the books fall?"

"Can you think of a better way to die?"

"No But I have an app to launch" She wraps her hand around my waist "Between the stacks" She looks to the one bookshelf jutting from the wall

It's not a library stack, but it's so

"In high school, I dated this guy who loved raphic novels section"

"You read a?"

"We didn't get to the actual reading"

I press my palm into the small of her back Lead her to the space between the bookshelf and the wide-open

She looks out at the backyard The aqua pool, the rose garden, the massive lawn stacked with tables

Already set up for the party

So rew up in Like this is another one of Dad's parties To celebrate the start of the season, or woo an investor, or impress a client

Massive house, outdoor dining room, well-behaved children

Si in his footsteps

Then me and Bash, already troublemakers, in that boys will be boys way

Between boarding school and weeks with Preston, I didn't spend as h

When Bash was here, the place was alive

Now, it's not

"We'd make out" She turns to face me Slides her arms around my neck "Sometimes, he'd feel me up"

"In the bookstore, in front of everyone?"

"Are you jealous?"