“You're Landon,” she blurted out, pointing at the man in the towel. Liam finally glanced up from his grocery scooting.
“Hey, I didn't know you were here,” he said.
“I … I ...” she stammered, her eyes still bouncing back and forth between them.
“She was just graciously offering to have sex with me,” Landon said. “But I told her I couldn't, since I'd just taken a shower.”
Both men laughed.
She couldn't stop staring. She knew she was being rude, but it was amazing. Two Liam's, standing in front of her.
Though the more she stared, the more she could see the differences. Landon was a different kind of tan – super dark, the mark of someone who'd spent a lot of time in the sun. He was also more weathered, making him look just a tad bit older. His hair was longer and liberally sun streaked, and was being held back by a head band, she noticed for the first time. And where Liam had a silly, goofy kind of grin always at the ready and a good natured feel to his attitude, none of that was present in Landon. His smile was more cunning, and his tone of voice was like someone who was laughing AT her, not with her.
But other than that, they seemed to be carbon copies of each other. Same height, same eye color, same bone structure, same body – Katya was very familiar with Liam's naked torso, so it was kind of shocking to realize she was also intimately familiar with Landon's. She had to force her eyes to not dip down to his towel.
“I'm sorry, what?” Liam scratched his head.
“I … I thought he was you,” Katya stammered. “I didn't know he was here.”
“Oh god,” Liam groaned. “I'm sorry, Katya. What did you say to her, Landon?”
His brother shrugged.
“Probably the same stuff you would say if a gorgeous girl burst in on you and demanded to have sex. Katya, it was a pleasure. Hopefully next time we meet, I'll be wearing more clothing, or you'll be wearing less,” Landon said before nodding at her. Then he walked back into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Liam hurried to her side.
“Sorry – when I got home last night, he called me from the bus station. He flew to L.A. from Mexico City, then took a Greyhound here. I would've warned you, but you and I had our own shit to deal with, and I didn't think you'd be coming over,” he told her. She held up her hand.
“It's fine. I barged in, he was just messing with me. You said identical, but it's so ...” she searched for the word. Liam smiled.
“Overwhelming?”
“Yes. That's a lot of male-ness, for one room,” she told him, and he laughed at her.
“Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. We get a lot of attention if we ever go out together.”
“I'm sure. How long is he staying?”
“He's sort of avoiding home right now,” Liam said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I think he's gonna be around for a week, maybe two.”
“That's … nice.”
Katya suddenly felt awkward. There was no privacy in Liam's studio-esque apartment, they wouldn't be able to get away from Landon, and she didn't want to discuss any of her problems in front of him.
Luckily, Liam seemed to sense all that, and a huge grin spread across his face.
“Hey, I have a great idea. Come with me.”
He left all the groceries on the floor, except for a six pack of beer. As he scooped it up off the ground, he hollered to his brother that he'd be back later. Then he grabbed Katya's hand and led her back to her building. Up all the floors in the elevator. Out onto her rooftop.
She hadn't been back up there since their fight. She hadn't been able to bring herself back there – too many memories with him, and she didn't trust them. Which were real, and which were calculated and fake? She frowned as he dragged her across the roof and deposited her on the love seat.
“Is this okay?” he asked, glancing at her as he unscrewed the lid from one of the bottles.
“Um … I guess it had to happen at some point,” she replied, glancing around.
“You don't want to be in my place while Landon is there. He's … special. He takes getting used to,” he told her.
“He seems like it. He's a doctor?”
“Yeah, but also a massive asshole.”
“Ah.”
“And I don't want to go to your apartment until you invite me, so I figured this was a nice halfway point,” he explained. She finally smiled at him.
“Thank you, Liam. For being understanding.”
“This is good, right?” he asked, handing her a beer and then reaching down to grab one of his own. “I think we're going to be … better.”
He spoke tentatively, not with any of the boldness he'd been displaying over the past weekend. The cocky, overly confident, competitive Liam really seemed to have taken a break. She was glad – she didn't like that version of him as much as she liked him being natural.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think maybe so,” she agreed with a laugh. “Maybe you should've called me a bitch who used you a lot sooner.”
“I didn't mean that,” he grumbled, taking a long drink from his bottle.
“No, you did. And you were kinda right. I was using you, sometimes. I can remember thinking it and feeling bad about it, yet I never did anything about it. Pretty bitchy.”
“Well, if you're saying it ...”
“But you also used me – not to mention lied to my face, manipulated me, violated me … should I go on?” she snapped. He shook his head.
“Nope. I think I've got it,” he assured her.
Katya nodded and sipped at her own beer while she looked out over the neighborhood. She'd always enjoyed their little rooftop jaunts. Liam didn't allow other people to come up there, she was the only one with a key, so the space really did feel special. Somewhere he'd only ever been with her; somewhere she'd never shared with anyone but him.
“So am I going to have to watch you make out with Wulf in front of me anymore?” Liam suddenly blurted out. She snorted, almost choking on her drink.
“I don't think so,” she said. “I thought … I don't know, I thought it would be fun to make you guys feel like shit. Sort of play you against each other. But I just wound up feeling shitty.”
“Me, too.”
“Wulf three, probably.”
“I doubt he even has normal human feelings,” Liam pointed out. Katya frowned.
“You'd be surprised.”.
“Can I propose a deal?” Liam suggested. She glanced back at him.
“What kind of deal?”
“How about – I say I'm sorry, for everything. I promise to tell you the truth from here on out. And I try my hardest to prove to you that I care about you, every bit as much as he ever did,” he laid everything out. She took a deep breath.
“Okay.”
“And in exchange, we start over.”
She stared at him for a long second, her lips pressed into a hard line. It was a difficult decision. Part of her screamed “yes, please god, just let all this bullshit end”, yet another part of her whispered “no, what they did is unforgettable – how can you trust him”, and she wasn't sure which voice to listen to, which way to turn.