Why couldn't she be? Being Miss Good Girl hasn't gotten me very far …
No. No, she didn't want to go down this road. She didn't want to become that girl, who wound up in a viral video, keying her ex-boyfriend's car and running down his new girlfriend, or whatever. Things had been dark, right after the “break up” had happened. She'd halfway convinced herself to sleep with half of San Francisco, had told herself she would rub it in their faces somehow. Lots of things. Fantasies of setting Wulf's fancy car on fire, or breaking every single one of Liam's video games, things like that. But she wouldn't ever actually do anything mean to them.
… would she?
6
Katya wasn't sure who looked more shocked – her, or Liam. She hadn't really allowed herself to think about what she was doing when she'd marched into his building. She hadn't been invited, and she was sure he hadn't been expecting her. At all. Probably ever again.
Even though it was afternoon, he looked like he'd just gotten out of bed. Owning and managing a night club-slash-sex club meant keeping strange hours. Noon was morning for Mr. Edenhoff. His hair was sticking up at right angles from his head, he was only wearing a pair of loose jeans, and he had a toothbrush hanging haphazardly out of his mouth.
“Uh ...” he finally managed to grunt. She groaned and shoved past him, unwinding her thick scarf as she moved. His apartment was a mess – more so than usual. It made her feel a little better. Clearly, without her constantly nagging him about cleaning up and eating right and doing laundry, he couldn't lead a productive healthy life.
Good. Dysentery is still a possibility.
“We're not friends,” she blurted out, kicking smelly socks and dirty pants out of her way as she waded through his living room. She glanced around. He'd had all the walls removed from his apartment, converting it into a wide open loft. With its high ceilings and faded yellow wallpaper, it very much embodied its owner's personality. Warm and larger than life.
“Is this like a reminder courtesy call?” he mumbled as he shambled into the kitchen. She listened as he spit toothpaste into his kitchen sink. She scrunched up her nose in disgust.
“You're a thirty-two year old successful business owner, yet you live like a nineteen year old frat boy.”
“Seriously, did you just come over here to remind me of things I already know?” he asked, chucking the brush into the sink as well before turning around and leaning back against his counter. She looked away and wished he would put on a shirt.
“I came over because I wanted to ask you something.”
“Alright.”
He must have read her mind, because as he came back into the living room, he bent down to sift through the sea of t-shirts that were scattered about at his feet – he obviously wasn't too concerned with cleanliness. He finally found one he liked and he pulled it on before coming to a stop in front of her.
“If – and I really mean if – there's any chance you and I can be friends again, and ONLY friends, I need to know that you'll be honest with me. About everything. Anything. Things that happened, things that didn't happen, things that are going to happen. If you lie, I'll find out, Liam. I will. It's how the universe works. If you lie to me, I will never speak to you again. Worse than that, though, you will have to live with the knowledge that deep down, you are truly a horrible, hurtful, malicious person who only cares about himself,” Katya finished in a rush, gasping for breath at the end.
Liam's eyebrows had raised throughout her speech, and by the time she finished, they were almost in his hairline. She knew he hadn't seen her mad very often. Just at the very end. No, only Wulfric had been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of her temper.
“Alright. I promise I will never -”
“I'm serious, Liam. Don't make a promise you're not sure you can keep.”
There was another long pause. He took a deep breath, and for a moment, she thought he wasn't going to say anything. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to cry, or to feel relief. But then he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and sighed.
“I'll never lie to you. I never should have. I only lied to keep from hurting you. Stupid, I know, but what can I say? Sometimes I'm a really stupid guy. But I can learn some things, and you definitely taught me a lesson. I won't ever lie to you again,” he promised. She nodded.
“Good. Did you know Wulf was moving in?”
“Did I -, wait, what? With you!?”
“No, into the Hans' apartment.”
“The who?”
“Jesus, the Hans! They lived in the penthouse in my building, they've lived there for over ten years!” she snapped.
“Well, shit, how should I know that? I didn't even live here ten years ago. Wulfric is living with your neighbors?” Liam checked.
She took a deep breath and counted to ten. She wasn't being clear, she knew, and he had just woken up. He still had sleep creases on the side of his face and she didn't even have to look to know his bed was a mess.
At least it's empty. Jesus, this is Liam I'm dealing with – what if I'd walked in on him with somebody? It's almost more surprising that I didn't.
“No,” she finally calmed herself down a little. “He found them a new place to live and moved them out last night, while you and I were at speed dating. He moved in this morning, I nearly got run over by his ridiculously over sized furniture. It just seemed … I mean, you just showed up at the event, and we were outside for so long, and then he just happened to get all his little deeds done at the same time. I'm not some toy you guys can play with, not anymore.”
“I swear,” Liam held up his hands. “I had no idea. I found out where you'd be through good old fashioned internet stalking, that's it. He can't do this, I'll tell him he has to move out.”
Before he could turn to grab his phone, Katya stopped him.
“He said the same thing you said to me – he has a lease, and that you also signed an iron-clad contract allowing him to have total control over who he rents to. He won't even let me out of my lease. When I said I'd break it, he threatened to sue me,” she explained.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“God, that guy's a dick. And you fell for him instead of me,” Liam growled, raking his fingers through his hair. Katya glared and before she could stop herself, she elbowed him in the stomach.
“I didn't fall for anybody – I was blindly manipulated into two separate relationships with complete and total assholes!” she yelled at him.
“I don't remember you being so violent, angel cake.”
Katya snorted and turned around, heading for his front door. He jogged around her and blocked the exit.
“I just thought you should know about him moving in, and wanted to see if you already knew. I'm done here,” she explained, fighting with her scarf as she tried to wrap it around her neck.
“Not so fast. I feel like we're making progress here. What are you doing tonight?”
“Liam. Are you serious?”
“Too soon? How about this weekend?”