“That’s horrible.”
“He’s a great dog, though.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I like him.”
We walked together in a short silence as Petey moved ahead of us, sniffing at the ground. We hit the other side of the underpass and started to walk uphill, heading south and away. For some reason, I felt relieved to get out of there. It felt claustrophobic and strange, like the roof and all the cars were going to collapse on top of me. I had been feeling a little off-center ever since I saw those guys dumping the packages, though, and it was probably nothing to worry about. Except, for some reason, even with Liam walking beside me, I couldn’t shake the funk.
“So, how did you end up teaching?” he asked me.
“I’m not really sure, honestly.”
He laughed. “Not a ringing endorsement.”
“No, but it’s true. I studied education in college and all that, but I don’t really know why I decided to.”
“I hear you. Funny how that can happen sometimes.”
“What about you? I mean, how did you get into restaurants?”
He looked away. “It was a family business. I took after my old man.”
“What sort of place did he own?”
“He owned a bunch of spots downtown. Most of them are gone now. Some of them were sold.”
“Anything I would know?”
He shook his head. “Probably not. Real shitty, small places. A few Irish bars, a few delis, stuff like that.”
“What’s your place like?”
“The hipsters call it a gastropub, but I call it a bar with decent food.”
I laughed. “I’ve never heard that before, ‘gastropub.’”
“What can I say, I’m very sophisticated.”
I laughed again and touched his arm. I wasn’t sure why I did it; there was something about the moment, funny and intimate, and I wanted to feel him for a second. He didn’t flinch away, and I got a short moment to feel the bulging muscles under his tailored black button-down shirt. He smiled at me and moved a step closer as we turned a corner, heading west.
“Anyway, that’s enough about me,” he said. “Where did you grow up?”
“Outside of the city, in a suburb called Trevose. What about you?”
“Here, in Philly. I’m a born and bred native.”
“I figured. You have that something.”
“Oh yeah, that something? I can’t tell if I’m being insulted or not.”
“You’re not, or maybe you are, I don’t know. You just have this attitude.”
He laughed and moved closer, our bodies inches away. I could practically feel the heat rolling off him and smell his clean musky scent.
“You don’t seem to mind it, Miss Boucher,” he said.
“Careful, Mr. Sullivan,” I replied, smiling.
He opened his mouth to say something when suddenly his phone started ringing. For a brief second, something flashed across his face, some emotion I wasn’t sure I could read. It was possibly terror, but that didn’t make sense. But it was gone before I could really understand what had happened.
“Sorry. I need to get this,” he said.
“Sure, okay.”
He pulled the phone out of his pocket, turned, and walked in the opposite direction from me. He flipped it open and answered it, speaking low and moving farther away. I watched him and could see how tense he was, his whole body practically wrapped around the phone. I crouched down next to Petey, who wagged his tail at me.
“What’s this about?” I said to him.
Petey sniffed at me in response.
After a minute or two of talking, he hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. He walked back over to me, holding his hands out.
“Hey, I’m really sorry to have to do this,” he said, “but I have to get going.”
I shrugged. “Sure, it’s no problem.”
“I wish I could walk you home, but it’s pretty important.”
“I totally understand. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I nodded. “Nice running into you.”
He paused and grinned at me. “Yeah, I bet it was.”
What an arrogant asshole. I couldn’t help but smile though as he turned and walked back the way we had come, moving pretty quickly. I watched him go for a second and then turned, heading back toward my apartment.
“Come on, Petey, let’s go home,” I said to him.
There was something about that man, about his delightfully cocky smile and his attitude, like he was the best thing in the world and everyone knew it. There was something about his body, ripped and lean. As I walked home, Petey leading the way, I couldn’t stop thinking about Liam Sullivan. He was the only thing on my mind.