My eyebrows rose once in confirmation, and I laughed softly. “He was . . . well, he’s something else,” I said as I glanced back at the man in question.
“I don’t know why he comes to these things. He never drinks or eats, he never brings anyone with him, and he only talks to people about how his radish is going to save the world—”
“Avocado,” I interrupted. “He said the radish wasn’t going to produce the right kind of energy. He’s trying an avocado pit now.” Liam rolled his eyes, but his smile was contagious. “How do you even know him?,” I said.
“We don’t! He just joined in on a party one day when we were out here, and it never fails, if we’re at the beach he’ll show up at some point. I don’t think I even know his name, we all just try to avoid getting stuck in a conversation with him,” I said.
“Howie,” I answered before taking another sip. “He has an employee ID card clipped onto his shirt from some company.”
“Well, you’ve now met Howie. You can consider it a rite of passage here.”
“Yay me,” I mumbled sarcastically.
Both Liam and I were silent for a few moments as we watched Howie go into an overly excited and detailed explanation to a girl who looked like she couldn’t get away fast enough, and I laughed when her expression clearly showed she’d given up on trying to find a way out.
“I want to know more about you,” Liam muttered, bringing my attention back to him.
My smile faded and I shook my head faintly. “Liam, I—why? Why do you keep pushing for something between us?”
“I just want to know more about you, Kennedy. Friends do that—hell, strangers do it. So why can’t we?”
“Because you and I both know your real reason for wanting to know. You know just as much about me as you do about Kira, and probably more than your other friends know, at least the ones I’ve met. You asking for more is just—”
“It’s just a request as a friend, Kennedy. Nothing more, nothing less.”
I watched his expression carefully, and knew that it was anything but a friendly request. Before I could come up with another reason not to tell him more about myself, he leaned closer, and the movement had my dismissal getting caught in my throat.
“You already know where I went to school and what I majored in; why don’t you start there for me?”
I released a heavy breath and began shaking my head again, but found myself saying, “I went to Florida State, and majored in psychology.”
“Psychology? Really?”
I laughed, and tried to look offended. “Yes, really. Why do you look so surprised?”
Liam’s eyes widened as he tried to find the words. “I just never would have guessed that about you. You don’t seem like the kind of girl who’d be interested in psychology.”
“And what kind of major do I look like I would be interested in?”
He huffed out a short laugh and shrugged. “How to show a guy you’re not interested?”
Instead of saying something to get out of the conversation, or telling him he was pushing it again, I smirked and said, “I minored in that, actually.”
“Figures.” His eyes darted to mine before he was looking at the blanket again. “So what do you want to do with your degree?”
“Nothing,” I admitted on a sigh. “I had to take a course for gen. ed., and I ended up loving it, so I majored in it. I guess in a way I’d grown up being fascinated by the way people are because of my dad.”
Liam didn’t respond, but his confused expression was enough to make me continue.
“My dad is a detective; so is Uncle Mason. I figured he would’ve mentioned something about that in the meeting he had with you and Uncle Eli.”
“No. But somehow it makes sense. Eli said that your dad was the last person I wanted to piss off. I couldn’t imagine how your dad would be worse than Mason when he looks the way he does. But if they’re both detectives, I get it.”
I smiled wryly and asked, “Would it make it even better for you to know that they used to do undercover work? Like, they lived with, and were part of, gangs.”
Liam’s face went blank for a few seconds before he started getting up. “Well, great knowing you.”
I laughed and pulled him back down, and was glad to see the amusement in his eyes and smile. My dad and uncle had scared off enough guys while I was growing up, and the fact that Liam didn’t seem to mind made him that much better. A jolt ran through my body when I realized exactly where my thoughts had gone.
It shouldn’t have mattered if the news of Dad and Uncle Mason’s job caused Liam to run or not. If anything, I should have been hoping for it to make him too scared to keep pursuing something with me. But as usual when I was in Liam’s presence, my walls were falling.