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“IRIS.”
“Hi. Um, c-could I come in?” She bit her lip, glancing behind Liam as if expecting to see someone.
Liam hesitated, briefly considering slamming the door shut, but then he nodded and let her step in.
Iris looked around. “Is Ciara home?”
“No.”
She nodded and turned her full attention on Liam. “C-could we talk? I promise I’ll behave.”
Liam sighed but nodded. “You can hang your coat there.”
Iris shrugged off her coat and hung it on the coatrack. Then Liam led her to the living room and gestured for her to sit down. They sat together on the sofa.
“I’m sorry I slapped her last night,” Iris said, appearing to be genuinely contrite. “Although, I suppose I should say that to her.”
“You should,” Liam agreed. He grabbed the book he had been reading from the sofa and set it on the coffee table.
“I bought you that book, didn’t I?” Iris looked at it with a small smile on her face.
“You did,” Liam said and nodded.
Iris turned to face Liam. “I’m sorry about last night altogether. I was wasted, and I was acting awfully. It’s no excuse, but I didn’t mean to act the way I did.”
Liam nodded. “I suppose I can forgive that.”
Iris smiled, relieved.
“I was no more polite. In fact, I was awful to you, too. I’m sorry.”
“I deserved it,” Iris insisted.
Liam didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t forget Iris had slapped Ciara.
Iris hesitated but eventually found her voice. “Are you happy with her?”
“I’m not with her,” Liam said truthfully. “I’m staying here until I can find a flat for myself. Henry and Jenna don’t have enough room, and I don’t fancy the idea of moving back in with my parents. So for now, I’m here.”
“Oh.” Iris was genuinely surprised, Liam could tell.
They sat on the sofa in silence. It wasn’t purely awkward or uncomfortable, but it was different.
“I’m sorry I ruined our engagement and our relationship,” Iris said, breaking the silence. “I should never have hurt you in such a way. I know it’s too late now, and I know this doesn’t make it any better. But I’m sorry.”
“I can’t say I forgive you. I don’t think I can forgive just like that.”
“And you shouldn’t. What I did was horrible,” Iris said, lowering her head in shame.
“You knew it would hurt me,” Liam said. “I mean, you must have known. So why did you do it?”
“I-I don’t have a complete answer to give you. I...I just know that I wanted you to feel jealous like I did.”
“Jealous?”
“Ciara.” Iris shook her head. “The way I said it last night was wrong, but your family adores her. I can see why they do, and I shouldn’t have expressed it the way I did. But your mother adores her. She’s like a daughter to her. I know your mother liked me, but I was still jealous of the way she spoke about Ciara.”
“You weren’t around when she spoke about you. Just like Ciara isn’t around when she speaks about her.”
“I know. I just never really knew how to take it. I mean, your family talking about her so much. I get she was Henry’s best friend first and foremost. I shouldn’t have been jealous, I guess.”
“I didn’t even think about her until she came back last summer,” Liam said.
“You did once,” Iris said, a hint of accusation in her voice. “I know Henry was the one to suggest we should invite her to our engagement party. But I also know you hired an agent after she didn’t respond to the invitation.”
“I merely wanted to know if she was alive. For Henry’s sake.”
“But you never told me that.”
Liam nodded. “I should have.”
“Even then, I could have got the wrong idea.”
“I forgot about her until I found out she was still alive and living in America,” Liam said truthfully.
“Until she came back.”
“She’s just a friend.”
“Maybe at first, but even now...just the way you speak about her.” Iris frowned. “Please, be honest. Do you love her?”
Liam rubbed his hands together nervously. “I...I suppose I do.”
“For how long?”
Iris deserved the truth—the whole truth. “I had barely broken up with her when we began to date, remember?”
Iris nodded. “You claimed to have liked me even before the two of you broke up.”
“And I did.”
“Does she know that?”
Liam hung his head. “I didn’t know until last summer, but that’s why she broke up with me. So we could be together.”
Iris blinked. “For real?”
“Yes.”
“I had no idea.”
“I didn’t love her back then,” Liam said. “I...I had to open a vault in Peru. It was a while before Ciara broke up with me. There was this enchantment. I had already promised my boss I would get it open, so I had no choice. Or so I kept telling myself.”
“What kind of enchantment?”
“I had to give up one of my memories. It could have been any memory, but I refused to choose one. I was stupid, and I let it be any memory. And as it turns out, it was the memory of the moment I first realised I loved Ciara.”
“You stopped loving her, because you didn’t remember,” Iris concluded.
Liam nodded.
“How long have you known?”
“Since August.”
Iris nodded.
“I wasn’t going to act on my feelings. I could never have hurt you like that.” Liam’s voice became shaky. “I loved you.”
“But I ruined it.”
Liam knew Iris was right, but he didn’t need to say it out loud.
“How did you find out then?” Iris asked.
“Find out what?”
“About the whole memory thing.”
“I had a dream of the memory. Then, when I woke up, I just remembered.”
Iris nodded. “Honestly, would you have married me while you loved her, too?”
“I loved you, Iris. So yes, I was going to marry you. I was never going to act on my feelings for Ciara,” Liam said, honestly. “It was wrong of me to feel the way I did, but I wouldn’t have done anything about my feelings. I would have never...”
Iris nodded. “I suppose you can’t control how you feel. And I can tell you feel bad about it.”
“I feel bad and I did before, too.”
“So when will you tell her?”
Liam shifted his gaze to her, eyes widened. “What?”
Iris sighed. “I still care about you. I still love you. But I know I can’t fix what I did. I know you won’t come home with me. I know you’re done with me. So when will you tell Ciara about your feelings?”
Liam shook his head. “I don’t know if I will.”
“You should.”
Liam turned to look straight into Iris’s eyes. “I’m not over you, either, Iris. It’ll take time.”
“D-do you think we could be friends? A-are we good like that?”
“Yes, we’re good.”
“So when do you want to sell the flat?”