“Me too.” Liv sat the coffee down, shoving the nerves away before they got a chance to seize her up. If she let them, they would paralyze her and that was something that had bothered her for a long time.
Ryan was the one who came closer, gently putting her hand on Liv’s face before leaning in and kissing her. It was chaste at first, then their lips moved together. The heat was building in Liv’s middle, and her head did the spinning thing it did when her mind was trying to run away.
But she pulled her brain back into the moment, allowed herself to think and feel and enjoy the moment. It sent adrenaline surging through her, the warmth and love she held inside her threatening to bubble out in a way she couldn’t control.
But theoretically that wasn’t a bad thing.
The kiss deepened, their arms twining around each other. Liv loved the feeling of Ryan’s body against her. It was even better than the closet at Cairo’s, since they weren’t in such a cramped space.
“Lay down,” Liv said, her voice husky.
Ryan looked at her, a faint smile on her face. Then she listened, letting Liv lay on top of her. Ryan’s body was flush against hers, and despite everything that had happened Liv had to remind herself to stay in the present. But the emotions were so overwhelming, the input such an overload that she threatened to tip over.
All she wanted was more of it. It was like a drug, one she couldn’t get enough of. She could feel warmth gathering between her legs, the need and want that had haunted her for so long. She opened her mouth to speak and stopped, not sure what to say. I need you. I want you. They all seemed so trivial.
She slid her leg between Ryan’s and was rewarded with a little moan.
Then a shrill alarm broke both of them out of their focus. Liv sat up, her heart threatening to race out of her body. What was that? Her phone. Her phone alarm was shrieking.
She crawled off of Ryan and went straight to it, looking at the images. Someone had thrown a rock through a window in her house. The one that hadn’t been broken when Gram went missing. Liv looked at the image, sick to her stomach. “I’ve got to go,” she said, feeling the apology to her middle.
“I’ll come with.” Ryan grabbed her coat.
Liv would have been lying if she said she wasn’t relieved.
Friday 21st October; 10pm
Liv got out of the car first, Ryan in the passenger side. They hadn’t deliberately taken the same vehicle, it had just happened. “Gram!” Liv’s voice was filled with panic. Her heart was racing, her mind spinning in that way it always did.
“Liv?” Gram’s voice came from inside the house.
Liv wasn’t the melodramatic type, but to say she could have collapsed from relief was pretty accurate at that moment. She loved her Gram, and having something happen to her while she was away was pretty much the worst thing that could happen.
“I’ll check the outside,” Ryan said with a nod.
Liv nodded back, then headed straight inside. It did make her feel safer that Ryan was checking the perimeter, to make sure whoever had thrown the rock wasn’t still nearby. It wasn’t something Liv had thought of. That was part of the reason Ryan complemented her so well.
Gram was sitting on the couch, her hair fluffed up like a cloud. She seemed entirely nonplussed, which startled Liv. “Are you okay?” Liv asked.
Gram blinked at her, her eyes owlish behind her small reading glasses. “Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”
“The window - we heard a crash.” Liv took in the area around her. Where Gram was sitting, she may not have been able to see the rock, or the shattered window.
“Oh, that.” Gram pursed her lips. “I assumed it was some ruffian who was being a dick, pardon my French.”
Liv heard Ryan enter behind her, apparently just in time to hear her Gram’s words, for she was stifling a giggle. “Your French is excused,” Ryan said.
“Oh, you brought your girlfriend.” Gram sounded delighted.
Liv just looked at Ryan, and Ryan looked at her. Then gave a tiny shrug and her eyes said “up to you”. Was it fake? No, Liv was smart enough to know it was more than that. She turned to Gram, and made a decision. “Ryan came here with me to check on you,” she said. It wasn’t a denial, but also not a blatant lie. Liv turned to look at her. “You want to stay the weekend?”
Ryan looked at her, surprise on her face.
It was a bold assertion, a bold question, but Liv wanted her to stay close. They weren’t necessarily ready to go back to the way things had been, but they were moving there.
“Yeah.” The little smile on Ryan’s lips made Liv’s stomach flip. Liv was breaking out of her shell, letting herself trust Ryan more and more. Was it enough to keep them together? She wasn’t sure.
But she was willing to try.
Monday 24th October; 7am
Ryan’s phone rang, startling all occupants of the house. Ryan grimaced. How she had managed to go an entire weekend with no calls was a miracle. Now it was over. “I’ll be right back.” She headed out of the house, standing on the front porch. Her phone told her it was Dane calling. That wasn’t good.
“Hello?” She tucked the phone to her ear, turning her back to Liv and her Gram so that they hopefully couldn’t hear.
“You need to get to the station.” Dane’s words were grim.
“What happened?” Ryan’s heart fell. Was it related to her case, or something else?
“Charles is dead.” Dane exhaled loudly.
“What?” The world ended around her. That made no sense. True, Charles had just been released, but murdered? Who would have killed him?
“And there’s something else, too.”
Ryan braced herself.
“The baby wasn’t Steven’s. We just got the DNA test back.”
No wonder Dane sounded like the
