Page 17 of Pressure Point

“It’s paid for!” Felicity exclaimed, throwing her arms out wide.

“The two of them have been going around and around like this since yesterday,” Gunnar whispered to Liam. “If I’ve learned one thing about my daughter since meeting her, she does things her own way. Then again, so does Effie. So if one of them doesn’t cave soon, I think it could get ugly.”

“I got a fiver on boss lady,” Liam joked.

“Oh no, I won’t bet against her.”

“I have to go. We can finish this later,” Talia said, making her way to the door. She stopped halfway through the living room, turning around and pointing at Liam. “Don’t think this gets you out of telling me about how it went with Avery last night! I want to hear all about it!”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

She gave him a look letting him know she didn’t believe him and turned back to go. The heavy door slammed shut behind her, making Felicity jump slightly as the sound rang through the apartment.

Slipping into his normal seat at the table, Liam pulled out containers from the bag and placed the containers of what appeared to be Thai food on the table.

“So, Avery came over last night?” Gunnar inquired, opening up the food.

“The little redhead I met the other night? She’s cute!”

Liam didn’t know quite how he felt about Felicity’s comment. On the one hand, he really liked her, both as a boss and as a “grown-up” in his life. She wasn’t all that much older than he was, but she certainly had a lot more life experience. Plus Gunnar, who had almost two decades on him, was like another dad, so as his significant other, she seemed older than she was. At least to him. She also seemed to be getting a little thrill out of the idea of being the matriarch of this makeshift “family,” as she’d started to call it. Who was he to tell her no? He was just happy to have a place to belong so far away from home. Felicity and Talia were also the first women in his life other than his mother to take an interest in his personal life. Although it still felt weird to have them asking questions—especially ones he didn’t have the answer to.

“Like I said, there’s nothing to tell,” he muttered, scooping some noodles onto his plate. “We just watched a movie.”

“That’s still something. She wouldn’t have come over if she didn't like you on some level,” Gunnar said.

“Yeah, the friend one. She’s definitely into Dash. So much so that she asked me to ‘help her find her sexy’ in order to win him over.”

Felicity let out a cough, trying not to choke on her drink, while Gunnar stared at him, fork halfway to his mouth. They were the exact kind of reactions he’d been expecting when he’d thought about telling them what Avery had asked for last night. He’d just also planned on Talia being here, which now meant he was going to have to tell this story twice. Great, just great.

“Find her what?” Gunnar asked.

“Sexy.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“That’s what I said,” Liam admitted.

“So you’re gonna do what exactly?”

Liam shrugged. “We were watching Captain America, and it was the part where they take the scrawny guy into the chamber and he comes out…”

“Hot,” Felicity finished for him.

“Aye. So now she has it in her head that’s what she needs. To be transformed from her already wonderful self into something…else.”

“And you agreed?” Gunnar questioned. Liam nodded. The more he thought about it, the crazier the whole idea sounded. “Why?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to tell her no.”

“You really like her, huh?” Felicity asked, her eyes going soft.

“I do.”

“And you’re sure she’s into Dash?”

“Aye. She kept staring at him the other night, and when she asked me to help her, it was so she could impress him at this birthday party he has coming up.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Gunnar inquired.