Page 52 of Pressure Point

“Oh, I’m just a sister-in-law,” the girl said with a laugh. “You must be Avery! Liam told us all about how you guys were doing the Marvel movies in order. He was thrilled to have found someone to sit through all those with him.”

“Thanks,” Avery heard Liam mutter under his breath. She had no idea which one of them he was talking to, but she couldn’t help but shrink a little inside knowing that it might have been her. She hated the idea that something she said potentially embarrassed him. He kept his eyes trained forward though, locked on the TV, so she couldn’t get a read on him.

“Uh, yeah, I fell asleep last night watching Iron Man 2,” she lied, desperate to break this tension. She wanted her easygoing Liam back, the one who had held her last night, not the stock-still statue who was still gripping her hand. She swallowed hard, forcing a smile to her face, hoping that her improvisation provided a good reason for her to be here at this hour on a Sunday morning. Not that anyone seemed to care or question it. But she still felt like she needed to justify it. “Liam was nice enough to just let me sleep.”

“He’s used to it. I did it all the time.”

Avery just nodded, not knowing what else to say. Why would Liam be used to his sister-in-law falling asleep watching movies? He’d mentioned living with his family before moving here, but certainly that hadn’t included a married brother, right?

“Sorry, we haven’t actually been introduced. I’m Orla.”

“Orla,” Avery repeated, sure she heard the brunette wrong. Turning to Liam, she whispered, “as in…”

He nodded once in response, his jaw clenched. Her stomach sank as the realization hit her.

Orla, his ex-girlfriend.

And apparently now his sister-in-law.

Chapter Eighteen

Well, fuck.

Liam would have been lying if he said he hadn’t thought about introducing Avery to his family. However, in all of the scenarios in his head, Orla had conveniently not been present.

He swallowed hard, trying to find something to say that would explain. But he couldn’t. At least not now. Trying to loosen his jaw, he forced a smile onto his face and turned back to the screen, right in time to see Patrick walk up behind Orla.

“Hey, man,” Patrick greeted. “Great game the other night. You’ve got a serious backline in the brothers Bender. I’m a wee bit jealous.”

“They’re not bad when they do their job,” Liam retorted. For as much as he knew that leaving Dundalk was the right thing to do, there was a small part of him that still felt guilty. Atlanta was the opportunity of a lifetime, though, and exactly what he’d needed to really start living. Another part of what had brought him back to life was the beauty currently sitting to his left. Although that was something he wasn’t going to admit out loud.

Last night had been one of the best dates of his life. Even if it hadn’t really been a date. Avery had looked incredible in her jeans, tank top, and those damned shoes. She’d actually moved better in them than he had expected. The feel of her against him while they were at Club 404 had only been outdone by the feel of her against him naked in his bed. He’d had no intention of taking things any further than he had last weekend after helping her stretch, but the sight of her, biting that lip and asking him to touch her, had just been too much. Her kisses—oh fuck, her kisses—were so damn intoxicating he didn’t know how he would recover. Even now, the faint taste of her still remained on his tongue.

When he’d woken up this morning, her beautiful naked form curled up next to him, he’d allowed himself to wonder what it would be like if they continued down that road. He’d been toying with the idea of asking her out on a real date, rather than a date disguised as something else.

“And who is this joining us? Did I miss an introduction?”

“This is Avery,” Orla said, beaming brightly. It was her put-on smile, the one she used when she was forcing herself to be happy and bubbly. At least he wasn’t the only one who didn’t know how to feel about all this. “She’s the gal who Liam is doing the Marvel marathon with. Avery, this is Patrick. He’s the brother one up from Liam.”

“Hi,” Avery said softly. He could feel her body tense next to his, and it broke his heart. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her feel uncomfortable with all this. He should have told her the whole truth about Orla, rather than just the Reader’s Digest version. It had been a moment of self-preservation, one that was coming back to bite him in the ass now.

“Liam, you didn’t mention she was cute, you tool,” Patrick said, nodding at Avery. “Afraid one of us would come to America and steal her?”

“Patrick!” Michelle scolded.

“It was a joke, Ma.”

“Not a very funny one,” Connor mumbled.

“I know your arse isn’t leaving Dundalk any time soon,” Liam retorted, trying to sound less bothered than he really was. “So I’m not worried.”

Things had been tense between them ever since it had all come to light, but what had made Patrick think that they were at the stage where they could joke about it was beyond him. A tinge of embarrassment hit him again, realizing poor Avery was still just sitting here, clueless as to what had happened. Or well, the whole story of what had happened and the drama that had ensued. He gathered that she must have put some of the pieces together by now, thanks to Orla introducing herself as his sister-in-law.

“Speaking of, we finally decided on a name,” Patrick continued, apparently oblivious to just how uncomfortable he was making everyone. “At least a girl name. Boy name is still up in the air. But for a girl, we like Aisling. Final answer.”

“Like your grandmother,” Liam said to Orla, not even registering it before the words left his mouth. Orla nodded, her smile morphing into the genuine one that she’d kept just for him. Or at least he’d always thought she had kept it just for him.

“Are you pregnant?” Avery asked. The surprise in her voice caught him off guard. Fuck, he really should have told her everything.