The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden(16)

“Are you squished?” He looks at me with concern in his brown eyes. He has such nice eyes. I always was partial to blue eyes, but God, his are nice. And his breath smells like peppermint. I wonder if he swallowed a breath mint before coming. Because I did. I mean, I didn’t want to have tuna breath.

“I’m okay,” I breathe.

“Good.” He grins at me. “Because if I move over one inch, I’m gonna fall out of the booth.”

I return his smile. “Don’t fall out.”

“I’ll try.” He flips open the menu. “Do you know what you want to get?”

“Vanilla milkshake,” I say without hesitation.

“Hey, that’s my favorite too. You stole my idea.”

I laugh. “Sorry.”

“Do you want to split it?”

Splitting a milkshake with Liam? Yes, please. “Sure.”

My doubts about this being a date are starting to fade. He walked me here, we’re splitting a milkshake, and I couldn’t be closer to him unless I was sitting on his lap. Also, when he orders it for us, he mumbles in my ear, “It’s my treat.” And even when the other people at the table are talking, he only seems interested in talking to me. His attention is completely focused on me.

Until something happens that spoils everything.

Our booth is fairly close to the bathroom, and when Tyler and his buddies get up to use it, they have to pass by us. Even though Liam and Tyler had studiously avoided looking at each other when he came in, Tyler jostles Liam’s shoulder hard as he walks by. It was clearly done intentionally. I know it, and it’s obvious that Liam knows it.

When Tyler comes back out of the bathroom, I’m worried he’s going to do it again. But instead, as he passes by our table, he stumbles and falls to the ground with a loud thunk. For a moment, everything is quiet as Tyler gets back to his feet.

“You just tripped me, asshole!” Tyler is staring at Liam. There’s a scary-looking vein bulging out on his thick football player’s neck. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Liam turns to look at Tyler, blinking his eyes in a picture of mock innocence. “Oh, I’m sorry. That was an accident.”

“Like hell it was!”

“You’re mistaken, Tyler.”

“Say that to my face.”

My heart speeds up in my chest. Tyler looks really mad. He’s still got that vein in his neck, but now his face is starting to turn bright red. Liam stands up, and I notice that while the two boys are about the same height, Tyler is more broad like the football player he is. Liam has more of a runner’s physique. I’m scared that in a fight, Tyler would have the edge.

But Liam doesn’t look the slightest bit intimidated. He looks Tyler right in the eyes. “I didn’t trip you. You’re just clumsy.”

Tyler snorts. “What—are you trying to show off in front of your girl? Not that you need to do much to impress her.”

My cheeks burn. The last thing I want is Tyler talking smack about me in front of Liam. But Tyler’s words hit home. What he said seems to upset Liam more than anything so far. “Mind your own business,” Liam says in a low voice.

Tyler takes a menacing step towards Liam. Their confrontation has got the whole restaurant watching—everyone is probably hoping there will be a fight. Everybody but me. I just want Tyler to leave us alone. “Does your girlfriend know you’re a psychopath?”

Liam rolls his eyes. “Is that all you’ve got to say?”

“It’s true.”

“Yeah?” Liam lifts an eyebrow. “Well, if I am a psychopath, maybe you should be careful. Because I know pretty much everything there is to know about your family. I know where your mom goes to yoga class. I know your dad parks his car outside the garage at night. And I know what window is your sister’s bedroom.”

Tyler’s eyes widen.

“Also,” Liam adds, “you’ve got a new cat, don’t you?”

All the color drains out of Tyler’s face. I’ve never seen anyone look so freaked out. I’m not even sure why. What is Liam talking about? Why is he talking about Tyler’s cat? This makes no sense.

But apparently, what Liam said did the trick. Tyler takes a step back, his brow furrowed.

“It wouldn’t even be a challenge to kick your ass,” he mutters. He moves past Liam to get back to his seat, but I notice this time he makes an effort to avoid touching him.

Liam drops back into the seat next to mine. There’s a satisfied look on his face. A secret smile plays on his lips.

“I think you just scared the shit out of Tyler,” I comment.

Liam shrugs. “Yeah, well. He’s a jerk.”

“Didn’t you guys used to be friends?”

“No. Not really.”

But that’s a lie. Everyone knows that Tyler and Liam used to be tight. Still, he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore, and that’s fine with me. I didn’t come here to talk about Tyler Martinson. I came here to spend time with Liam.

The waitress brings two straws for our milkshake. I wish we only had one straw, so Liam and I could have shared. But two straws is nice too. I try to time it so that I am taking a sip at the same time he is so our faces are inches apart.

“I love the milkshakes here,” Liam says.