French Kisses

quatre

a/n:
Just an FYI: French Kisses can be read independently, any characters from BBG are reintroduced in this book.

f r e n c h
k i s s e s

"Arden?' the man asked, sunglasses covering his eyes, disguising the recognizable aspect of him.

My heart was beating at a rapid pace, anxiety creeping its way up until he took off the sunglasses and gave a smirk.

"Liam," I said.

He nodded and brushed a hand through his blond hair. He wore a cream shirt and chinos, his outfit very similar to Laurent's. The years had proven to do him well, his baby face was not as prevalent and he had grown facial hair that framed his jawline. Liam and I were most definitely more than strangers to one another, we had attended the same high school in California. In addition, he was Ellie's best friend, her next-door neighbor. After graduation, he had supposedly moved to Boston for college in order to study law.

"What—," we both began to say, however, I continued as he stopped, "are you doing here?"

He looked around for a moment, noticing Laurent and I. His face distorted a bit at the sight of us together, showing a sense of confusion.

"I'm attending my cousin's engagement party," he replied chastely.

"Hermes?" I questioned.

"No, Simone."

I loosened my grip on Laurent. A second later Laurent's mom walked over and hugged Liam, everything becoming crystal clear; Laurent's mother's last name was in fact, Blanchett.

Laurent excused himself and Liam made his way over to me, obviously confused on as to why I was at Simone and Hermes' engagement party.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but weren't you dating Archer's best friend last time we saw each other?" Liam questioned, his hands in his pockets.

I gave him a polite smile. "Yeah, I was. In fact, I still am."

"All right, everything makes clear sense now," he said with a clear amount of sarcasm, the change in tone taking me by surprise.

Liam was on edge according to his tone, noticing that I was with his cousin and yet taken.

He had his eyes focused on me rather intensely.

"What happened to the good boy-next-door facade?" I asked, a picture perfect smile present on my face, well aware that his attitude had changed.

"Boston wore it down, heartbreak too I suppose. What happened to loyalty?" he countered.

Before I had the chance to answer Laurent reappeared, placing a protective hand on my back.

"Liam, stop being an asshole," Laurent stated firmly, no sort of smile on his face.

Liam shook his head and walked towards Hermes and Simone, giving them congratulations.

"So you know Liam?" Laurent asked.

"Yeah, he was a friend of my best friend," I stated.

"Your best friend wouldn't happen to be Ellie, would she?"

"That's her," I said with a small smile.

"She absolutely crushed him," he replied.

"She didn't have the intention," I defended.

Laurent excused himself once again in order to greet another guest, leaving me to myself. Liam approached me once Laurent was out of sight.

"How is she?" he asked, his tone calm this time.