Chapter 11

Chapter 11 — Do You Like Me?

"So, where are we going?"

That's when Liam realises he hasn't uttered a single word since he and Jason got in his car. He didn't even tell Jason where it is that he needs to go so urgently — and how is he even supposed to explain why it's so important for him to go to the dry cleaners, carrying all his boss' clothes that he just collected earlier that day.

It is better to be quiet anyways than try and explain himself — he doesn't want to incriminate himself.

"Right, sorry," Liam apologises, and puts in the address into the GPS device, "There,"

"To the dry cleaners?"

Only a nod.

"On the other side of town?"

Another nod.

"If you want, I can suggest other good ones that are much closer. Save you the hassle," Jason shrugs, as he takes a right following the directions provided by the GPS.

"No, no, no," Liam quickly shakes his head. He does not want to risk, giving the clothes to a new place and have them ruined, further sealing his fate than he already has, "It's fine. This place is good,"

"O-kay,"

Liam leans back in his seat, and looks out the window, not adding anything more. It is a few minutes more before Jason speaks up once more.

"Can I ask you something?"

Liam turns towards Jason raising his eyebrows in question and then slowly nodding, "Sure,"

He drums his fingers on the steering wheel before asking, "Are you currently seeing someone?" the tips of his ears are a bright red, signalling how embarrassing it is for him to ask this about him and for a moment Liam forgets about the fuckup of a situation he is in and pays close attention to the very much endearing man beside him.

"What if I am?"

Jason takes his eyes off the road for a moment to regard Liam curiously, "Does that mean you are?"

Instead of answering that question, Liam redirects the question to him, "Are you seeing someone?"

"Not exactly,"

"So, single?"

"And ready to mingle," Jason adds without missing a beat with a tune to it and all, and by the way his eyes widen a second later, it's clear he didn't mean to say that out loud.

Liam starts snickering, holding a hand over his mouth.

"Shit. I did not just say that out loud," he mumbles under his breath, rubbing his forehead with a couple of his fingers. Sheepishly, he spares a glance at Liam, "That was very lame and stupid. Is there any way we can pretend I did not just say that?"

"Definitely not," Liam shakes his head, still laughing, "I'm totally going to hold this over you every chance I get here onwards,"

"That's very considerate. Thanks,"

Liam only grins at him. He feels much more relaxed than before.

And this is the first time he feels so at ease with Jason. They have had lunches together for quite a few times now, and Liam does like spending time with him, but for some reason it has always felt a bit... off.

But not this time. Liam feels like himself, laughing and joking freely and it seems like Jason is very much at ease too, more laid back than he usually is.

The conversation between them flows pretty smoothly after that and Liam almost forgets why they are together in the first place until Jason pulls into the parking spot before the cleaners.

Shit, yes. Damage control first, flirting later.

"Um, can you wait in here? I'll be back in a bit," Liam asks he unbuckles his seat belt, and opens the car door.

"Are you sure? You don't need any help?"

"No, no. I'm good,"

He picks up the clothes from the back seat, not only the pants but also all the shirts and suit jackets and brings them with him to the cleaners.

"Hi," Liam drops all the clothes onto the counter and the lady at the registry looks up at him with a raised eyebrow. "I need all this to be cleaned,"

She eyes the clothes suspiciously and then back at Liam, "Are you sure, sir? You just picked them up them morning,"

"Yes, I'm aware of that," Liam tries his best to keep his voice even — he cannot get mad at her for his own stupid mistakes, "But I think my boss spilled something onto them? And now he wants them to be recleaned. Twice," lying seems like a better option so he goes with that.

"Twice?"

"Yes. Twice," he nods, tapping his fingers on the countertop, trying his best to stay patient, "He wants them run through the cleaning process twice,"

That way Liam can rest easy knowing there'll be no remnants of itching powder left on the clothes. He will have burnt them and bought new suits in replacements if only he could afford them. But he can't. Each of the suits must cost at least hundreds of dollars if not thousands, and Liam is sure he cannot afford that even if he sold all that he owned.

"O-kay," she nods, and notes down the special request.

Liam also gives her his number and tells and insists that they call him after the cleaning is done so that he can pick them up himself. The lady is looking at him weirdly and mildly concerned but really, he cannot care about that right then. He just needs to erase all evidence that he's the one who did this.

Liam only leaves after the lady reassures him more than a couple of times that he is the only she will call to pick the clothes up and even tells him that she'll have them done early the next morning. He leaves feeling a little bit unstrained.

He gets into the passenger seat and leans back in his seat, letting out a groan, pushing back his hair with a hand. He can feel Jason's eyes on him.

"You good?"

And maybe it's all the stress pent up in him, the irritation his boss causes him, and the consequent mistakes he's been doing, he feels a little unhinged and he decides to ask flat out:

"Do you like me?"

Jason starts coughing, obviously not expecting that question and pats his chest twice, before asking in a breathless voice, "What?"

Liam lets his head to the side, eyes directed towards the man beside him, trailing up his neck, lips, nose and then meets his gaze, "You heard what I said,"

He grows more flustered, his cheeks taking on a darker shade, "Do I... like you?"

Liam only gives him a nod.

"As a person? Then, yeah, sure," he shrugs but when Liam doesn't say anything in reply to that and just looks at him quietly, he lets out a sigh. It's obvious he knows what Liam's exact question is, he is just skirting around it. He sighs at last, and admits, "Okay, yes. I like you,"

Liam knows that; he knew even before he asked that particular question. It has been obvious from the start, no matter how much he has been trying to brush it off as just a casual friendship between colleagues.

And he doesn't know why he asked the question or what he was expecting to hear from him. He definitely doesn't know how he is supposed to react now or what he is supposed to say.

Jason likes Liam. Okay. But does Liam like Jason?

He finds him attractive, that's for sure. And he thinks he is a nice person, and enjoys his company. Jason is definitely someone his type, with his awkwardness and shyness although he looks very much formidable.

Liam will be lying if he said he didn't like Jason at least a little.

But also, there is something holding him back. Something he thought he was over but clearly not. Absent-mindedly, he starts tracing his ring finger where he once used to wear his engagement ring.

He feels dull ache somewhere inside his body and he hates it. He cannot be still sad over that — it happened months ago and he is on a new start, isn't he?

"It's fine if you don't feel the same way," Jason starts to say and that's when Liam realises that he's been silent since he told him he likes him.

Shit.

"I just wanted to be honest with you," he gives him a small shrug.

Shit. He does like him but – Liam wishes he can bang his head against the wall and shut that stupid lingering fear in his head that won't let him say anything.

He doesn't want to stay quiet any longer though and make this situation any more awkward than it already is, so he says the one thing he can think of at the moment, "Okay, cool,"

And what's that about not making it more awkward? Because it sure as hell gets more awkward after that. Liam keeps his mouth shut as he should have from the start. They drive back to the office in complete silence after that.

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