Chapter 5. A Plan for Liam

ADELINE’S POV

“Wow, Addie.” Liam shakes his head in a teasing way. “You haven’t had a boyfriend in months since Dain cheated on you, and the first man you’re attracted to is your patient? Smooth.” He throws a couple of popcorn into his mouth, and I roll my eyes as I make myself comfortable beside him.

We were supposed to be watching a movie but every time Liam and I decide to watch something, we end up forgetting about it and talk about random stuff instead.

“I didn’t tell you, so you could be annoying about it. I’m just saying. The man has a nice face, and he’s very intriguing.” I defend.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. You can’t read into him easily like you do your other patients.” Liam smirks throwing more popcorn into his mouth. He makes the crunch of the pop corn deliberately louder than he should just to annoy me more.

I frown and press pause on the horror movie we were supposed to be watching. Furrowing my brows, I turn to face him and snatch the bowl of popcorn from his hold.

“Hey!” He whines.

“How’s Naomi, Liam? Did you ever call her to work things out like you were supposed to?” I smile innocently at him.

“I can’t call her.” Liam sits up straight, and his face immediately falls. I have no doubt that Liam loved and still loves Naomi. But he has a habit of prioritizing his work over her. This is the third time they’re breaking up because they were supposed to go out on a date and Liam forgot.

What kind of idiot do you have to be to forget you were supposed to have a date with your girlfriend? I scolded him so much that day that I think he almost cried. But he deserved it. He needs to learn that when you’re in a relationship with someone, you have to make sacrifices for the person you love.

Liam is a workaholic, and until he fixes that, he’ll never get Naomi back.

“You know she loves you, right?” I tell him.

“I have no doubt about it.” He chuckles lightly. “And I love her too but sometimes love isn’t enough you know? I took her for granted and now I’m suffering the consequence. I miss her so much but I don’t know if she’ll ever give me another chance. I don’t know what to do.” He tells me genuinely.

Ever since he and Naomi broke up for the third time, we’ve been joking about it, but I know how much he’s hurting. He refuses to even look at another woman because he still has hopes that one day, he’ll be with Naomi again.

An idea suddenly pops up in my head, and I grin at him.

“What?” He asks.

“I have a plan to win her back.” I smile excitedly. He sighs and turns to face me, listening to me eagerly.

“Okay, so you know how your house is massive, right..” I start talking.

“Irrelevant information.” He says, cutting me off. Liam basically lives in a castle, all by himself, and I’ve always thought it was funny because a person who lives alone doesn’t need all that space. But Liam is claustrophobic so I guess it makes sense.

“Anyways…” I say, rolling my eyes. “What do we know about Naomi?” I get serious.

“She loves flowers and chocolate cake. She loves classical music, and her favorite color is red.” I state.

“Where are you heading to with this? Cause if you want me to invite her over for dinner, then you should know I’ve tried and she said no.” Liam says in frustration.

“Well, that’s because you’re trying the wrong way,” I whine.

“You should know women love being chased. Just because she tells you to leave her alone doesn’t mean she actually wants you to, dumbass. You have to show her that you want her back, and you have to fucking mean it.” I scold.

“You have no idea how much I want her back. I’d do anything.” Liam says.

“Well, you sure haven’t been doing much,” I mumble with a low voice.

“Addie!!” Liam yells in desperation, and I laugh at how easy it is to tease him.

“Alright! Alright!” I say, giggling.

“First things first. This is a girl you’ve hurt and pushed to break up with you. Multiple times. She’s probably already fed up now, so you have to be quick before she realizes you’re not worth it anymore. Because the more time you waste, then the more she’ll understand that you don’t really love her. She’ll basically think you’re letting her walk away because you don’t care about her anymore.”

“But I do!” Liam yells.

“I know. I know. But Naomi is the one who’s supposed to know that.” I tilt my head at him, staring him intensely in his eyes.

“Court her again. Give her gifts and flowers. You two have been on and off for two years. You know a lot about her and what she likes. She’ll push you away but when she finally gives in, and she will because she loves you, that’s when you two will have the conversation that determines if she wants to forgive you or not. You can apologize to her all you want; you can tell her you love her and that you’ll do better, but until she sees real change, you’ll never win her back.”

“Right. Right, I get it.” Liam says, nodding his head like a toddler.

“If you manage to win her over this time, and you fuck it up again, I promise you, Liam. You will lose her forever. You’re a big boy. You’re not a little kid anymore, so if you really love that woman, you better grow the fuck up and treat her right this time. If you hurt her again, I’ll personally run you over with your own car. You understand?” I widen my eyes as I point my index finger at him, and he swallows nervously.

“Relax, best friend.” He raises both his hands in defeat.

“I’ll do it right this time. I promise.” He smiles and holds out his arms for a hug.

I shake my head and offer him a sweet smile as I fall into his embrace.

“I love you, Addie. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Liam says, and I breathe him in, resting my head on his chest.

He’s like the brother I never had. I did not have a good relationship with my parents growing up and barely had any friends. But Liam was there and he always made me feel seen.

“I love you too, knucklehead.”