“Spencer, why were you planning on staying in tonight?” Liam asked, his voice low and meant for my ears only.
“I had some important stuff I needed to do,” I lied. It wasn’t entirely a lie, of course. Talking to Preston *was* important.
“Spence, you know how I feel about him. I feel like you’re wasting your time,” he pressed. “He doesn’t take care of you, and he only thinks about himself.” Liam could always tell when I was bending the truth.
“Liam, stay out of it. You’re my brother, not my dad, okay?” The words felt harsh even as they left my mouth. “No, Liam, I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay, Spence.” He held up a hand. “I know I’m not Dad, and honestly, I just want to see you happy. But I see no future for you with Preston, not with how he treats you.”
“He *is* good to me, Liam.”
“How? What’s the last genuinely nice thing he did for you? Besides calling to confirm your plane landed safely in America, I mean. Oh wait, *you* called *him* to let him know you landed safely, and what was his response? Something like, ‘Oh, oh that’s great um, I’m kinda busy right now, call ya later, bye.’ No ‘Oh good! I love you so much hon, I can’t wait to see your beautiful face again!’” Liam was right. I remembered the call vividly; Preston had sounded…distracted. But he was swamped with basketball season, practice, everything.
“Not everyone is as sappy as you, big brother,” I retorted, trying to deflect with lightness.
“That may be true, but when the woman you love calls, especially after a long time apart, you pay attention. If you don’t, you’ve got some serious commitment issues.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, confused by where Liam was headed.
“Nothing I want to discuss here,” he said, his jaw tightening. Great. I knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Preston didn’t cheat on me, Liam. He would never do that. It’s not in his nature.”
“You never know.”
“Well, neither do you. Don’t judge him until you actually *know* him.”
“I *do* know him, sis. We went to middle school together. He hasn’t changed much since then, not the way he treats you. He’s the same player who waltzed through the halls back then, flirting with every girl he could. I bet he’s been seeing someone else the entire time, and that’s why ‘basketball practice’ has become so frequent.”
“Liam!” My voice was too loud, too sharp. Everyone at the table turned to stare. I was furious, but I couldn’t let them see it. We were having such a lovely dinner. “Liam, I uh, I just wanted to make a toast to you, Harry, Louis, Zayn, and Niall. For being on top of the world and staying so grounded. You guys are such an inspiration. Thank you.” I raised my glass of sparkling cider, and everyone followed suit.
“I’m sorry, Spence…we’ll talk later,” he murmured quietly as the others resumed their conversations.
“Yeah, fine,” I replied, turning away. I was done talking about it. I turned to Niall, who was sitting quietly, simply enjoying his pizza.