Screw You, Lover: An Enemies To Lovers Romance Read online

  I guess my parents have seen worse, but still, maybe I should pick, I don’t know, half of this up before they get home?

  But before I can, I hear a quiet little sobbing noise coming from the porch swing and turn to see Riley, tears running down her face.

  “Shit, what’s wrong, Groundhog?”

  Even through tears, my nickname for her makes her look at me like she wants to rip my head off.

  “Nothing,” she says as she wipes her face.

  “Nothing!? You were crying.”

  I sit next to her on the porch swing, and she moves all the way over to the edge of the seat.

  “No I wasn’t,” She says, crossing her arms.

  I shrug. “Hey, whatever you say.”

  I look over at Riley, as she tries to keep it together. It’s interesting. She’s sitting all the way on the other side of the bench like she’s trying to stay away from me, but nothing’s stopping her from getting up and walking away. The party’s over.

  So as much as it seems like she doesn’t want to talk about whatever’s making her upset, she definitely does.

  And I think I know what it is, too.

  “Alright,” I say, “Well, I was going to do this anyway, so don’t think it’s because you were just crying—”

  “I was not crying,” Riley says, rolling her eyes with a sniffle.

  “Okay, fine, don’t think it’s because you were out here alone on my front porch not crying…but I’m going to talk to Huffer and get that extra credit question taken away.”

  Riley doesn’t speak for a couple seconds. “Why? Why would you give up being valedictorian?”

  “Oh, I’d still be valedictorian. I checked. We’d just be co-valedictorians.”

  She goes quiet again, but I can tell she’s full of questions.

  So when she doesn’t break the silence, I answer them.

  “You were right about Coach McBriar. He told the lacrosse team about the extra credit question, and he made it hard to find on purpose. I asked a bunch of people at the party about it, and none of them caught it either. And earlier today at school? He fucking winked at me. And look, I was trying all year to beat you to the number one spot. I studied my ass off to do it. But I don’t want to win that way. So…you’re welcome…co-valedictorian.”

  Riley sits in silence for a couple more seconds, and another tear rolls down her cheek. Then, she does something I never thought I’d live to see her do.

  She fucking hugs me. She just wraps her arms around my neck and holds her face next to mine.

  “Thanks,” She says in a quiet voice.

  “No problem.” I say, hugging her back.

  “I still hate you, though.”

  “You too, Groundhog.”

  Riley knees me in the ribs, sending both of us down in a heap onto the porch as the swing tips forward.

  “That’s what you get for letting your guard down,” Riley says, smiling for the first time all night, her arms still around my neck.

  “You’re right,” I say, grinning back at her, “I won’t make that mistake again.”

  We stay like that for a few seconds, making eye contact, her almost on top of me. Then, Riley blinks a couple times, shudders, and rolls over onto the porch.

  “Alright,” she says, “I think I’m going to go home now.”

  “Yeah,” I say, looking at the mess my parents are going to come back to as soon as Riley walks through her front door and tells them the party’s over, “We should probably get that whole thing started.”

  Still lying on my back, I look up at her as she gets up and walks towards the porch steps.

  “Have a terrible night,” I say.

  “I hope you throw up,” she responds without even looking up, stepping off the back porch and walking off into the night.

  Listening to her footsteps disappear, I look out into the front yard, up towards the stars, and laugh a little.

  I don’t normally have conversations like that with people I hate.

  Just her.

  Chapter 6: Riley

  Present Day

  Okay, the look on Liam’s face right now is already worth the price of the plane ticket back.

  Sure, it’s a little bit intimidating to see him standing in front of his huge restaurant, which dominates the parking lot compared to the cozy storefront that I’m about to inherit.

  But other than that, it’s obvious he’s the same old Liam.

  Except, you know, the way he looks.

  Liam was always an athlete, but he was also a little on the skinny side when we were in high school.

  Now, though?

  He looks like he’s spent the past five years doing ironman competitions instead of starting a restaurant. It’s a little jarring to watch as he walks across the parking lot towards me, Matt in tow. His face pretty much looks the same, same dark brown eyes, same high cheekbones and strong jaw. His hair is spiky and neatly trimmed instead of wild and unruly like it used to be.

  But his body?

  If I saw him from the back on the street, I wouldn’t even recognize him.

  And, as much as I hate to admit it, I’d probably want his number.

  “What the fuck?” The new, all-grown-up Liam asks, his voice even sounding a little deeper, “What are you doing out here?”

  “Oh, you didn’t hear?” I ask, gesturing towards the lot behind me, “Riley’s Pizza Kitchen is back in business, now run by yours truly.”

  Liam and Matt share a look, and I crack a smile when Matt looks just as surprised as Liam. I knew Sam was going to help me keep it a secret.

  “Who the hell gave you a restaurant?” Liam asks, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

  I shrug. “The bank. I applied for a loan, and, thanks to my incredible application-writing skills, they thought I’d be the perfect candidate to reopen Riley’s Pizza Kitchen.”

  Liam lets out a disbelieving breath. “An actual loan? Not one of those bullshit scams where you have to be the most profitable restaurant of all time a month after you open or they take over your restaurant?”

  Wait, that’s a thing? I try not to let Liam see my heart skip a beat.

  “Of course it’s a real loan!” I say, making a mental note to check to see if that’s true. Then, I look over at the frozen pufferfish in the box Matt’s holding, “And since you’re apparently poisoning your customers now, I’m not even worried about competition.”

  Liam cocks an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? You’re starting a restaurant and you’re not worried about the award-winning, celebrity-catering five star restaurant less than a hundred feet away from you.”

  I shrug. “No, because I know who’s running it, and I know I’m better than him.”

  Liam’s brown eyes zero in on mine, and his lips curl into an evil smile. “Do you even know how to cook?”

  “Uh…of course! I’ve been cooking recipes from multiple different cultures for years now!”

  You know, pasta, ramen…

  “Ramen doesn’t count,” Liam says.

  Crap, he called my bluff. “Okay, well, I’ll just hire people to cook. It’s not like I need to do everything myself, right?”

  “Actually,” Liam says, “If you really got a loan to reopen your Mom’s restaurant, I guarantee whoever gave you that money wants you to be cooking at least some of the pizzas and designing the recipes yourself, just like she did.”

  Wait, really? I look over at my shoulder at the empty restaurant, and then back at Liam and Matt and let out a nervous laugh. “Oh, yeah, I knew that. I mean, come on, I read the fine print, what do I look like?”

  “The same girl who almost missed out on being valedictorian because she didn’t see an extra credit question in small print of the back of a test,” Liam says.

  I narrow my eyes at Liam. “Oh, is the bank cheating on your behalf like Mr. McBriar was?”

  Matt looks down at the frozen block of pufferfish, which is starting to melt in the sun. “Uh, I think I’m going to go put this in one of the freezer
s.”

  I watch Matt head back towards Crave, not realizing until he’s halfway across the lot that I should probably let him know that I’m going to be staying with him and Sam until I find a place of my own. “Oh, Matt, Sam’s coming to pick me up in half an hour; I’m going to be staying with you guys for a little while.”

  Matt almost drops the pufferfish on the ground giving me a thumbs up. “Awesome! I can teach you how to surf!”

  “Uh…okay, sure,” I say, as Matt ducks around the corner of Crave, leaving me alone with Liam.

  Liam looks over towards the corner Matt just disappeared behind. “You know, he lives way out there. It’s an hour commute from his house to here, sometimes more.”

  “Well, thanks for your concern, but I don’t think a little driving is going to bother me.”

  “Hey, suit yourself. But starting a restaurant is not easy, especially without help, and trust me, you’re going to wish you were closer very soon.”

  I shoot Liam a suspicious look. “Why do you care?”

  Liam grins. “If you go out of business before Riley’s Pizza Kitchen even reopens, it won’t be as fun beating you.”

  I scoff. “Oh, that’s hilarious. You think your douchey bro restaurant is going to survive when there’s a nice, wholesome pizza kitchen right across the street? If I were you, I’d start saving my money now.”

  “Okay, well don’t say I didn’t warn you about getting help. And hey, when Riley’s Pizza Kitchen flames out after about a week, we could always use another waitress over at Crave.”

  The thought makes me shudder. “I’d rather work for my old bosses at the makeup company. In jail.”

  Liam shrugs. “Well, suit yourself. But if you want to learn how to cook from an actual chef, you know where to find me. And if you want a place to stay that’s not an hour away, I live five minutes from here and I’ve got a couch that’s so comfy it’s weird.”

  I scrunch my nose in disgust. “I think I’ll take my chances on the beach.”

  “Alright,” Liam says, heading back towards the truck parked out in front of Crave, “We’ll see how that goes.”

  “The only thing you’re going to see is my dust as I beat you to the top,” I shout after Liam.

  He shakes his head and picks the last couple of crates off the truck, carrying them inside.

  UGH!

  Liam may look like a Greek god now, but he’s definitely the same arrogant asshole he’s always been.

  And that’s going to make beating his restaurant so, so much sweeter.

  I turn back around towards the empty storefront, giving it a long look for the first time since the cab dropped me off. And even though the walls are bare, the lights are off, and the old tables are stripped out, just looking through the windows is giving me an intense feeling of nostalgia. I used to do my homework here after school, eating pepperonis and olives from a little bowl of toppings Mom would bring out from the kitchen, sitting at one of the tables with nothing but a candle for light.

  And now, that place from my memory is going to be real again. And it’s going to be mine. The thought makes me nervous and incredibly excited at the same time.

  That’s a good sign, right? Maybe I’m more cut out for this than I thought.

  But I do know one thing: ready for this or not, I definitely don’t need Liam’s help.

  He’s the one that’s going to need help by the time I’m done.

  Chapter 7: Riley

  Man, this cat is adorable. Sam’s been sending me pictures of Evie ever since she and Matt adopted her, but she’s even cuter in person. I rub my thumb on the little patch of white fur on her chin, the only spot on her whole body that isn’t jet black, and a low, deep purr rises from her throat as she nuzzles against me.

  Sure, I may or may not have slipped her an extra anchovy from the pizza I’m cooking to help win her love, but hey, it worked.

  Scratching the top of Evie’s head, I look out the huge windows of Sam’s living room at the waves crashing on the beach. If definitely feels good to be on the West Coast again, and it feels great to be out of the job-hunting New York City grind. Now all I need to do is learn how to cook pizzas and figure out how to ship Liam off to a foreign country somehow, and things are going to be pretty good.

  Sam sticks her head through the doorway. “Uh, hey Riles…is whatever you’re cooking supposed to be making a bunch of black smoke?”

  I look over at the clock by the kitchen door. “Oh no! The anchovies!”

  Jumping up from the couch and sending Evie flying onto the pillow next to me, I sprint into the kitchen and grab the knob that controls the burner, twisting off the heat and pulling the lid off the smoking pot.

  “Um…” I look down into the pot of anchovies, squinting into the smoke, “They still look okay.”

  “Is that going to be ready soon?” Sam asks, plopping down onto the couch and pulling Evie up into her lap, “I think Matt’s still fifteen minutes away.”

  “That should work,” I say, even though I have no idea whether or not that’s true. After all, I still have a bunch of fancy vegetables to cut, and then, when the toppings are ready, I have to pull out the pizza that’s currently baking in the oven, put them on it, and throw it back in the oven for the last couple minutes. Since this is one of Mom’s recipes, I figured I could probably make it by heart, but it turns out she made this look a lot easier than it actually is.

  Putting on some oven mitts, I drain the anchovies into a colander, biting my lip when I see black char marks all over them. Okay, so they’re a little burnt, but they’re still salvageable, right?

  Pulling out my phone, I type “how to make burnt anchovies taste good” into the search bar.

  No results!?

  Alright, well, I guess I’ll just cut up these vegetables, toss everything together, and hope for the best. I grab an onion from the grocery bag next to the stove and put it on the cutting board, slicing it up into little pieces.

  “Oh no, they’re so burnt!” Sam says, coming up behind me with Evie in her arms.

  “Maybe I’ll just make a veggie pizza,” I say with a sigh.

  “Yeah! You’re going to be an awesome pizza cook in no time. Trust me, there’s nothing better than an advance for motivating you to get good at something.”

  “Okay,” I say, “But you were an amazing writer before anyone ever gave you an advance, and you’ve been reading books ever since you learned how. I started cooking…forty-five minutes ago.”

  Yeah, that’s another thing that happened while I was in New York. Sam, my romance-novel-obsessed little sister, got picked up by a publisher, and she’s working on her first book. Between that and Liam’s restaurant, I don’t exactly have to look hard to find some motivation now that I’m back in LA.

  “Wow, you’re cutting that onion really fast,” Sam says, looking over my shoulder at the cutting board, “You don’t need to rush, you know, I don’t think Matt’s going to be home early.”

  “Wrong!” Matt says, bursting through the kitchen door like a freight train.

  And he’s got company.

  “Oh,” Sam says, “Hi Liam! Are you staying for dinner?”

  Liam looks over at me, standing in front of the stove, and gets an evil smirk on his face. “Oh, definitely. There’s no way I’d miss this.”

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, glaring at Liam as I bring my knife down on the last of the onion.

  “I’m glad you asked,” Liam says, stepping up right beside me and looking over at the food I’m preparing, “See, a supermodel stopped by Crave today for lunch. Apparently, she heard about our sushi special and wanted to check it out on her break. One fucking amazing meal later, and we just booked a catering job at LA Fashion Week.”

  “Wait, what!?” Sam says, her eyes going wide behind her glasses, “That’s amazing!”

  “Yeah,” Liam says, “So now we’re fucking celebrating. We’re going to get a little bit of surfing in before the sun goes down, and then we’re goin
g to celebrate with some sake from our Japanese shipment.”

  He pulls out a clear bottle covered in gilded Japanese characters. “Naturally, Riley’s welcome to celebrate our success with us as soon as she finishes cooking her…onion salad?”

  “Pizza,” I say, flicking on the oven light and opening up the door, revealing the pizza inside.

  “Oh, yeah?” Liam says, coming up behind me and looking over my shoulder at the pizza toppings, causing my neck to flush a little, “I guess that makes sense. Hmm…”

  He scans the countertop, and his eyebrows raise when his eyes land on the colander full of burnt anchovies.

  “They’re blackened,” I say, “If you can blacken cod, I can blacken anchovies.”

  “Okay, first of all, that’s adorable that you looked up my menu. Second of all, this is where I’d like to explain the difference between what I did today and those nasty fish husks you’re about to put on our pizza, but since you don’t want any help, I guess you’re just going to have to get your customers to explain it to you once you open.”

  I take a step towards Liam, getting up on my tiptoes so I can get in his face.

  I swear he’s gotten taller.

  “Sounds like you’re already scared, and I’m not even a good cook yet. That’s because you know that now that I’m back in town, pretty soon you’re going to need to be staying at my apartment when your restaurant goes out of business.”

  “That doesn’t even make any sense,” Liam says, taking a step closer to me, “And how are we living together in your victory fantasy? It sounds like I’m living rent-free in your head.”

  “Oh, I’m charging you rent,” I say, getting so close to him that our noses are almost touching, “And you’re years overdue.”

  “Uh,” Matt says, stepping back into the kitchen, “Liam, I think the sun’s about to set, we should probably head out now or we’re not going to make it.”

  Liam looks out the window at the pink-tinged sky. “Shit, you’re right. You got the boards?”