Always Been You By Lily Miller -

"I'm working hard," Maya countered, dodging the question. "What about you? I heard you took over your dad's firm."

"I’m not interested in the party," Liam replied. He stepped up beside her, leaning his tall frame against the wooden railing. He was wearing a simple dark sweater, his sleeves pushed up to his elbows, revealing the faint trace of a scar on his forearm from a summer they had shared a lifetime ago. Always Been You by Lily Miller

"I thought time would make it easier," Liam continued, his voice dropping an octave. "I thought when you left for college, and then for that job, that I would eventually move on. I tried, Maya. God knows I tried." "I'm working hard," Maya countered, dodging the question

Maya finally looked at him. He looked different, more mature. The boyish roundness in his face was gone, replaced by sharp lines and a shadow of stubble. But his eyes were exactly the same—a deep, searching hazel that always made her feel like he could see directly into her soul. He stepped up beside her, leaning his tall

Maya shook her head, a stray tear escaping and tracking down her cheek. "It's been five years."

The wall Maya had spent five years building around her heart crumbled in a single second. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. She reached up, placing her hand on the back of his neck, and pulled him down to her.

Maya froze. That voice. It was a low, familiar rumble that she had spent the last five years trying to forget. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Liam.