Boy Window Chapter 7: Conflicting

Last time in Boy Window...Liam and Amber went on a date where they talked in circles with Amber saying she probably will never have sex, Liam saying that is fine, and Amber calling his bluff. Also, Amber was propositioned (again) this time by her waiter, and Liam saved her (again).

Chapter 7

This chapter starts with a house cleaning montage. Okay, not a montage, but it might as well be. We find out that Liam is a responsible underage drinker, which is what I guess we will have to take as character development. Sure, we don't know why he does this, but I will take what I can get.

“'Wow, did I actually hear you two laughing at something together in here? That's a first.'”

This comes from Jake, and it makes Liam an awkward turtle because he hates lying to his best friend. Go figure.

Amber asks if Kate can stay over. He is all “gross, she's my sister's age and flirts with me all the time” and Amber takes this opportunity to ask

“'So, you don't think a sixteen year old should go out with an eighteen year old?'”

Jake is all squinty eyed and suspicious but Amber craftily evades detection and says she is asking about a friend. Classic.

Jake says, no they shouldn't date

“'It's almost paedophilia.'”

Actually, depending on were this takes place, it is pedophilia.

Amber says it's only two years, Liam agrees with the sage-like wisdom of

“'I know a lot of hot ass sixteen year olds.'”

Because physical attractiveness is reason enough to ignore maturity, legality, and emotional stability. Thankfully, Jake smacks Liam telling him he can't date any of them. Amber notes that this reaction is an indication that Jake knows about Liams feels, and once again we get told that Jake is against their union.

Kate comes in, Jake winks at her.

“He really didn't help himself, if he wanted her to leave him alone, then why did he encourage her?”

I don't know Amber but I ask myself the same question every time it's brought up.

Amber and Kate go to Amber's room. Kate is all giddy because she gets to spend the weekend with her BFF and two hot dudes. Kate smells cologne on Amber's pillow and Amber lies saying that Liam borrowed it. My mental image is like this

Kate decides that is her pillow now. I just hope that she doesn't take the pillow into the bathroom for an extended period of time or make a shrine for it.

They all get into the living room where Amber sits next to Liam so

“...that my knee touched Liam's thigh.”

Kate offers to be Liam's cuddle buddy and Liam gets awkward and

“...shifted his weight closer to me so that my leg was on top of his more.”

But if her leg was only next to his, like we previously established, then this would look obvious and silly. Kinda like a cat demanding attention.

catversushuman.com is too legit

Kate tells Jake that he will have to do and Amber says how she felt jealous for a second. Amber then laughs because she is shocked that she has emotions and to cover it up she goes to get soda for everyone.

“As I shut the fridge door, Liam grabbed me from behind and made me turn around to look at him. He was standing so close I could feel his breath blow across my face as he took the cans from my hands and set them on the counter.”

She uses that phrase 4 times and him breathing down her neck as much. Is Liam literally a mouth breather? You have to be really close or breathing really hard for this to be the case. Amber must get claustrophobic.

They repeat the “let's tell Jake” conversation with the same results, then Liam asks Amber to tell Kate that he is taken so she stops flirting.

“My breath caught in my throat at his words. 'Are you taken?' I whispered shyly.”

Woman, how many times and ways does he have to say it? Yeah, you haven't gone over “official” titles but if he says he is willing to wait until marriage to have sex (which he did in chapter 6) then I think he is thinking in exclusive terms. I guess Amber is one of those people.

He says he is her's, if she will have him.

“'I'll have you, if you'll have me,' I bargained.”

How is this a bargain? You are not literally exchanging anything you realize.

Liam makes a lewd comment, Amber hits him, and he is all “but your my girl, why can't I be sleezy?” To which, Amber is all “he called me his girlfriend! Swoon!” Then they have a Ever After moment. Where she is all “say it again” and

They kiss passionately before Liam jumps away sensing Jake. No, seriously, we are not giving any reason why or how he knew Jake was just about to turn the corner, but he did. Man Jake why you gotta cock block? I hope you have a good reason.

“'You need to have a word with your friend, seriously, she just grabbed my dick!'”

Well, fuck man, that is a good reason. With Amber's history of abuse, and her desire to protect her brother, she must be Hulking out.

“Liam and I burst out laughing at the same time.”

Amber, your brother just told you that you best friend grabbed his dick without his permission. THAT IS SEXUAL ASSAULT! Is everyone in this town a sex offender? Why are they treating this like it is hilarious? If someone did that to Amber both men would have flipped a table. I know this is a thing in a lot of places, but I'm a feminist, so I think that this is just awful. And Amber laughs it off, skipping merrily to go answer the door. WTF?

“I sat next to Liam – which meant that Jake had to sit next to Kate on the other sofa, much to his obvious annoyance.”

I don't blame him. She groped his penis, told his best friend and sister, and got laughed at. I wouldn't blame him if he went and opened some veins now.

They watch the movie, Amber gets scared and by the end is practically in Liam's lap. Naturally, this makes Liam hard. Everything seems to make Liam hard.

“My mind flashed to all the times that he'd been 'excited' near me before, and I started to wonder how many of them were caused by attraction as well.”

The resident male has enlightened me that “the penis does what the penis wants” and I get that, but when he has an erection every time Amber looks at him, I think it is safe to assume that he digs her. Just saying, there is naive and then there is willfully ignorant. Guess which side you are on, Amber.

Amber is scared that zombies will eat her if she goes to the bathroom so Liam checks them for her. There are no zombies and Amber utilizes the facilities. Liam is waiting for her when she gets out.

“'I thought I'd better wait for you. You never know what could be lurking in a dark hallway.'”

Honesty time, I actually really like this. I like that he is taking her paranoia seriously even though it is obviously silly. I like that he isn't questioning it or making fun of her. He recognizes that this is just one of those things that she needs support in. It softens my heart to Liam more than anything else thus far because he has no clear personal gain from doing this, other than endearing himself to her.

They go back to the lounge but not before one more kiss and a wistful cursing of Kate. They play Wii, so I guess we get a time frame for this book now, and Kate asks

“'Hmm, I just can't decide which one has the cutest butt. Who do you think?'”

Both me and Amber reply

“'Ew! Seriously, what's wrong with you? That's my brother!'”

It's weird being in accord with the main characters. I'm so used to them not acting like actual people that this is almost uncomfortable. Although, this makes me wonder why they weren't acting realistically before.

Kate points out that Liam is not her brother and seems to have a thing for her. Amber brushes it off. Liam declares he should probably go home, but before he does, Amber asks him to do a zombie check in her room. He agrees. She follows him.

Liam: “'I'm just sorry I won't be here for you tonight. Try not to have too many nightmares, OK?'”

Me: …

Amber: “'I'm actually really going to miss you half crushing me to death I the night'”

Me: …

Liam: “'Well, I'm really going to miss half crushing you to death'”

Fenrir's fuzzy mane! They are talking like real people. I can tell they like each other and it's not because they are saying so 6 ways from Sunday. It's cute and it works and I hope this continues. I really hope that the first few chapters was just Moseley getting into the swing of things.

During this conversation Amber is straddling Liam and has felt the urge to be a little amorous. She kisses him and Liam lets her take the lead. Make-outs happen on her bed for a page and a half before she hits the e-break.

Again, it's handled pretty well. It's not the most amazing thing I've ever read but for the first time it feels like Amber has feelings and Liam is responding like a likable love interest should.

“I hated myself in that moment. I hated that I couldn't be normal, that I couldn't make out with my boyfriend without panicking and that I would never be good enough for someone like him. I was pathetic.”

Baal's lighting, I really like this scene. I want to be snarky and funny, but I can't. This is exactly what it should be. Good job.

Amber feels insecure. Liam reassures Amber that he is fine with whatever pace they take things at. He leaves and Amber spends a couple pages talking about the nightmare she had while Liam was gone. The nightmare was of when her dad beat Jake and made her pop his favorite ball. The scene is just this side of bland, but we do see Jake asking after Amber when he is struggling to breathe. It develops their relationship more, so I will take it even if it is a little underwhelming.

Amber wakes up crying. Liam texts her to see if she is up. She calls. He comes over. Neck kisses happen and I'm so content with the earlier writing that I won't even complain about it this time.

Liam asks the obvious but important question.

“'You want to talk about it?'”

Amber says no. They decide to cuddle on the couch for a few hours, then separate before Jake or Kate wakes up and the chapter ends.

Guys, I'm not going to lie, this was an extremely conflicting chapter. On the one hand, you have our two main characters laughing at sexual assault. On the other hand, you have actual character development. I still don't know why these character act the way they do. Or why they feel the way they feel. Or where this is all going. But I can at least tell that Amber, Liam, and Jake have feelings. It's weird.