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“I think there’s a janitor cowering in the bathroom if you want to harass him,” Seth muttered. He slowly pushed to his feet, shoulder and hip aching.
Sven crossed to his brother. “You said all those hunting trips with Dad were a waste of time.”
Liam’s dark eyes jumped over to Seth’s face. “No one touches my bodyguard.”
Seth’s heart skipped at that warm gaze, those softly spoken words.
But the warmth disappeared almost as quickly as it rose. He was Liam’s bodyguard no more. Rowe would undoubtedly need some help with the cleanup and cover-up of this mess, but even if the cops got involved, everything he and Liam had done was a matter of self-defense, and the city was definitely safer without Cornelius Weiland around.
It was all over now. Liam didn’t need him. As Sven wrapped his arm around Liam’s shoulders, pulling him in close, something else started to ache inside of Seth’s chest. Liam had his brother. His family. He had no use for Seth.
Time to let go. Return to the plan.
Even though Seth had started to really hate that damn thing.
And started to love Liam Larsen.Chapter TwelveLiam missed Seth the next morning. He’d liked having him in his apartment, but he’d loved having him in his bed. It might have been for only a few nights, but he still missed him. Waking up alone was overrated. There was nothing like the feel Seth’s warm body next to him at night.
He sat up and scrubbed his hands over his face, blinking into the early morning light streaming in through the window. He’d had no reason to invite Seth to stay—other than he wanted him to. Attached didn’t begin to explain how he felt about the man now.
Their agreement had been for casual, but Liam was no longer built for casual.
Plus, during all that time, he’d learned Seth was nothing like Ford. In fact, Seth was like no one else he’d ever been with. How could Liam already have an ache in his chest for him?
Pushing the feelings aside, he got up to shower, though he probably shouldn’t bother, considering how dirty he was bound to get today.
Why had he volunteered to clean out Gerald’s apartment?
Mostly because he was the only person Gerald had known here, and someone had to send what had survived of his things back to his mother.
Liam grabbed a breakfast sandwich on the way and arrived at Gerald’s around nine. He carried in a box of trash bags, sure he’d use most of them before he was done. Settling on one arm of the destroyed sofa, he scarfed down his sandwich and looked around. Those guys had really done a number on this place. The stuffing from the cushions covered everything. They’d even broken every picture frame.
Within an hour, he’d filled up three trash bags with broken items and stacked all the good things he’d found so far against one wall in the living area. He left the apartment to take the trash down to the nearest dumpster and stopped to see Seth on the landing.
Seth gave him a shy smile and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. He wore another Ward Security T-shirt, this one a blue that matched his eyes.
“What are you doing here?” Liam asked once his heart stopped doing its happy dance.
“I meant to get here earlier, but I was on a job that ran long. I came to help.”
“It’s a big job. I’ve barely made a dent in an hour.”
“All the more reason for two pairs of hands.” Seth stepped in close. “I didn’t want you to have to do this by yourself.”
“Like I said, Gerald and I weren’t that close.”
“Close enough for him to move here with you and start a business.” Seth placed a hand on his arm. “I want to be here for you, okay?”
“Thank you.” He gave Seth a smile, aware of the warmth in the other man’s eyes. Seth wasn’t looking at him like things were just casual between them either. He supposed they weren’t if Seth showed up here to help him do something so awful.
Just the fact that he showed up at all meant something to Liam. Ford would have never done such a thing. And with that thought, he felt the memory of Ford shift. He’d be doing no more comparisons.
“I’ll just run this trash to the dumpster and be right back. The bags are on the floor by the door. And Seth?”
“Yeah?” Seth asked.
“Thanks again.”
Seth smiled and went into the apartment.
Three hours later, Liam walked into the bedroom where Seth was working.
Seth tossed a broken frame into the trash bag. “They had no reason to break some of this stuff. It was nothing but pure meanness.”
Liam pointed to a plant on its side on the floor. “They dumped that out without any care about it.”
