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Until Liam walked into my life and refused to leave.
“You were such a miracle for me,” I whispered to him through tears. “You were the only person I could rely on, and I don’t think you know how much that means to someone who has no one to rely on. You grew up with A.J, with Max – all these surrogate brothers who would do anything for you, who you’d do anything for. You don’t think anything of what you did for me because it’s in your nature to be good. You are a good and incredible and beautiful person. So you don’t realize how much it meant. You made me feel like I deserved to be loved, and it sounds stupid but I didn’t remember what that felt like.”
“Sasha.” Liam pulled me onto him on the floor so that I straddled his lap. His voice was soft but firm as he spoke to me with my face in his hands. “Baby. You’re the single most important person in my life. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to make sure you felt happy and safe every minute of the day because you deserve a good life more than anyone I know.” He pressed his smooth lips to mine. “I’m here to make you happy. Remember that, Sasha. That’s the reason I’m here.”
“Okay,” I breathed against his lips. “I’ll remember.”
“Please don’t cry anymore, baby.”
“They’re not sad tears.”
“I know. But when I see tears in your eyes, I lose my mind, Sash, you know that,” Liam laughed, pulling away to wipe my cheeks with his thumbs. I breathed in and out slowly and steadily as I gazed at him, silently counting all my blessings. Those lips of his that kissed away the pain. Those green eyes that read me like his favorite book. The strong hands that held me up no matter how weak I felt. Liam was my everything. He was the only reason I was still standing. I loved my sister. I’d always love my mom. They were my blood. But unexpectedly, I’d found my soul mate and true family in Liam.
“I love you,” I said softly, my fingers curling around his neck as he held me tight against him. “I don’t think I could live without you.”
He kissed the top of my head like he always did, filling me with that familiar warmth as he whispered, “You’re never going to have to.”
Chapter Seventeen
Aria groaned as she dragged her feet through the emptied Halloween aisles of yet another Ricky’s. She made a face as she flicked all the plastic bags of costumes that remained. “Sexy Bee. Sexy Nun. Sexy Cavewoman – this is bleak. Why did we decide to wait till the last minute?”
“‘Cause…” I thrust my hand in my hair. “God. I don’t know. So many things.” I had to laugh. I could barely keep track of all my little dramas anymore. Once upon a time – also known as a few weeks ago – Jenna Pettit was my big problem. But then came Ethan. Mom and Thanksgiving. Riley and Travis. Two unexpected conversations and suddenly, every demon I’d shut out for years was viciously fighting its ways back to the front of my head. The last thing I’d had time to think about was looking cute for Halloween. But now that it was three days away, the issue was becoming a little more pressing.
“I honestly wouldn’t mind taking a year off from being sexy and dressing up like a fucking pumpkin, but Liam had to make this a manwhore party,” Aria huffed. “Why does he have to make this thing so sexy, Sasha? Why?”
“You know the answer to that.”
Aria sighed. “Yeah, yeah.”
Liam’s famous Halloween party wasn’t just a party. It was a fundraiser for the most promising trainees at the gym. Admission went towards covering the costs of everything from their gear to transportation to cross-training – sometimes bringing specialists from other gyms, even countries, to prepare them for a specific opponent. It had been years since Liam himself competed, but he hadn’t lost his sense of competition. He wanted homegrown winners. True city talent. Opening his gym in Manhattan instead of the West Coast was a risk, but every year since its founding, Cage Kings was proving the MMA world wrong.
And the money raised through holiday parties was definitely a key factor. While the gym’s New Year’s Eve bash was popular, it was Halloween that drew the true crowd of girls willing to spend absurd amounts of money – and all because of the guys’ costumes.
Or lack thereof.
It was the one time of year that they all agreed to play up to their lusting fangirls, getting as close to naked as possible. With hordes of gorgeous women in attendance, barely dressed in hopes of catching the eye of a Cage King, the men of New York couldn’t argue the price of admission, which was a whopping hundred dollars a ticket – even more if they paid for VIP access. Every year, the gym made a killing off of Halloween. It was the only reason Liam agreed to keep wearing next to nothing on the night of.
“Do you know what they’re dressing up as this year? I tried to get it out of A.J but you know how they are with this stuff,” Aria said, winding a feather boa around her neck. “I don’t get why they keep their costumes such a secret. Girls are going to come regardless.”
“It’s probably just for hype purposes. It’s the same every year, anyway. They basically wear boxer briefs and some prop to indicate what the hell they’re supposed to be,” I laughed. Last year, it was a cowboy hat to go with leather boxers. Liam managed to get away with blue jeans, claiming that they’d met their skin quota thanks to A.J, who voluntarily went in a Speedo thong. “Hey, at least you know you can count on seeing A.J’s ass.”
“True. But that means more girls will be throwing themselves at him and that’s all the more pressure on me to look sexier than I’m even frickin’ capable of looking.”
“By the way, what happened Tuesday night? Did you guys finally…?” I trailed off, realizing I hadn’t spoken to Aria since her first official date with A.J. I’d been waiting for them to hook up for almost as long as she’d been waiting for me and Liam to, so under normal circumstances, I’d be hounding her for every detail of their night the second she got home. Maybe even during the date. The fact that I hadn’t spoke to how much of a clusterfuck my life had been in recent days. “Hello?” I tried to get Aria’s attention as she walked ahead to avoid me. “Aria, talk to me. What happened Tuesday night?”
“You know,” she stalled, high-pitched. “We… did things.”
I laughed as I trailed her. “That won’t do, woman. Details.”
“No.”
“Now.”
“Fine.” She turned dramatically in a full Mardi Gras mask. “We almost had sex.”
“Aria!” I couldn’t help my weird little squeal. “But?”
“Ugh, Sash… do we really have to talk about this?”
