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“Yeah, easy for you to say when you’re not watching this shit!” Riley called after her. She was laughing but I couldn’t even fake it. My hands gripped the edge of the counter when I saw Bree casually straddling Liam as he took a break to sit on the steps. Fury crawled through my bones as he did nothing but stare blankly at her, simply watching her bite her pink lips and hook her hands on his shoulders. Riley was muttering scandalously in my ear about it all but I could barely pay attention as I stared out the window, processing the fact that this was it.
It was over.
Whatever Liam and I had – if it had been anything at all – was already past tense. And I should have known because I made it impossible to be with me. I lied, I kept secrets – I didn’t give him the basic respect he deserved for being my savior through my every thick and thin. In short, I blew it. I let the demons of my past run my present, and it just cost me the best thing I had going in my life. I couldn’t breathe. All I wanted was to crawl into a hole somewhere, but surrounded my so many people, I had no place to run.
“Alright, I can’t watch this shit anymore.” As Bree pushed Liam’s hands up her thighs, Riley leaned over the counter and rapped loudly on the window. “Hey! Lovebirds! Knock it off before I vom into the sink!”
“Omigod, Riley Blakely! You suck!”
I heard Bree’s high-pitched giggle closing in on the back door. I wanted to dart out of the kitchen but my legs felt like cement and before I knew it, Bree had come in the house to say hi, Liam trailing not too far behind her.
“You little sluts,” Riley teased as if she hadn’t just been ripping Bree. “Remember me, cutie?” As she hugged Bree and gave her a kiss on the cheek, I peered over at Liam. My breath caught in my throat when I saw his eyes trained on me as he leaned back on the kitchen table. All it took was one look at him for tears to spring to my eyes, but I forced them to stay put as Bree came in for the hug.
“Do you even remember my name?” she challenged.
“I do, Bree,” I managed something of a smile. Over her shoulder, my gaze remained locked on Liam. His emerald stare was pinned to me with such intensity that when it suddenly flicked away, I felt as if I’d been stripped naked.
“So, what’s going on here? Couldn’t help noticing you two being a little lovey-dovey outside,” Riley teased. “Or should I say dirty-flirty, Bree? I saw you getting all up in there.”
“Oh, shut up! You can’t blame a girl. I know you two aren’t supposed to, but come on, look at the man. He’s a walking sex god, especially when you’ve just spent the past few hours watching him build a staircase from scratch,” Bree giggled, peering up at Liam, who was pulling his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his brow. He took his time turning his attention to her, but when he did, he gave her a smirk.
“Couldn’t have done it without you.”
His tone was flirtatious and it lit her eyes right up. “Shut. You know I was super useful to you,” Bree grinned. “If not for actual building, then for emotional support. And eye candy.”
Drinking from his water bottle, Liam simply raised his eyebrows in response. I willed him to return his eyes to me, to communicate with me through some kind of silent look. But I got nothing.
“Anyway.” Liam pushed off the table. “I have to go shower.”
“Yeah, you do. You got your sweat all over me before,” Bree grinned. The two exchanged another look that clawed at my stomach, but all I could do was stand and stare in disbelief.
“Ah, ah.” As Liam
headed upstairs, Riley objected. “Don’t we get a hello?”
“What, you want a sweaty one?”
“Just give me a kiss, dickhead,” Riley said, craning her neck so Liam could give her a peck on the cheek. “And don’t forget Sasha. She needs a big one ‘cause she’s a grouch today.”
“Yeah?”
Liam barely looked at me as he gave me the same lukewarm greeting he’d given Riley. My heart sank like it was wrapped in chains. Instinctively, I reached for Liam’s hand to pull him back to me. But with Bree’s eyes on me, I held back and forced myself to bear it. I tried to breathe through the weight of our unresolved issues weighing down on my chest, but it was impossible with Bree still flirting away.
“Aren’t you going to say bye to me, Liam?” she asked, watching from behind as Liam peeled off his shirt. We all did.
Liam looked over his shoulder. “Leaving already?”
“I can stay if you want.” Bree bit her lip and gave a cutesy shrug. “Or maybe you should invite me to shower with you? You did get me all sweaty when you rubbed up on me.”
My cheeks were on fire. Riley flashed me a scandalous look as Liam smirked at Bree. “I don’t think we’d get away with that,” he said just as my mother came down to the kitchen. I glared.
Not what I wanted to hear.
My mom’s chatter was back to filling the room, but I was still fuming as I watched Liam’s sculpted calf muscles twitch all the way up the stairs. I tried to tune out Mom chatting to Bree about him as if it she were holding the daughter-in-law auditions. I was so full of anger and bitterness I couldn’t even think. Distracted, I nodded along when Riley volunteered my help for my mother’s run to the store.
“Let me just drop my bags off upstairs,” I muttered hastily. And before I knew it, my heart was pounding as I made my way up to Liam’s old bedroom.
His door was ajar. I pushed through, closing it behind me and making a beeline for his bathroom. The shower was already running, and I could hear his belt clanking to the floor as he undressed behind the door. My cheeks were hot. Just a second ago, I’d accepted defeat. I’d accepted that I screwed up and it as over. But apparently all it took to light a fire under my ass was seeing Liam openly flirt with Bree – seeing her suggest doing something sexual with him. If I couldn’t stand a second of that, there was no way I’d ever handle seeing him with another woman. There was no way I could stand to see him ever touch, kiss or be with someone else.
