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How bad was bad? He changed quite drastically, but Greyson had always been mercurial. So it was hard to guess.
After what happened last night, considering living back here again would complicate my already chaotic life, but I had to compromise and make small sacrifices for my mother. My degree wouldn’t alter, even if I moved schools. I supposed I could try it here and see if it worked.
“I’ll stay, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to follow through with these.”
“It’ll be paid for. The last thing I want you to do is worry,” he persisted, his mind already decided before he’d asked to speak to me.
“I don’t know what to say—this is all so fast.”
“Life always is, my dear… especially when you least expect it.”
So, after my chat with Brett, I decided to wait until tomorrow to tell Liam about the new change of plans. First, I needed to seek Mom out and hope she’d tell me about what she was going through.
Yet, when I tried to broach the subject to my mother, she simply brushed it off, telling me I had nothing to worry about. For days I tried to make her open up to me, but she wasn’t cooperating. It seemed that, the more I persisted she tell me, the more she withdrew from me.
Brett was right; maybe taking her on a vacation would be a start to healing her slowly. I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened, but I was glad he had a plan to help her out. Because if this had happened without him with just me as my mom’s go-to person, I wasn’t sure if I could have handled it, let alone have the capacity to truly understand how a parent felt and functioned dealing with separation anxiety.
ChapterFifty-Five
“Hey, can I come in?”Liam asked the second he opened the door to my bedroom.
I was on my laptop, emailing my counselor about what was about to happen. I hoped they wouldn’t give me a hard time with paperwork and getting recommendations.
“Sure, give me a second.” I gave him a quick glance before I saved my draft, shut the lid of my laptop and placed it on the side. I barely had time to catch my breath when Liam took me by surprise, pressing me on my back as he rolled himself on top of me, ravaging my lips while his hand went underneath the crack of my shorts, pushing my underwear aside to stroke me.
“Liam!” I gasped in shock, feeling like a complete hussy as I remembered Greyson’s face. “Stop—please stop.”
It took him another thirty seconds to slow down before he looked down at me, confused in my sudden change of attitude. “What’s wrong?”
I had about a minute to contemplate which news I had to break to him first. I ended up choosing the better of the two and told him about what had Brett proposed in the library earlier.
“Fuck—where does that leave us?” He looked hurt. “Where does that leave me?”
Last night I had already made a choice. It was best I put my foot forward, dive into the water, and swim with the sharks. “When we started this thing between us, I thought we had an understanding that this was just sex. I’m not going to lie and say being with you hasn’t been amazing—because you are truly exceptional, Liam. And even though we have this fantastic connection, you knew where my heart rested.”
“Even after last night?He ignored you—as if you weren’t even there. How could you fall for such an asshole who doesn’t care about you?”
Especially after last night, I thought with a heavy heart.
I understood Liam’s anger, and I wished I had a balm to heal some of the pain he was going through, but at the same time, we were both adults, knowing quite well what we had gotten ourselves into before we started this physical relationship.
“I had sex with him last night.” Or technically, it was the early morning…
Liam gripped my arm so hard I had to tell him twice to let it go. He was furious, and I knew he wasn’t aware of his actions, but hell that hurt.
“He’s bloody married, Olivia! Doesn’t that bother you at all? Are you that stupid to let a married man’s cock slip inside you because you couldn’t resist him?” Ouch. He had hit home on that one.
“My heart doesn’t differentiate if he’s wearing a wedding ring or not. It only knows him. The man itself.” I reached out to him, hoping he’d understand. “I’m sorry… again…” Why did I think this was going to be different? I was stupid every single time Greyson was part of the equation. Always.
Liam left the next day. I had begged him to stay longer, but he was adamant to leave, telling me that he loved me and hoped I’d open my eyes one day. And when I did, I knew where to find him.
I had royally messed up my holidays, but Mom and Brett were also busy helping me choose a place after Brett confirmed his connections in UCLA had gotten me in after he faxed the unofficial grades I printed out the day before. Dad was, of course, saddened about my decision and promised to have all of my belongings shipped back here. Grey decided not to show up at all, and I was beyond disappointed, yet I had sort of known this was going to happen all along.
With no Liam to distract me and my friends busy with their own lives, it was hard to get through the days sometimes. I couldn’t believe it when I started counting down the days until school began again.
* * *
Josie and Gavin were so caught up with each other it was hard to imagine breaking them apart. I adored those two, but sometimes, I needed a break from all the touchy-feely-love-is-in-the-air environment.
