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“Oh, shit, babe,” Tyler bellowed loudly, earning him several shocked and annoyed looks from parents weaving through the growing crowd. “Do you know who this is?”
“What?” Sadie asked, her face alarmed before her eyes shifted to the side uneasily. “He’s just my principal.”
Despite his total lack of good standing in the events that were about to occur, irritation sparked in Liam’s chest at Sadie’s deflecting tone.Just her principal?
“This is fucking Little Willy,” Tyler announced, snickering loudly and pointing one of his fingers close to Liam’s face.
Sadie looked at Tyler, bewildered as she smacked his finger out of Liam’s face. “Little Wil—? No, this is my boss, Liam.”
“No, babe, this is that nerdy kid from high school. Remember? I always had to kick his ass for staring at you?”
Sadie’s eyes widened, and her head darted quickly between the two of them as if trying to make sense of what was happening. Finally, her eyes settled on Liam, searching his face as the realization dawned on her and her hand came up to her mouth, covering it.
“You’re…?” she asked quietly through her fingers, unable to find the words to finish her question. She probably didn’t want to call him Little Willy, which was the only name her boyfriend and his idiot friends called him back in high school.
“Yeah, I am,” Liam answered, his eyes imploring her not to freak out, to understand. There were so many things he wanted to say. But not here. Not in front of Tyler Carter.
“So, you knew who I was … when we met?” Her face scrunched up as if she was putting the past few months into context—how he’d treated her and often looked right through her.
“Yeah, I did,” he admitted, taking a step toward her, his hand reaching up to rest on her arm, but she moved before he could touch her.
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew me? Why didn’t you tell me after we….”
“I think I— I guess—” He uttered the words as he reached back to rub his neck, which was hot and prickly. He didn’t have an excuse for her.I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to see me as that kid. I didn’t want to be reminded of him.“I don’t know,” he finally admitted.
“You were so mean to me,” she said, so quietly Liam could barely hear her over the crowd. “Was this”—she motioned with her finger between them—“some sort of revenge thing?”
“No, it wasn’t,” he said firmly, his voice rising above the noise of the kids and parents surrounding them. “Sadie, I love you.”
Sadie opened her mouth, her eyes filled with confusion and distrust. Before she could say anything, Tyler interrupted her with a loud, barking laugh that rose above the murmurings of the crowd. “He’sstillobsessed with you? That’s so fucking weird.”
Again, a few parents looked over at them with disapproval, but none of that mattered to Liam right now. How would he get Sadie to understand?
Pushing her way through the crowd. Annie appeared, looking annoyed and alarmed. “Hey, you, big guy,” she said in a loud whisper, looking up at Tyler. “Please stop yelling profanity backstage at an elementary school.”
Tyler looked down at her dismissively, not the least bit ashamed. Rolling her eyes in irritation, Annie suddenly noticed the overall sense of weirdness between Sadie and Liam. Her gaze turned questioning as she looked between the two of them. “What’s going on?”
Jumping with a start at Annie’s question, Sadie stopped studying the floor, her face coming up to look around the crowd, which had grown louder and thicker in the past few minutes as more parents had started coming back for their kids. “I need to go home,” she said clearly and decisively. “Annie, can you finish this up? Something’s …happened, and I need to get out of here.”
Concern flooded Annie’s face as she walked closer to Sadie, her hand rising to rest on her elbow. “Are you okay?'' she asked.
Sadie shook her head distractedly, her eyes unfocused. “I don’t feel well.”
Annie looked over at Liam accusingly, as if she knew this had something to do with him. “Of course. Liam and I got this.”
“I’ll take you home, babe,” Tyler suggested, his free hand coming up to wrap around her waist. Rage filled Liam at the sight—she washisnow, not Tyler Carter’s.
“No, I’ll take her home,” he couldn’t help interrupting as he moved to stand between them, his masculine pride officially piqued. If she was anyone’s responsibility at this point, she washis.
“No one is taking me home,” Sadie said firmly, her voice finally rising above the low tone she’d been using. She took a wide step back from all of them, her eyes darting warily between Tyler and Liam. “Go back to Antelope Grove, Tyler. We aren’t together and never will be again.”
“But babe—”
“No,” she all but shouted. “I’m not your ‘babe.’ Get over it and move on.”
Tyler watched her continue to back away, his face awash in hurt and confusion. Liam almost felt sorry for him.
“And Liam,” she spat out his name angrily, and Liam knew he wouldn’t get off any easier than Tyler. “Or whatever your name is … just stay away from me.”
