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Liam refused to let me carry the shopping bag filled with my stuff up to my door. Not that he needed to. The bag wasn’t heavy, but I didn’t have enough energy to fight with him.
“This is me,” I said, once we reached my door. My voice sounding wooden, empty. The only thing I was looking forward to was sleeping in my own bed tonight, but that was it.So good to be home,I thought sarcastically.
“Ansel moved your car back to your apartment the night after we brought you to the warehouse,” Liam said. He reached into his pocket, handing over my car keys. “Your purse was still inside your car, and it looked as though nothing had been touched. I think he said he dropped off your purse in your apartment.”
Ansel went into my apartment?My heart skipped a beat as I unlocked my door, a small part of me hoping that Ansel would be waiting for me inside my apartment with a bouquet of roses and this was just some messed-up prank he had somehow gotten Liam to agree to.
But when I opened my door, it was dark and empty. Very, very empty.
I held out my hand to Liam for him to pass over my shopping bag. I didn’t even have the mental capacity right now to use my words.
Liam ignored my hand. Instead, he stepped past me, entering the darkness of my apartment. I stared after him, blinking dumbly at his back, and then followed him inside.
I took four strides across the small living room before I reached my couch. Once there, I collapsed into the cushions with a small groan. I looked up, surveying the dark room. Everything looked the same as I had left it—small and unassuming. My living room was cramped to begin with, but now after being away for a couple of weeks, it felt even smaller, like someone had zapped the room with a shrink ray while I was gone.
That’s what happens when a larger-than-life orc breaks your heart,I thought.Your world just feels too small in comparison after.
Liam stumbled around in the dark for a few minutes before he found the light switch. “Here,” he said, appearing at my side some time later to hand me a glass of water. I didn’t bother asking how he found the kitchen, or how far he’d explored. The apartment was small enough it didn’t take much time to learn the lay of the land.
“Thanks,” I muttered. I took a sip, watching over my glass as the elf explored my living room. He stopped and stood in front of my wall of pictures, his hands tucked behind his back like he was admiring art at a prestigious art gallery. Quietly, he took in the girls’ trip to Mexico I took a couple of years ago, old family photos from when I was still in high school, and even the few pictures of Carter I still had hanging up. I suddenly wished I had a picture of Carter’s newly broken nose. That would make a great addition to my wall.
Liam finally turned to face me with his mouth turned down. I knew him well enough to know it wasn’t because he found my photos displeasing. Liam just had RSF—resting scowl face.
He gave the room one last final swoop before turning his eyes to me. “I know I’m a little . . . hard to get along with,” he started, his hands still tucked behind his back.
I almost choked on my water. Liam’s scowl deepened, but he pushed on.
“I know I’m an asshole. I have a hard time trusting people, and I’m sorry if I ever made you feel,” he hesitated, “bad.”
“You sent me into a club full of dangerous orcs with nothing to protect myself with,” I said, but there was no malice in my voice. I just wanted to remind him.
“I know. I know. I really am sorry about that.” He sighed. “What I’m trying to say is this—I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. I butted heads with you whenmaybeI didn’t need to but believe me when I say that Ansel is a fucking coward. I don’t know the details of what went on between you two, and I don’t want to know,” he added hurriedly, “but this is fucking cowardly behavior. Not so much as a goodbye! If I had known this is what he was planning, I would have beaten the shit out of him. He’s my brother, and I’ve forgiven a lot, but this is low . . . even for him.”
My vision blurred as tears burned in my eyes. I didn’t want to cry, especially not in front of Liam, but I couldn’t hold them back. I sniffed, swiping my hand across my cheeks. “Finally, we agree on something,” I said weakly with a rueful smile. Liam reached into his pocket and dug out a tissue. He leaned across the coffee table and handed it to me. We were both quiet for a long moment as I fiddled with the tissue in my hand, holding it tight in my lap. “So, you think he’s really gone for good? Back to Scotland?” Liam nodded. I glared down at my hands in my lap. I squeezed the tissue in my fist before relaxing my hand. “I feel sorry for you and Demie too,” I said, looking up to meet his eyes. “You two were dumped just as much as I was. Actually, not that we’re comparing, but your situation is worse. You give up a year of your life for some guy to support him on some foolish mission, and then how does he thank you? By ghosting you?”
“Ansel has never been good at dealing with big emotions.” Liam paused, shrugging. “None of us have, I guess.”
Still, it was no excuse. My shoulders slumped forward as I buried my face in my hands. The urge to cry was so strong, but for the most part, the tears had stopped flowing. I was waiting for Liam to leave before I gave into my ugly, choking-on-your-own-spit, post-breakup sobbing. “What am I supposed to do now?” I said into my palms. Not that I really wanted Liam’s advice. I know he really didn’t care, but I felt so hopeless that the words just slipped out.
He was quiet for a long moment. I thought maybe all the testosterone in his body had somehow short-circuited his tiny man brain by seeing a female in distress, but eventually he spoke up. “I don’t know,” he said, as if to himself. “You just have to figure out a way to move on with this big hole in your heart. That’s all you can do; press forward. The pain never goes away, not really. But give it time. You eventually learn to live with it and make peace with it.”
I pulled my hands away to stare at him. A few tears fell down my cheeks, his words cutting me to the very core. He sounded like a man who knew from personal experience what it was like to live with a broken heart. This was nothing compared to the pain I felt when Carter had dumped me. That suffering was trivial compared to now. Despite the tears, I couldn’t help but smirk at him. “Damn Liam, who hurt you? Should we start a broken hearts club?”
The corner of his mouth twitched like he wanted to smile, but something was holding him back. Or maybe the smiling muscles in his face had atrophied a long time ago from lack of use. “No one broke it,” he said. “Or at least, not on purpose. More of an unrequited love. But it doesn’t matter. That was a long time ago.”
My grin widened. “You’re talking about Briar, right?”
Liam’s tiny man brain was definitely short-circuiting now. He sputtered, gaping at me like I had revealed his deepest, darkest secret. Who knows? Maybe I had. “How—Who—who told you?”
I waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry, no one told me. I didn’t tell Ansel either, if that’s what you’re worried about. You had a document titled ‘Briar’ right on your desktop and I read it. I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have.” I paused, biting my lower lip. I may be a woman with a broken heart, but I still worked in IT. “You need to password protect those deep dark secrets of the heart, or at least not title them with your crush’s name. Amateur hour, elf,” I added, shaking my head.
I expected an outburst of annoyance, but he pressed his lips into a thin line. “I wasn’t expecting to let anyone use my laptop. But . . . noted.” I could already feel the tension leaving his body, replaced by a deep, grating sadness that mirrored my own. Maybe weshouldstart a broken hearts club. “I should have deleted that letter as soon as I wrote it.”
“You never gave it to her?”
He shook his head. “No. What good would it have done us? Even if she felt the same, which is a very big if, she had just lost her parents. I would have been the biggest asshole in the world if I had shoved that letter into her hands before pushing her onto that plane to Scotland.” He shoved his hands into his pocket, looking even more miserable. “No, it’s better if she doesn’t know. Not that it matters anymore. She’s probably already moved on with her life, probably has an orc boyfriend now, or several, keeping her company. I bet you I’m the last person on her mind, which is how it should be.”
“You never know unless you try. Have you thought about reaching out to her—”
