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Lanston leans against my shoulder, completely passed out, while Liam is wide awake. He puts in another movie and checks his phone, frowning at another message—his mom, I’m guessing.
“Hope you like slasher films too.” He smiles as he scoots in close. His eyes linger on Lanston’s head resting on my shoulder but he keeps the cheerful mood up anyway.
“Are you kidding? I live for them.”
His grin grows and he presses play. We watch silently for about ten minutes before Lanston topples over and lies down on my pillow.
“He’s such an idiot,” Liam says with a sarcastic tone.
“You really freaked me out today… I didn’t know what was going on with you, and Lanston was worried too. You’re all we have, Liam.”
His blue eyes lower to my hand and he murmurs, “I just really got in my head… Do you have any idea how hard it is to have the two closest people in your life want to die?”
My eyes instantly burn. I know he isn’t being mean, but it’s horrible to hear out loud. The truth is unbearable.
“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? To get better.” I brush my hand across his cheek and try to urge him to meet my eyes, but he won’t.
“And what if you don’t get better, Wynn? What if—” His jaw tightens. “What if I can’t save you two? Then what? You know I’ll be here every day when you wake up. But with you two… I have to keep my heart guarded because I don’t know if you’ll be here tomorrow.”
My chest curls into a painful knot.
I didn’t think of any of this from Liam’s perspective.
Lanston sleeps heavily, his soft snores the only sound between us until the victim in the movie screams. What if I woke up tomorrow and learned that Lanston had died by suicide? It’s the worst feeling in the entire world. It’s so painful I can’t even think about it.
I hate it.
But that’s who we were before the three of us crashed into one another, right?
“I’m not saying I’m fixed or Lanston is either.” I brush his light-brown hair from Lanston’s forehead and admire the sweet smile on his lips before looking back at Liam. He stares at me with pain tugging the darkest parts of his heart. “But I’m no longer the broken person you found in the hospital by chance. And Lanston isn’t the lost man he was when you saved him in the showers. Our chemistry has changed. And it’s because we all met here. Even if Harlow sucks, it’s where I met the two people I cherish more than anything.”
His eyes soften and a relieved breath passes his lips.
“You’re saying our cure had a secret ingredient namedNevers?”
I laugh and lean in close to Liam, letting my head fall on his shoulder as I say, “Yeah, I am, I guess. Nevers, Coldfox, and Waters.” I shut my eyes as he combs his fingers through my pale-pink hair. He’s so warm and his touch makes my heart flutter.
“You know he loves you, right?”
My cheeks heat. I don’t say anything. What would I say? I do know… How could I not?
“You know I do too.” His eyes search mine, looking for answers that my lips refuse to speak. In a perfect world, it’d be us three against everything, living our best lives. But this is reality—of course, he wants me to choose.
He wants to know where my heart is, truly.
It’s not even a question.
“Liam,” I angle his head and pull him in for a kiss. His lips are soft and when he wraps his hand behind my neck my entire being melds into him. We kiss for only a moment, but it feels like perfect, endless heart-pounding adrenaline that you get from jumping off a cliff or screaming atop a mountain. He’s the only person I’ll ever want. “I love you both completely, but in different ways. It’s only ever beenyou.”
Liam runs his thumb over my bottom lip and says, “The tattoo is for the three of us. It was just me and Lanston before, but you’re a part of our healing as well, so we decided to add you.”
I softly gasp and look from Lanston’s arm to the skin behind Liam’s ear. Have I really been able to mean that much to them?
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Wynn.Nothing.”
25
Liam
