AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hadn’t warned him in the least that this was coming, but I found with Liam, sneak attacks were the most effective.
His eyes flicked up, assessing me for a moment before returning to the shoes in his hands. He set them back in the box and then scratched his temple.
“Uh…I don’t know.”
My gut coiled the smallest bit.
“You would get paid. I mean, I’m not talking about an ongoing thing. We’re just trying to find celebrities and influencers before the launch. It would mean a lot if you—”
Sliding the box back into the bag, Liam stood and kissed the top of my head.
“Let’s talk about it later, okay?”
I sat there as he moved past me and got the girls excited about helping with dinner in the kitchen. Meanwhile, I carefully tucked my emotions away and tried not to let it show how disappointed I was.
I honestly didn’t care about the shoe; it wasn’t my brainchild or my baby. I was just a financial backer, but if he agreed to show them, he’d get paid a couple thousand dollars for the promotion. It would be easy money…and the exposure would be great for the gym.
Why wasn’t he willing to let me help him?
Why was he so fucking prideful?
Grabbing the rest of my mail and my purse, I headed upstairs to collect myself.
I could hear the girls giggling with Liam in the kitchen, and all I wanted was for that sound to last. I wanted him to keep all the things that made him happy.
Clinging to that sound, had my fingers clutching my phone.
Desperation and reckless love had me dialing the man who mentored me and helped me field new business acquisitions.
Each ring had my heart hammering in my chest as I shut the guest bedroom door and sat on the bed, pulling the ends of my hair into my fist.
“Hello?”
“Gunther?”
He let out his signature laugh, and it instantly calmed me.
“Haley, sweetheart, how are you?”
“I’m doing good, but listen, I need a favor…”
27
LIAM
I’d beenin the shower for almost ten minutes, just letting the hot water hit my back. I knew Haley was likely waiting in the room, ready to talk about this entire fucking day, but I just wasn’t ready to face her yet. I felt raw and exposed after what happened at the town celebration earlier today. The same images kept running through my mind, tormenting me.
It would start when I caught sight of Haley talking to Jeffery and how close he stood to her, watching her with hearts in his eyes. Then it would flip to him grabbing her face and kissing her.
Obviously, as a fighter, I dealt with a certain amount of rage, but it had always been reserved for the ring. For the sake of my kids, I was always in control, constantly reserved, and even if a quiet anger would slip through, I’d wait until I was in front of a heavy bag or an opponent. But when I saw him touch her, I lost it.
I’d never cracked like that before. The only other time was when he was with Haley in the club. Funny enough, that fucker was right about my ex-wife. Lacey had cheated on me, multiple times, which all came out toward the end of my marriage, but that didn’t anger me. I’d never had this type of visceral reaction to someone touching someone that belonged to me.
Haley was mine, and there wasn’t a soul on earth that I’d share her with. Not in friendship, or any other bullshit excuse anyone used to spend time with her. Aside from punching him, which wasn’t even a regret, those images spilled out like a busted jug of spoiled milk, souring the air and creating a goddamn mess.
All those words about how I was broke, losing my gym,pathetic… They echoed through my head, making my fists curl and my temper ready to test how it would feel to punch the tile in my shower. It would hurt, but maybe I needed to hurt for a minute. Maybe I needed a fucking wake-up call because things felt like they were spiraling.
Haley knew about what Lacey had done to Maddy…about how I had failed my little girl. How I had let her go with someone whoabandonedher. That shame still suffocated me late at night when I would think about what could have happened. When I let my mind wander to darker places, like if that gas station attendant wasn’t a good human being, or if he saw an opportunity and chose to take it.
