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I didn’t want that. Not for me, or the girls. Not for Liam.
After meeting Lacey, I realized those girls didn’t need the threat of a messy relationship. They needed stability. They needed people they could count on to be standing in their corner. They needed mature adults to be in charge of keeping them safe, and I wasn’t being very mature about my relationship with Liam.
I was falling for him, too fast. Too hard. In the end, it would be like an egg falling from a two-story building. If I gave us some time, maybe I’d be more like a rock so I could withstand the fall, but right now, I wouldn’t…and the girls wouldn’t either.
They’d been through so much.
I refused to put them through anything else.
I felt a tiny pinch in my chest as I made up my mind, and resolve settled into my core like cement. Liam would eventually understand that I was giving us a foundation. His daughters were his entire world, and if I ever wanted to be within that orbit, I’d have to become something more substantial than a passing light that only blinked in their lives for a moment. I wanted to be something that made them better. Someone who could sacrifice and put them first, so that no matter what, they wouldn’t have to deal with someone like Lacey again.
With tears falling from my lashes, I finally turned and left.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
The sun coming through the window
Kleenex
Hozier
Morgan Wallen
Sad songs
Mila’s giggle
Seraph’s quiet peace
Maddy’s strength
I waited two days,cowering away at Nora’s house.
I’d texted and told Liam I wasn’t feeling well. He offered to swing by and bring me food. He wanted to check on me, but I’d asked that he not. I assumed the only reason he listened was because of his schedule.
By day three, I couldn’t put it off any longer. Liam had swung by right when Jeffery did, both wielding flowers and various forms of cold remedies. I wanted to sink into the earth when they both walked up the driveway at the same time.
Liam must have said something to Jeffery because he left his gifts on the porch as Liam advanced inside the house. He didn’t stay long, but he wanted to make sure I was okay.
Now I was walkingthrough the gym just as Liam finished instructing one of his regulars. As soon as he spotted me, he turned to me with a smile curving his lips.
“Hey…” His eyes traveled down my body. “You feeling better?”
I swallowed thickly to regain my composure.
“Can we talk?”
He gave me a small nod as worry bled into his features, and he led me to his office.
Once he shut his door, I tugged the ends of my hair over my shoulder and began to twirl the pieces into a tight coil.
“What’s wrong?” Liam asked, gently pulling my hand into his.
My chest felt like it was being pried open with a rusty butter knife. Even in an effort to salvage the organ, the method to retrieve it would leave poison in my blood stream.
“I need things to slow down between us. I don’t want to sneak behind the girls’ backs.”
My eyes landed on Liam’s jawline, sharp enough to carve marble, and a muscle jumped along the rigid plane as he processed.
