Page 3 of Liam

No, no, no. Other guys around his age are climbing into the bus that will take him away from me. “Don’t fucking do it,” he warns, glaring at me because I am close to crying once more.

I roll my eyes, pushing him slightly. “Yeah, well, I would like to see you try to stop me,” I tease.

That sexy slow smile slides over his face once more. He comes closer to me, and I brace myself. “I bet I could,” he taunts, before he kisses me.

Right in front of my father, I grip Liam’s shirt and kiss him back as hard as I can.

“What the fuck!” Dad yells.

He pulls back and kisses my forehead, his fingers intertwined with mine. “I will see you soon, remember what I said. The moment I am out.”

I finish for him, looking into his eyes. “You’re coming for me.”

He hugs me once more then lets me go. I bite my lip as he climbs onto the bus, and he sits by the window directly in front of me. I put on a brave face and smile and he winks; then the bus is moving. Taking him away. This is just one chapter of many in our lives. He’s wanted a military career since before I met him, and I would never deprive him of what he wants, but I don’t want to see him go. I want him to follow his dreams. Just like he never wanted to act on his feelings for me because he didn’t want me to follow him from base to base—he wanted me to achieve my dreams. He says I don’t deserve him, but he is selfless and kind, the most amazing person I have ever met. I think I don’t deserve him.

2

Eight Years Later

Paisley

I am dead on my feet; I just finished a twelve-hour shift. Now that I am clocked out, I look at my phone for the hundredth time in the last hour. Dad told me a few days ago that shit has gone down in the club and to be on my toes.

“I don’t know about you, girl, but I am ready to pass out,” my best friend Vanessa says. We walk into the locker room and grab our things.

“I am exhausted myself, girl, my feet are killing me.” The emergency room has been absolutely bonkers today, and I haven’t even gotten a chance to have lunch yet, so I am stopping at the local burger place and stuffing my face. Vanessa waits while I gather my things; then she pushes the door open and steps out—and freezes.

Fear shivers up my spine. “Vanessa?” I ask. I slide past her and follow her gaze.

My heart stops right then and there. He is leaning against the wall, across from the locker rooms. He is huge, tattooed, and beautiful.

He is my Liam.

“Oh my god!” I drop my stuff and he grins at me.

I haven’t seen him since he was deployed two years ago. I knew he was getting close to being done, but I hadn’t heard from him. I run to him, jump up, and wrap my arms and legs around him. His arms wrap around me tightly, his face pressed against mine.

“I have missed you so much,” I whisper, hugging him tighter. You don’t know how much you miss someone until the very moment he is back in your life. He has been my best friend since I was sixteen years old; I am now twenty-six.

“I missed you too.”

I close my eyes and breathe in his scent. It wraps around me like a blanket, bringing warmth, protection. He sets me down on the ground, and I grin at Vanessa, who is looking from me to Liam with her mouth agape.

“This is Liam?” she asks.

I nod my head frantically, smiling up at him. “You’re home now, right?” I ask him.

“I am.”

Vanessa grins at me, because he is all I have talked about since she and I met. I can’t help it. I look at him from the corner of my eye, and he is just beautiful.

Liam

I am home. After many years of being deployed and based here or there, I am finally home.

I was planning on stopping at the Grim Sinners’ on the way back to the Devil Souls’, because it was on the way, only to find out that the shit has hit the fan.

A cartel has moved in on the Grim Sinners, and they have already set up shop in Raleigh, my town. The Grim Sinners caught one of the fuckers, so I took over doing what I fucking do best, getting information any and every way possible.

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