Page 4 of Liam

I learned that they had a plan to attack the women and kids of the club, threatening right where it hurts.

My first thought was Paisley. She is the princess of the Devil Souls; she was the only girl for many years. She lives alone. She would be the perfect person for them to go after first. Good fucking thing I am home, because touching her is the last thing they will ever do.

“Bye guys!” her friend says and walks down the hallway, leaving me and Paisley alone. She looks at me, excited.

“I can’t believe you’re home,” she whispers.

“I am.” I touch her jaw, smiling down at her. I have not fucking smiled like this in years; the only time I do is when I am around her.

Fuck me, isn’t she beautiful?

I have waited eight years to be home, and I am going to do this shit right—the way it’s supposed to be—like this is the first time I have met her.

Paisley

He is Liam, but I can also tell he is different. Every single time I have seen him over the years, he has seemed different. He is aware of everything around him—his eyes looking at everything around us—ready for an attack.

“I drove my bike, I will follow you to wherever you want to eat.”

We walk out of the hospital to the dark parking lot. Liam puts his hand on the small of my back, pressing me into his side without a second thought.

Just like he used to.

I know it’s going to take a while to get used to him being home; it’s been eight years. He used to be my best friend—we were inseparable—but things are not the same. It’s not like we can go back eight years. Things are different; I am different and he is different.

I click the clicker to my car, and the lights turn on inside. He opens my door and I step inside and start the car.

“I will be behind you.” He shuts the door, leaving me to stare at his receding back.

Okay, what happens next? I throw my purse on the passenger seat and, as I’m pulling out, I hear the roar of his bike. My taillights give his face an eerie red glow that makes him look like a mean motherfucker.

Oh boy.

I arrive at the burger place a few minutes later, and he pulls up beside me. Before I’ve turned off the ignition, he is opening my door.

My phone rings, and I answer it. “Hey, Dad.”

“Hey baby girl, I guess you know who’s home?” Dad grumbles unhappily.

I roll my eyes because he has always pretended to dislike Liam, but we all know he secretly likes him. Liam saved me when I was sixteen, and Dad has never forgotten that.

Neither have I; that day is one I will never forget.

“Yeah, he’s here.”

Liam leans against my open door, his arms across his chest.

“Baby, shit is going down with the clubs. Tell Liam to let you in on everything. Love you, sweetheart.” He hangs up the phone.

I look at Liam. “Dad told me to tell you to let me in on everything that is going on.”

He rubs his face and looks up at the sky, frustrated. “I will tell you once we get back to your house.”

Wait.

Did he say my house?

“My house?”

---