Page 6 of Liam

“You sleepy, Paisley?” He nudges my shoulder.

I nod and settle my head on his shoulder.

“You okay to drive home?” he asks, his hand running down my arm, trying to keep me awake.

“Oh yeah, I will be fine.” I yawn, sitting up.

“Let me go pay.” He slides out of the booth and approaches the front counter. The door to Pat’s Burgers opens, and I see three guys. The very same three guys who constantly tried to pick fights with Liam and me. I usually ended up getting the short end of the stick, because I was the easiest one to mess with. Liam was one guy you didn’t want to fuck with.

These very guys wanted to be prospects, like Liam, but they are mean and have no loyalty, so the club turned them down flat. Since then, they’ve made it their life’s mission to make my life hell. I was a princess of the Devil Souls, so I had a target on my back. They usually leave Liam alone, but he does not like me being messed with.

I have avoided these guys like a plague. When I see one of them, I run in the other direction or duck behind something to hide.

I duck my head, sliding down in my seat. Hopefully, I can walk to Liam and we can both sneak out without being seen. I don’t like trouble; I don’t see the point in pettiness that can be avoided altogether. I am by myself a lot. I’ve been to parties but it’s not my scene. In college, I usually stayed in and studied, then went to work.

I’ve never even been on a date; I just had a lot of girls’ nights. I stuck to my promise to wait for Liam.

Now he is home.

“Well, if it isn’t Paisley,” Tony says.

I slide out of the booth and stand up, facing them. Tony is the one standing in the middle. He has let himself go downhill badly. He has gained a lot of weight, his hair and beard are patchy, and his teeth are yellow and just plain nasty. He has this awful odor; I can barely stand to get within breathing distance of him. I smell the same odor on the other two guys, Billy and James. Very original names.

I plant my hands on my hips. “Tony,” I say simply. I am already done with these losers, and only one of them has spoken to me.

“You’re looking very nice. The years have done you very good.” In unison all three of them look me up and down. Vomit crawls up my throat, and I take a step back. I feel very uncomfortable. Then all three of their heads snap up to look at something behind me. I peek over my shoulder, and I see Liam—and he is pissed off. He splits the distance between us and stands in front of me, his left arm in front of my body.

Protecting me.

The three aggressors look at him like they cannot believe what they are seeing. Tony opens his mouth and closes it while he takes a step back. “Liam, I didn’t know you was back, you home for good, man?”

“You have five fucking seconds to leave before I wipe the floor with your faces.” Liam’s voice is full of rage, his body radiating anger. They turn around and run out of the restaurant like their asses are on fire.

Liam looks at me. “Have they bothered you over the years?” he asks calmly, but I can tell he is anything but that.

I shake my head. “No, I have avoided them.”

He relaxes slightly and puts his hand on the small of my back. “You ready to go home?”

I grab my phone off the table. “Yes.”

He leads me out of the burger joint, and the three guys are standing outside their trucks. When they spot Liam, they jump inside.

I laugh at their reactions. “I think you made them almost piss their pants.”

Liam chuckles and opens my car door. “Pussies, all of them fucking pussies.”

I put my phone down in the passenger seat, and Liam pulls out my seatbelt. “Put this on.” I click the belt into place. Liam steps away and climbs on his bike; then I am heading home.

Oh boy.

* * *

When I arrive home a few minutes later, I step inside the house with Liam right behind me. He’s carrying a sack that he took out of his saddle bags. I just bought this house about a month or so ago. It’s a large house and it’s gated in. All of the women in the club get a salary. It’s not as large as the guys’ salaries, because they run everything and we don’t have to work if we don’t want to. I generally love being a nurse.

“Want to rent a movie?” I ask Liam, trying to be calm and chill, though that’s not how I feel. I am alone with him, completely and utterly alone with him for the first time since before he left. He studies me, like he can see my nervousness.

“Anything you want,” he says.

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