Page 5 of Liam

A slow grin comes over his face, that same sexy grin that I loved seeing when we were teenagers. “Did I not mention I am staying with you?”

I raise a hand. “Hold the fuck up…” I start and he laughs, takes my raised hand, and pulls me from the car. “Shit is going down, like your dad said.” He brings his face closer to mine, a smile tugging at his lips. “That means you’re to be protected.” He stops, looking highly amused at my horrified expression. “By me.”

Oh my goodness. I cover my face, groaning out loud because this is the Liam I know, the Liam who loved to drive me crazy.

“Come on, let’s go get you fed.” He pries my hands from my face, laughing at me. I glare at him for daring to laugh at me, and he tugs on my hand and leads me to the entrance of the burger joint.

“What do you want to eat?” he asks, pushing me into a booth. I smack his hands off of me, and he just chuckles.

How rude.

He sits down beside me, and a waitress plops down two menus in front of us. “You know there is a whole booth directly in front of me?” I point at the seat.

“So.”

So? “So why didn’t you sit there?”

He gives me a sideways glance, looking at his menu.

“Liam?” I poke his side.

He grunts, twisting away from me but otherwise ignoring me.

“Liaaaaam.”

He finally looks at me, completely amused. “Maybe I just wanted to sit next to you.”

Well, that shuts me up. I suck my lips into my mouth trying to stop my smile. I look down at the menu, but I already know what I am getting because I get the same thing every time I am here.

“What can I get you guys?” the waitress asks us. I order a huge burger, and Liam orders two of them.

I take out my phone, pointedly trying to ignore him.

He laughs and settles down in the seat, moving closer to me, of course. “Are you trying to ignore me?” He pokes my side.

When we were teenagers we made it our mission to aggravate each other. He did everything to ruffle my feathers, and I retaliated. I hum to myself, gnawing on my bottom lip, trying to stop myself from laughing or smiling. He chuckles and his hand settles on the back of my neck, his finger twining around my hair. He smirks and tugs on my hair, and I knock his hand away. I lean farther away from him, pressing my back against the wall. My stomach growls for the tenth time. I rub my stomach, and his eyes follow my movements.

“Hungry?” he asks. I nod, leaning my head against the booth. I am utterly exhausted, and I know a huge part of the problem is that I haven’t eaten in over twelve hours. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

He huffs loudly then gives me an angry look. “You need to take care of yourself.”

“I was too busy taking care of others,” I point out.

He shakes his head. “You can take care of others, but don’t forget about yourself. You have low blood sugar, remember?”

He remembered. When I was seventeen I felt tired and weak all the time. He demanded that I go to the doctor, and I found out that I have low blood sugar. It’s totally under control as long as I eat.

I take my hair tie off my wrist and throw my hair up in a bun at the top of my head. “Well, I have not had issues with it in a long time.”

He grunts and looks around the room; I can tell that he has not let his guard down. His body is taut, ready for anything. It really makes me wonder what has gone down with the MC. I was warned that something was happening.

I wish that none of this was going down, especially since he just got home. He needs a break and to relax because I cannot even fathom what went on over there.

Every time I’ve seen him over the years, he’s seemed harder, darker—the things he’s seen have changed him. He’s definitely a man now. But, right now, he is still my Liam.

A few minutes later the waitress brings our food, setting it down in front of us. I immediately dig in, almost inhaling the whole thing.

I lean back holding my stomach, my eyes closed.

---