Page 91 of Rivals Next Door

I watched him open the refrigerator to take out a box. He held it up to me. “I can only offer you juice, milk, or water. No alcohol is allowed in here. Alex’s rule.”

“Oh, so he’s the only one you can listen to?”

“Yes, because he’s the only one who stops judging to listen and gets to the root of my problems.”

That threw me for a loop and humbled me very fast. My gaze slid away from Liam as guilt pricked me in the heart. “You think I’ve been judging you?”

He gave me an are-you-seriously-asking-me-that look and my cheeks heated up.

“Oh… well… I’m sorry.”

Those two words were magical because Liam’s expression softened. I gawked because at that moment he looked like the little boy who I used to be so close to when we were kids. “You know, Livy, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear from you.” He shook his head and smiled. “But I guess I never gave you the chance to say it, did I?”

My mouth opened and closed but my brain was too busy processing shock for it to formulate words. When I could speak again, all I managed was, “I’ll… I’ll take water.”

Minutes later, Liam and I sat opposite each other in the living room. I fiddled with my glass of water as I studied him. “How come you’re so willing to talk to me all of a sudden?”

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. “It’s a condition of getting to stay here.” He waved a hand to encompass the living room. “Plus, Alex threatened me. I believe his exact words were: Talk to your sister like a civilized human or I’ll kick your ass all the way back into sobriety.”

After a beat of silence, I laughed. That definitely sounded like Alex. “When did he tell you that?”

“Yesterday, when he told me that he was going to tell you where I was.”

Shock rendered me mute for a while. I didn’t think he’d care about my relationship with my brother. Maybe he was right about having that face-to-face chat because his actions weren’t adding up to the rivalry and resentment that was supposed to between us. “I see. So, are you ready to tell me what I did to make you hate me?”

He shoved a hand through his dark brown hair. “I don’t hate you. I never have.”

“You’ve said multiple times that you do.”

He rolled his eyes. “I was high as shit, Livy.”

My lips twisted into a wry smile. “Oh… right…” And just like that, I completely relaxed. “I want us to be the way we were when we were kids, Liam.”

“Is that even possible?”

“It is. We can be close again. I want that so badly. I just need you to tell me what the problem is and when exactly it became a problem.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “I honestly don't know what I did. If you tell me, I can fix it.”

He watched me intently as if searching for sincerity, and he had to see it because I wanted my brother back with all my heart.

“You became like Dad,” he said.

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. “What…?”

Liam sighed, his expression softening as he saw the hurt in my eyes. “I could talk to you, relate to you, before Dad started grooming you to become… him. You know how we always confided in each other about how hard it was to be perfect because as Brentwoods we lived under a microscope?”

I nodded. I hated it as much as he did, but I suppose I managed the stress a little better.

“You used to be the one to help me through all of that until you started ignoring me like Dad did, as if I was a secondary character in the Brentwood show.”

I swallowed. “I’ve never ignored you…” Did I? “Okay, maybe toward the end of high school I did become super focused on being who Dad wanted me to be, but I was there for you…”

“No, you weren’t. It wasn’t just you. Mom sort of pushed me to the side too. It became all about preparing you to lead the clan. Even Mom, as much as I adore her, ignored me to make sure you were ready. She started spending more time helping you to become a media darling and the perfect hostess, so you could be the perfect mixture of her and Dad. You were their perfect little princess, and I was a failure.”

All I could do was stare at him because maybe he was right, and I owed it to him to listen.

Liam blew out a breath. “I guess I can’t blame you for stepping up because Lord knew I couldn’t. I know I’ve never had it in me to be Dad's successor. I’ve never had your intelligence and tenacity.”

“That’s not true, Liam. I took over from Dad because I’m the oldest, and I was ready at the time he died.”

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