Page 147 of Bad Blood

“Eyes up here.” I use two fingers to point at her eyes and back to my own. “Let’s grab a coffee.” Her bottom lip trembles as she stares at the door, and I immediately want to take back what I suggested. I close the distance between us and cup her face. “Or we can stay in. I understand if you don’t want to go out there.”

She swallows. “I need out.”

“I get it, but are you okay?” I have to focus to keep my eyes from straying to the door. This is a lot for anyone to cope with. She’s definitely not weak, but she’s fragile, and I don’t want to see her break.

“Can we not talk about it?” She wraps her hands around my wrists and glances at me, her dark lashes damp. She drops her hands and rolls her eyes, stepping around me. I smirk to myself. I’ll let it slide this time. She goes up a couple of steps as I turn to watch her. “I’ll be down after a shower. Let’s grab a coffee.”

“Hey.”

“What?” She stops a couple of steps from the top but doesn’t turn. Her shoulders tense, and she drops her ear in my direction.

“You’re not alone.”

A tiny smile plays at the corner of her mouth. “I’m fine.” Her voice cracks on the last word, and she completes her climb, disappearing around the corner.

She turns on the shower but doesn’t close the door. I follow after her, dialing Liam as I take a seat on the top step.

“Please tell me that whatever kept you out all night has nothing to do with what’s on the news,” Liam answers, his voice heavy with sleep. He clears his throat and coughs. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“I wish I could.” I yawn, cracking my neck from side to side.

The thumping I associate with Liam and his soccer ball stops for a second before he replies. “Shit.”

“She’s okay.”

“What are you talking about?” He breaks out in a fit of dry coughs and clears his throat.

“Brighton,” I say between his coughs. I figured he would have put two-and-two together, and the idea of spelling it out has my insides twisting into a knot.

“Ah.” Running water fills the background before Liam starts gulping.

“She didn’t want to be alone.”

“She called you?” His words get cut off when he starts coughing. “For what?”

I shake my head, remember he can’t see my answer through the phone, and reply, “I was picking her up. Dinner, Yogi’s, remember?”

“What? Why?”

“To grab something to eat.”

He swallows and humphs under his breath. “Wow. I knew it. You have no problem fucking everything up.”

“Liam, I—”

“I’m not mad. It’s nothing less than what I expected.”

“Shut up for a minute. I’m at her house because I stayed the night.”

“Yeah, I don’t care.”

“Not like that. The doctor was her neighbor, one of her friends from work.”

The other end of the phone goes silent.

“She’s shaken up, but she didn’t want to be alone. I came over to tell her that things between us would never work out,” I say, giving him a minute to process.

“You wouldn’t be in this situation if you had listened to me.”

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