Page 81 of Bad Blood

I get why he doesn’t want me to have anything to do with Brighton outside of her being his doctor—I do—but there’s something about her, about how we seemed to connect, that has me holding out a little hope. When all this is over, when Liam’s recovered, and all of this is a bad memory, what could our future hold?

I set his soup on the counter next to his phone. This is out of my hands. Brighton’s reticence outweighed her interest, and there’s no way I’m gonna try to take things further, especially in light of Liam’s outburst.

“Liam?” I trek across the living room, stopping to roll my knuckles across his door. “You can’t hide from me forever.” I try the knob, finding it locked, and knock again.

“Says who.”

I crack a smile. I knew he wouldn’t stay mad for too long. “I have your soup.”

The door flies open, and Axel and I almost tumble inside.

He marches past us, determined to make us experience the brunt of his frustration a little longer.

“Did you get the crispy things?” He glances inside the bag, rummaging around until he pulls out the plastic-wrapped spoon and container of wonton strips. Satisfied, he grabs the soup and makes his way to the microwave. He avoids looking at me while acting preoccupied with the buttons. “Please stay away from her.”

“I told you I would.”

He holds up a hand without turning. “I’m serious. I don’t want you to scare her off.” The microwave beeps. He pulls out the container and returns to his stool.

“You have my word.” My phone vibrates again as I make my way to my room and drop onto the mattress. I click on my voicemail.

“Wanted to go over the plan for the weekend and check on Liam. Holler at me.” A grunt cuts off Bree’s irritated voice as she hangs up.

I swipe my thumb across the message and tap delete.

She answers on the third ring. “Dax, my second favorite person.”

“I’m offended.”

“Stop thinking everything is personal. It’s not all about you.”

I tsk into the phone. “Who’s your first?”

“That’s highly confidential information.”

“It’s Liam.”

“It’s a toss-up.”

“Between me and Liam.”

“No, between Liam and the neighbor.”

I kick off my shoes, noting the thud as they connect with the floor. Axel or Bane will come to investigate in three, two . . .

Bane sticks his head in the door, his tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth. He waggles over to my shoes, sniffs, and hops his front paws next to me on the bed.

“Who’s a good boy?” I ruffle his ears and push onto my elbow. “Wait, which neighbor?”

“The hot one.” She gives me an amused chuckle.

“Did you get a new neighbor? I don’t remember there being a hot anything near you,” I tease. “Do I even make the list?”

She chuckles. “How’s Liam?”

“Pissed,” I say this a little louder than necessary, hoping Liam will hear me talking about him.

“What’d you do this time?”

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