Page 75 of Liam

I needed to be near him.

"How would that work?" I asked.

"I don't know. We could hang out. Maybe go for a run together."

That would be safe enough. An outdoor activity. I couldn't trust myself to be in private with Liam. My body and mind yearned desperately for him.

"I'd like that. When do you have in mind?"

Liam's shoulders visibly relaxed. "Tomorrow afternoon? I don't have to be at work until five."

"Where?"

"The trail along Dallas Road. We could meet at the sundial at 2 pm."

"I'll be there." I nodded and Liam turned to leave. "Wait." He faced me again. "Thanks for what you said when you responded to that dickhead follower of yours. I appreciate it."

"You read the comments on my posts?"

"Of course."

Liam furrowed his brow. "He had no right to say that about you. You're not gimpy." His chest heaved up and down. I could sense he wanted to say more but was restraining himself.

I knew what those next words would've been. He would have called me beautiful.

I had to fight hard to keep fresh tears from spilling.

At my core, I knew it was going to be painful to meet with Liam. I fixed my gaze on him as he left my office. The only thing I could deny that man was my love. It was the second most painful thing I'd ever done. The first was the shove I'd given Richard that resulted in him falling.

The sight of blood matting his curly blond hair was a constant in my nightmares.

There was a light mist in the air, but the sea was calm, no wind. I rolled back and forth in my customized all-terrain wheelchair to calm myself. I wasn't sure what to expect from today.

Liam came jogging toward me. I knew he lived somewhere in the James Bay neighbourhood, but I didn't even know his address. We'd always met at my place.

His expression was sombre. The light was gone from his eyes. No smile.

"You ready?" is all he said to me.

"Lead the way. I'll keep up."

Liam started slow but then realized the plodding pace was actually more difficult for me, so he sped up. We made our way down the paved section and then veered off onto a graveltrail. I had to dig harder to keep up, but my shoulders, arms, and hands were strong and capable.

He stopped looking back over his shoulder at me, realizing I wasn't going to fall behind. I was surprised when after fifteen minutes, he slowed and took a seat on a bench overlooking the cliff.

I parked beside him. "You running out of steam?" I smiled at him.

"I want to talk."

My chest tightened. It was a conversation that was going to happen sooner or later. I'd known that when I'd agreed to go running with him. I hadn't let it deter me from being here with him.

"About what?"

Liam looked over his shoulder at me. "Us. I thought we had a good thing."

"I told you why I wanted to end where we were going."

"You told me it was because there were things about you I would never understand. I can't even comprehend what that would be." He sighed. "I promised myself I wasn't going to do this."

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