Page 30 of Liam

"I want to apologize for my phone call earlier today." Liam crossed his arms. "I shouldn't have dumped all that on you. We barely know each other." He looked along his shoulder at me.

"I didn't mind. You can come to me with stuff like that if you want."

Liam smiled at me. "You're a very kind man."

"Relationships are tough."

"I've only had one." Liam looked down at his lap. "Not sure I'm built for a relationship."

I shifted. "Why do you think that?"

"If I had a partner, he would deserve my full attention, but I'm too wrapped up in this." He motioned up and down his body with one hand. "I had my first cosmetic surgery when I was nineteen. My boyfriend couldn't understand why I wanted to do it. It's why we broke up."

"What was his issue with it?"

"That I was hyper-fixated on my looks."

Okay, fair enough. Liam seemed to be on a constant quest for approval when it came to his appearance. Truth was we all liked to look at him. All 131,630 followers. Me included.

"What did you have done? If you don't mind me asking."

Liam shook his head. "My nose. Got rid of my Roman bridge. Improved my eyes, then cheek fillers." He stroked his face. "Later I had my chin augmented. My ears tucked back."

I wasn't sure what to say. He was beautiful, but it was sad he thought it was necessary to change himself so much. "Have you achieved what you envisioned?"

Liam sighed. "When I was a kid, I was bullied a lot. I was overweight and my face was unextraordinary. I dreamed about making myselfperfect. Then everyone would love me."

"Has that happened?"

"Not the way I imagined."

"The hookups?"

"Yes." He looked up at the ceiling. "God, Jamal … there have been so many meaningless men. For so many years the admiration and attention kept me filled up. Now … I'm not so sure."

"It's not making you happy anymore?"

Liam lowered his chin, turned his head, and stared at me. His chest rose and fell as he studied my face. I was waiting for him to say something profound. Something that would signify he was looking for more from life than his historic string of sexual encounters.

Instead, he uttered a simple, "No."

We were silent, then as I sat with my mouth hanging open, Liam struggled with the coated elastic holding his hair in a topknot and released his blond mane to cascade down to his shoulders.

Jeezus, this man.

He put the elastic on his wrist.

"My partner and I broke up not long after my accident." I needed to distract myself. We'd been talking about relationships. Not sure how we'd arrived at sexual encounters and gorgeous hair.

Liam frowned. "What happened?"

"I think we were both in mourning. Our relationship as it had been … was gone."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you. It still hurts." God, the concern in his gaze was stunning. "I'd gone out for snacks to eat while we watched a movie on television. I took my bicycle. I rarely used my car. Especially for a quick trip like that. The grocery store was only a few blocks away."

Liam blinked; his dark blond lashes hiding his intense blue eyes for a moment.

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