Page 189 of Toxic

Once we reached the parking lot, we all said our goodbyes. Finn, still in this strange, protective mode, held Liam’s hand as he led him to his car.

As they got in, I murmured to Winter, "Call me silly, but I’ve got this weird feeling Liam’s luck is about to change."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "I have the same feeling. Looking at their interaction, it seems oddly intense, considering they just met. Liam should be in a really bad mental state, yet something clicked between them… I can almost sense a shift in energy."

"Did you notice, just before Liam got in the car, that Finn kinda checked him out?"

"What?" Winter raised his eyebrows, as if he hadn’t heard me.

"Liam’s got an ass. Despite his emaciated look, it’s still pretty… intact. Surprisingly thick."

Winter shot me a scolding look.

"Skye! For God’s sake! You were checking him out too? The poor guy almost killed himself! And you call my romantic… dealings sick?"

He looked perturbed by my remark, so I tried to defend myself, "It’s not that! A friend from college once said Liam had the best ass he’d ever seen on a beta. I’m just saying, I saw Finn ogling it."

Under Winter's judgmental gaze, I blushed—yes, it was probably an inappropriate observation given the circumstances. Still, it was hard not to notice that Liam’s lumbar lordosis kept his butt substantial, even after his weight loss.

"Soren wouldn’t appreciate you looking at Liam’s ass." Winter huffed with a mix of contempt and amusement. "But… since you mentioned it, Finn’s definitely an ‘ass guy’."

"What?"

"He always praises asses first, even before faces. So… maybe it’s destiny, after all!" Winter snorted.

"Do you think it could be something more? The way they interacted?"

Winter shrugged lightly. "Who knows? I was never Finn’s ideal type. He’s always liked small, unassuming guys—nerdy types like Liam. His other exes were kinda similar. And he’s always preferred blond hair on his boyfriends!"

Something came to mind. I pulled out my phone and checked the settings. It was still set to block incoming calls!

"Try calling me, will you?"

Winter raised his eyebrows, and I scoffed. "I’ll explain, just try to call me, okay?"

With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and made the call. My phone was… silent.

Winter blinked, listening to the message on his end. "It says, ‘This person is currently unavailable. Please try calling later.’ Did you block me or something?"

"The thing is, I blocked all incoming calls! I didn’t want to speak with Soren after the whole ‘running away in fighting mode’ situation. So, I was pretty shocked that you were able to reach me when Liam was on the cliff."

We stared at each other in disbelief. "Are you sure you had the block on?" he asked, his voice a bit tentative.

"I’m sure. It was the first thing I did when I heard Soren calling me. And it's still on, as you can see." I took a deep breath. "Could it be… some kind of miracle? Fate wanted me to be there?"

"But you didn’t save Liam—Finn did."

"What if my presence made Liam behave differently? Maybe he would’ve jumped without warning if it weren’t for my stupid, cliché rants."

Winter bit his lower lip and checked my phone’s settings one more time. "Well, it's a bit puzzling. Maybe it really is what Fate wanted," he muttered, shrugging. "We’ll see, I guess. If Finn and Liam become a thing. Finn's can be a good partner—if you like his type of personality."

I cracked a smile and nodded. It would be something if Liam found someone, too. He deserved it, no doubt.

Then I hesitated, but decided to press further. "So, maybe it’s time you finally told me why you and Finn broke up all those years ago? If he’s such a great guy!"

Winter sighed as we both got into the car, and I pulled into traffic.

"I don’t like talking about this stuff with my brothers, but okay. I’ll make an exception. Finn and I always had similar personalities—maybe too similar—and we kind of clashed. We both wanted to build good careers, constantly competing with each other. It became about who was on top in every area." He gave me a knowing look. "I wanted to climb the corporate ladder, and he wanted to make a name for himself in science. That constant tension, comparing ourselves—who was better, who was making faster progress—it got exhausting after a while."

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