Page 57 of So Bad It Must Be Good

Chapter Fourteen

Kayla was pulled out of a very deep and warm sleep by the tinkling sound of her ringtone. She yawned, pawing at the nightstand next to her, trying to silence the sound before it woke up the very large man dead to the world next to her.

She smiled a little at that before realizing it was very dark and still very much night. She found her phone and hit answer in a panic. No one called late at night for a pleasant conversation. “Hello?”

“Kayla.” The voice was breathless and faintly familiar, but not enough to put a name or face to it.

“Who is this?” she whispered.

“Aiden.”

“Aiden?” She rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of that. She pushed into a sitting position and Liam shifted next to her. “I . . . Is something wrong? Were you looking for Liam?”

“Liam? Why would I be looking for Liam by calling you?”

Kayla opened her mouth, but no sound or words came out. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand . . .”

“Hey, I know I kind of disappeared there for a while, but I got everything sorted, and I just wanted to catch up on that rain check.”

“Rain . . .”

“Who are you talking to?” Liam murmured sleepily.

“Who’s that?” Aiden demanded, a sharp edge to his voice that was both just plain weird and a little creepy.

“Aiden, I don’t know what possessed you to call me at . . .” She pulled the phone away from her face and looked at the time. “Two-thirty in the morning, but this is not okay.”

“I’m sorry, Carrot. I just . . . Things have been so messed up the past few weeks. My head isn’t on straight. Just let me—”

Out of nowhere the phone was being tugged out of her hands.

“Aiden, I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing, but I’d end it pretty damn quick.”

Kayla looked toward Liam’s voice, but the room was too dark to see anything. But one thing was quite clear: Aiden had no clue that Liam had started something with her.

She felt oddly sick to her stomach at the revelation. It didn’t matter, she supposed, but somehow her brain couldn’t convince her body not to react.

“None of your damn business. What are you doing calling anyone in the middle of the night?” Liam demanded into her phone.

Kayla slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom. She flipped on the light, filling up the bedroom with a secondhand glow.

Liam’s face was hard, his jaw tense, even his knuckles around her phone were white. “Fuck, don’t. Aiden, listen to me. Aiden!” He swore roughly and threw back the covers, tossing her phone onto the bed as he grabbed his clothes and began tugging items on.

“What’s going on?” Kayla asked, worry causing her heart to beat hard and some of her own hurt to die down. Maybe Aiden was in trouble and—

“He’s getting fucking arrested, the moron.” Liam jammed his feet into his socks, then zipped and buttoned his already pulled on pants.

“Liam . . . What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go bail him out. Like my parents need his shit right now.” He pulled on his shirt and started heading toward her bedroom door.

Part of her wanted to follow him and demand to know what he thought he was doing rushing out of here. But the stronger part of her kept her rooted in the spot by the bathroom door.

Coward. She closed her eyes against the little voice, but before she could work through her feelings on that she heard Liam retracing his steps.

She opened her eyes and he was standing before her, something like apology in his expression. “Sorry I have to run out like this,” he said, leaning forward and brushing his mouth across hers. “But if I don’t take care of it, he’ll call Mom or, worse, Dad.”

Kayla nodded like she understood. And she did understand. His dad was dealing with a heart problem, and his mother was understandably upset, and . . . for some reason the Patrick family seemed to need Liam to be the center. The fixer of all messes.

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