Page 94 of All That She Needs

Liam lifted his head, his eyes filled with a pain that stopped my heart for a second. "You have got to stop this, Asha," he muttered, his voice strained. His head fell again, his shoulders heavy with defeat. "Stop doing this to me."

"Doing what, Liam?" I asked, bewildered. "I don't understand."

He pushed himself off his seat and took a step away from me, frustration written all over his face. "You know how much I love you. You know how vulnerable I am with you. I'd do anything you asked of me. And I dideverythingyou asked. You asked me to wait, so I waited. I accepted whatever you were willing to give, even the smallest bit. But I never lost hope. I told myself that this was what I had to do for you to evenconsidergiving your heart to me."

"Liam," I started, but the words caught in my throat. I had never seen him so emotional before.

"And then you did. Or at least, I thought you did. I was so happy, Asha. You have no idea how happy I was that you were finally mine. But you were sad, and I understand that. You know I do. It was hard watching you so devastated, so emotionally distant, but I understood. It was difficult for you."

He took a deep breath, visibly trying to gather himself. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides as if struggling to contain a torrent of emotions. "Then you said you weren't emotionally ready. You needed time to reset. And I gave that to you, even though all I wanted was to be there for you, to help you through it. You broke up with me. It felt like you lifted me up to soar, and then let me go while I was high up there, just letting me crash to the ground. Even then, Asha, I tried to understand. Because all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. And I fucking swear, I was ready to wait, even with no guarantee that you'd come back to me."

I slid down from my stool and started to walk toward him, but he held up his hand, palm facing me, stopping me in my tracks.

"But you lied to me," he said, his voice breaking. "You lied. You didn't use the time to reset like you said. Apparently, you were ready for someone else, but not for me. Do you even understand how that made me feel?"

"Liam," I said, this time ignoring the distance he tried to keep between us. I walked over and cradled his face in my hands, feeling the tension in his body as my palms pressed against his skin. "There's no one else. I don't understand why you think that."

He pulled his face from my hands and stepped back again. "David Sandberg. It's a small world, Asha. Everybody knows everybody. That guy's a social media junkie, and Keith, who's connected with him on X, found out. There were six posts of you and him, each from a different occasion. In one, he wrote, 'On a date with the loveliest woman on the planet.'"

Oh my God. David Sandberg. He was so insignificant in my life that I hadn't thought about him. The dinner with him—honestly, I didn't even remember what we ate or talked about. It had literally meant nothing to me. But then it struck me. He always asked for selfies of the two of us. When we had dinner, several times when I bumped into him in the village, even when I went skiing with the kids. I hadn't thought much about it at the time, and I didn't have any social media accounts to see what he'd posted.

"I had one dinner with him, Liam, and it was only as a–"

"No, Asha." He shook his head. "Even though I'm jealous of him, that's not what this is about."

"Then I don't understand..." I trailed off, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"You asked me to cut all contact with you—no communication whatsoever—because you wanted to clear your head. I assumed you didn't want any distractions, that you needed to focus on finding your balance again. But giving him your time, especially going on a date, was the fucking opposite of what you asked of me. And it showed just how little my feelings meant to you."

Oh, God. I hadn't thought of it that way, but he was right. I, of all people, should have known better. I knew how it felt to have my feelings brushed aside, to be ignored by the person I cared about most, to be given hope only for it to be ripped away when I realized it was never real. And now I'd done the same to him.

"Now you're here." The pain in his voice was so deep and so raw, I felt my eyes filled with tears. "I don't know what you want from me anymore, Asha."

I stood there, pale-faced and trembling, and all I could think about was how much it hurt to know I'd caused him pain. The look in his eyes, the hurt I'd put there—it crushed me. He'd been patient and loving, offering so much of himself, and I'd repaid him with disappointment.

"Liam," my voice wavered, but I didn't care anymore. "I'm so sorry. It didn't even occur to me that... God, I'm so sorry."

"You have the power to hurt me, Asha." His voice was so soft, but it felt like a torch burning into my soul. "And I need to stay away from you."

I stared at him with blurry eyes, screaming internally,"No, Liam, no!"There's no fucking way we ended thisway. I needed to say something. I needed to tell him that the only thing I thought about when I was away was him; all I wanted, all I needed, was him. But as I looked at his expression, I felt deep down that it might be too late. My heart squeezed in my chest. I felt like I was going to fall apart.

"You were right, Liam," I finally managed to say, my voice shaky and weak. "You're right that I wasn't ready for you." I forced myself to ignore the hurt in his eyes, even as it deepened, because I had to say this. I needed him to hear me. "But it's not because I was ready for someone else or because I wanted someone else. It's because you're the biggest distraction of all, Liam. You're the one I was afraid of the most because you stirred up feelings in me that I couldn't understand. Other men were insignificant to me. They were nothing compared to you."

I saw his gaze soften, and my heart fluttered with hope. "You also have the power to hurt me, Liam, but I'm not afraid anymore. I want you in my life, and nothing that I want more than to be yours forever."

I watched him absorb my words in silence, his expression unreadable as he processed everything I had just said. The seconds stretched on, but still, he didn't react. He didn't say anything. His eyes remained locked on mine, as the silence between us grew unbearable, each passing moment like a wound opening wider. My heart began to shatter as I realized that maybe the words I had spoken weren't enough, that maybe it was too late for us.

"I'm going to leave now," I couldn't stay another minute here with him. The air between us felt too thick, too painful, and every second longer seemed to pull at my soul. I turned slowly, my steps hesitant, but I knew I couldn't stay, not when everything felt so broken.

The elevator door opened as soon as I pressed the button, and I stepped inside. I turned around, and just as the door began to close, I saw something moving in the gap—too fast to catch at first, just a blur of motion. Then, a pair of large hands shot through the space, yanking the door open again.

He stood there, breathless, his eyes wide with emotion, and his voice cracked as he whispered my name.

"Asha."

Part 42: Liam

I stood there, breathless, my eyes wide with emotion, my voice cracking as I whispered her name.

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