Page 87 of Love Me

“Excuse me?” my mom asks, truly confused. My dad is quiet, as always. It’s then I realize what I announced and how no one knew but me and my grandmother.

“Will you all shut up already? Thought we were gonna have a nice dinner celebrating Hannah and Liam, but you all are ruinin’ it with your bitchin’. Bad enough I couldn’t bring my Winnie because the fishy one is here and she’d lose her mind, but now I’ve gotta listen to all of this,” my grandmother admonishes, and I melt into my seat, so fearful of seeing Liam’s face as he takes in my grandmother’s confession. I’ve never been more thankful for my decision to let Charlie have a playdate tonight. “Cynthia, you’re ruining your relationship with your daughter. I signed that deed over to Hannah already. It was mine to give and now it’s hers. Worry about yourself. Your girls are fine. Except for you,” she continues as she turns to Harlow, “you need to get your jealous head outta your ass before it gets stuck there.”

“Liam, is there truth to this?” his mom asks.

Everyone goes completely quiet, all eyes on Liam and me, and I want to disappear. This was my biggest fear, crushing everyone we love with false hope and promises.

“I married Hannah because I’m in love with her, because I can’t go a single day without seeing her before I lose my mind. She’s been the center of my world since she cried for the Charlie bear I was playing with in preschool. There’s no me without her. This isn’t fake.”

His words wash over me, and I can’t stay here for another moment. My chair squeaks across the hardwood floor as I jerkback in it, standing, and walking briskly out of the dining room, out of the house, and then darting up the street to the only place that I can think of where I’ll get a break and to someone who will make sure that I get it.

CHAPTER 28

reid

The frantic tappingon the door of Rogue pulls me from the art tablet in front of me. Pulling off my glasses, I drop them onto my workstation and head toward the door. Sliding the blinds out of the way, I see a bleary-eyed Hannah and rush to get the door unlocked, letting her inside and relocking it.

“Are you alright?”

“I just need a moment to think, to breathe, it’s so much pressure, Reid.”

I pull her into a big hug, bounding my arms around her shoulders.

“Whatever it is, it’s not the end. You’ll see the other side, you’re so strong, Hannah. How many people do you know who can sit through a nine-hour tattoo session with no breaks?”

She laughs a little at that and starts to pull away from me. I place my hand in the center of her upper back, guiding her to my office and handing her the box of tissues.

“Do you want an ear to listen, advice, or just someplace quiet for a little while? I got all three in spades.”

“Mother above, Reid. I don’t even know where to start.Everything is a mess, and I think I just hurt both Liam’s family and mine. Liam married me to help me get Bean Haven from my parents, but then they didn’t even have the right to hold it over my head to begin with, so it was all pointless, Liam’s in love with me and has been for years, my sister found out it was fake, and just told everyone at dinner. I love Liam but I haven’t told him yet and it’s just all so messy and complicated.” She unloads everything on me, and I sit back and listen, giving her the space she so clearly needs to get everything off of her chest. Those goddamn Hayes men love their women fiercely but damn if they don’t each share the possessive, obsessive gene.

Knocking at the front door echoes through my shop and Hannah’s eyes go wide, knowing it could only be one person.

“What would you like me to tell him?” I ask, putting it all in her court, prepared to lie to him if I need to. She comes first.

“You can let him know I’m here, but that I’m not ready to talk. I need space.”

I nod at her before rising and opening the front door, keeping my foot on the outside of it so that he can’t push his way through, not that he could strong-arm me.

“Hey, man.”

“Is she here?” Liam says, eyes frantically looking behind me.

“Yeah, but she said she just needs a little space.”

“If you so much as touch her, Reid, I’ll fucking kill you.”

“Go find your dumbass brothers. I thought you were smarter than those two, but you’re clearly not. I wouldn’t touch something unless it’swhollymine. She’ll be okay, just give her a beat to process what’s going on.”

Liam looks distraught and my heart hurts for him, but I’ve got no doubt he’ll be able to figure it out. It’s clear he loves her more than anything. We’ve all seen it.

Liam nods, running his hands through his hair. “Just tell her that I love her, please.”

“I will. She’ll be okay.”

Returning to Hannah, I find her standing in the doorway of my office, facing where I just came from.

“You hear all that?”

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