Page 67 of The Wrong Costar

“She’s come look after me because my mom’s gone to rehab, and my dad wants nothing to do with me,” I continued. A mixture of fear and relief swirled through me as the words flowed out of my mouth. Liam would probably want nothing to do with me when he knew how damaged I was, but the release I was feeling was heady and impossible to stop. “And I lied about our house before. It’s not getting refurnished. It’s nearly empty because Mom’s been selling our things for years to fund her alcohol addiction.”

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I took in several sharp breaths. I’d spoken the truth for the first time in years, and I was too terrified to see Liam’s reaction. There was no way he’d want anything to do with me now he knew the truth. It was better this way though. Better now than later when him walking away would completely shatter my heart.

He took several steps toward me and lightly took my hands in his. I nervously opened my eyes and was surprised by the sympathy I found in his gaze. I didn’t want his sympathy. I didn’t need it. I’d been doing fine on my own all this time. I was too relieved he hadn’t walked away to care how he was looking at me though.

“That’s terrible,” he murmured. “You shouldn’t have had to go through any of that. Do your friends know?”

I slowly shook my head. “I didn’t want to be a burden on them.”

“Oh, Teagan,” he said, slowly wrapping me in his arms. They were warm and secure, and the hug made me feel safe in a way that I hadn’t experienced for a long time. We stood there for several long minutes, and it was only when we finally pulled apart that I realized there were tears in my eyes.

I quickly wiped them away. “Sorry, I’m usually so much better at keeping my emotions in check.”

“You don’t have to keep them in check around me,” he replied. “And you don’t have to keep these things secret from me either. Your problems shouldn’t be yours to carry alone. I want you to be happy, and I can’t make that happen if you’re hiding things from me.”

I gave a sad laugh. “You barely know me.”

“I know enough to know that I really care about you and will do whatever I can to help you.”

I slowly shook my head. This guy just didn’t seem real to me. He was so different from what I had expected, and I felt a wave of sadness that it wouldn’t be long until I had to let him go. I just wanted to keep him forever.

I didn’t have forever though. I only had these short moments. So, I reached up on my toes and kissed him. All my pent-up emotions went into the kiss and Liam responded in kind. He wrapped me in his arms tightly, like he might never let me go, and kissed me with the kind of passion that took my breath away and stole parts of my soul.

My emotions felt so raw and intense, and I wondered if it would ever be possible to feel anything this forceful with anyone else again. If this was my one chance at feeling this way, however fleeting it might be, I was going to throw everything I had into it.

We were both breathing heavily when we finally broke apart. “If you kiss me like that onstage, I think we might give the audience more than they bargained for,” I said, making him chuckle.

“No, these kisses are just for you and me. I don’t want to share them with anyone else.” He lifted his hands and lightly ran them down the outside of my arms, causing me to shiver. His face became serious as he stared into my eyes. “What can I do to help with your mom?”

“Nothing,” I replied, not needing to give it an ounce of thought. “I’ve got it under control.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Now Carol is here, I think things might finally be turning around for me.” I was surprised to find that the words actually felt true. In the few short hours I’d spent with my grandma, I was starting to feel hopeful about my future once more. She barely knew me and yet it seemed she genuinely cared about what happened to me. It was a far cry from the way my own mom had been treating me lately.

Yes, things were finally starting to look up. I probably should have known they were about to fall apart again.

23

Liam

Iwas reeling after spending the afternoon with Teagan. The more I got to know her, the more I realized how strong she was. She’d gone through so much on her own, and I was annoyed that I hadn’t seen past the brave front she always wore sooner.

I wanted to rescue her from the hard life she’d been living, but it was pretty clear Teagan was no damsel in distress. She was a girl intent on rescuing herself, and I could only respect her more for that. I had no idea how she’d kept her disastrous home life to herself for such a long time. I wanted so badly to help her, but she was so self-reliant that I felt like she’d never forgive me if I used my wealth to fix the things she wanted to overcome on her own.

It would be so easy to snap my fingers and have her house furnished, her garden taken care of, and her mom’s rehab bills paid for. I could hand her the acting career she wanted on a silver platter, but the fact that Teagan hadn’t asked me to do any of that only made me like her more.

She had really opened up to me today, and despite how heavy some of her truths were, I couldn’t help but feel like they’d brought us closer. Teagan trusted me, and I hoped I could be worthy of that trust. I’d never had a relationship before, but I was going to do everything in my power to be the kind of guy she deserved. She might not let me fix her problems, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t support her in them.

“Zeke, I’m back,” I called out, as I entered the rental house. I’d only been gone a couple of days, but I felt a sense of homecoming. I was really starting to settle in to my life here, and it was going to be hard to leave once my time at Lincoln High was up.

“I know I said I wouldn’t be long at Teagan’s place, but I got…” My voice trailed off as I walked into the kitchen and caught sight of Zeke’s face. There was a solemn look in his eyes that rarely made an appearance, and my blood went cold as worry started to pulse through me. Something was seriously wrong.

He opened his mouth like he wanted to explain, but he was cut off by the sound of heels tapping against the floor. I turned, and my stomach plummeted as my mother walked into the room. It had been weeks since I’d seen her, but you wouldn’t have thought we’d been parted at all by the scornful look I was receiving. It was a miracle she could form any expression given the amount of Botox injected in her face. Her lips had received a lot of work too. They’d been slowly growing larger over the years and were now so ridiculously big she reminded me somewhat of a clown.

She smoothed a hand down her Prada pantsuit as she came to stand before me. “You’re supposed to be in L.A.,” she said. Her words were cold and demanding. My mother never raised her voice. She didn’t have to when she could strike fear into a room of grown men with her eyes alone.

“Hello, Mother. It’s good to see you,” I replied.

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