Page 110 of A Forgotten Mistake

I slide up behind her and grab her with my left hand. She yelps in surprise as I lift her up and swing her around.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Jesus, you scared me, Liam! Why are you so cheery?” She hesitates before whipping around and pressing her lips close to my ear. “Did you do it?”

I look down into her eyes before lowering my mouth to her ear so she can hear me above the music. “You better not ever try to blackmail me again, do you hear? I might not be so nice next time.”

Abby grabs my shirt in her hands, clutching it so tightly her knuckles are turning white. “You did it? Liam, did you do it?”

“Yeah.”

She’s gasping for breath now. “You did it?”

“I did. Calm down, your friends are watching.”

“Oh fuck…” Abby bites her lip and then licks the spot before saying, “Oh fuck” again.

“Can you breathe?” I ask as I realize that she reminds me of myself after I killed Jonah. How it felt like I could finally breathe again.

She nods vigorously. “I can breathe. I really can fucking breathe. Are you sure?”

“Very.”

“Tell me everything later,” she says. “Let’s drink!”

Abby spins around and picks up her drink as I see something cloudy and blue at the bottom. Just as she lifts it to her lips, I take it from her and glance down at it. “Who gave you this drink?”

She looks into the glass and sees what I’ve noticed. “Uh… I don’t know… one of Anthony’s friends… Or maybe Carl’s friend? I don’t know.”

“Which one was it?”

She points and I see the guy at the pool table who is standing next to Carl.

“That was too nice of him,” I say before I carry the drink over to him. “You buy this for Abby?”

“Who the fuck are you?” he asks, giving me a sour look.

“I want you to drink it,” I say.

“What’s going on?” Anthony asks.

The guy who bought Abby the drink shrugs and picks up his pool stick until I grab him by the back of the neck with my uninjured hand.

“Did you drug Abby’s drink?”

“Of course not,” he says with a laugh.

“Then I want you to drink it,” I say as I press it to his lips. “If you didn’t drug it, it’ll be fine, right?”

“I don’t want that fruity shit.”

“But if youdiddrug it, that means someone gets to do to you what you were going to do to her, right?” I ask. “Go on, now.”

He shoves me, but I’m on a fucking high. I feel like I could tear down the whole goddamn world. There’s no one who could best me and fucking hell, I am going to shove this spiked glass down his throat if it’s the last thing I ever do.

“Fuck off,” he yells as I tip it against his mouth. He chokes on it a second before he swings. Because I’m over here determined that he needs to drink it, I don’t see the punch until it’s slamming into the side of my face. But before anything happens, some guys push him back. They’re getting pissed on Abby’s behalf and I’m disappointed I don’t get the chance to beat him up before Anthony’s brother rushes over to drag the guy out. When I turn back to see what’s happening, Christa’s boyfriend is staring at me.

“Damn, boy. I thought you were just some nerd,” Christa says. “He’s over here protecting your ass like a little guard dog, Abby.”

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