Page 72 of Until We're More
But did he see us as an actual couple? One who’d still be together weeks, months, a year from now?
My own family only wanted me if I did enough for them, and Liam had claimed that was part of my issue. Why I always had a hard time believing people wanted me. Undoubtedly, it contributed.
But if I went back to Denver, where I could more easily escape the issues that arose whenever I was around my mom, had an apartment and a steady job—one with a potential advancement and a pay bump—did he love me enough to try to make it work anyway? Or was it a convenience thing?
Ugh, ugh, ugh. “Out, damned spot. Out.” I wouldn’t be driven insane by guilt over a murder. No, my insanity would come because I’d crossed lines with my best friend.
Hands gripped my shoulders, and I jumped and turned around, wielding the scratchy end of the sponge like a weapon.
“Please don’t hurt me,” Liam said, mockery dripping from the words. “I have a cat to take care of.”
“A cat?That’swhat you’re going with?”
“I assessed the threat and what might convince you to take it easy on me.”
I slowly lowered the sponge. “Cat was a good bet.”
“Not a bet.” His gaze skimmed every clean, sparkly surface. “It went that badly, huh?”
The sponge hit the sink with a wetthwack, and I peeled the gloves off my hands, washed the latex scent off them, and dried them on a paper towel. A tight band formed around my chest. I needed to come clean. Tell him he was right and do my best not to let show how much that hurt my feelings.
I slowly lifted the clunky necklace that I wouldn’t usually be caught dead in, even if someone paid me to wear it. “You were right. I bought a bunch of jewelry I don’t want, and I’m an enabler and…” I shrugged, and tears clogged my throat.My mom only cares about me when she wants something, and I’m useless to stop it.
I tried to steel myself for what would inevitably follow. Him saying that I needed to be stronger and my assertive lessons were far from over, and that it was a good thing I was leaving in a couple weeks. That one would hurt the worst.
“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s why I love you.”
Everything inside me froze, my body forgetting how to function all at once. He’d frozen, too—I looked for the steady rise and fall of his chest, but he wasn’t breathing, and I realized my emotions were getting the best of me.Of coursehe hadn’t meant it like that. “Don’t worry. I know it’s just a common phrase. Something people say just to say.”
He braced his hands on the counter on either side of me, bringing us eye level. “Have I ever been big on common phrases? Said things just to say them?”
Swallowing became impossible, so I gave up on it and spoke past the dam I’d erected in an attempt to stop the tears. “No.”
The muscles in his arms and shoulders flexed as he leaned closer, his mouth a mere breath from mine. “I.” He brushed his lips over mine. “Love.” Another drag. “You.”
My heart took off on a high-speed chase, nothing to catch but the next accelerated beat. “I need you to be crystal clear here for a second.”
Amusement danced across the curve of the mouth I’d longingly studied countless times before finally getting a taste. The same mouth that’d spoken assurances to me through the years when I’d needed them most, and the very same one that’d brought me to orgasm countless times.
Desire swirled into the mix of emotions, screaming louder than the others and sending the temperature in the room to incendiary.
“I had no idea I wasn’t being clear,” he said, his voice intoxicatingly low and deep anduhn. Who needed clarity?
Wait. That was me—I needed it. This was important, even if I couldn’t fully recall why right now. Just a few seconds of clarity, then I’d give my brain the night off and let my body take the reins. “There’s a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone, and I’d hate to assume one thing when really it was the other, and—”
Liam captured my mouth with his, parting my lips with his tongue and thrusting it inside to conquer mine. He boosted me onto the counter, wedging himself between my thighs and curling his hand around the side of my neck. He broke the kiss and traced my jaw with his thumb. “I love you, Chelsea Jessop, and I’minlove with you, too.”
I grabbed his shirt and twisted it in my fist, holding him close—not like he couldn’t get away if he tried, but luckily he wasn’t trying. “So, all the love?”
His territorial smile echoed deep inside me, fueling the liquid-hot need coursing through my veins until it filled every inch of me. “Every single part of it.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Liam
All day I’d thought about Chelsea. Worried about her with her mom. Wished I could change their relationship for her. But I’d also thought about what she’d said. It was her mom, and really, the only family she had. My family had plenty of issues, and we accepted each other anyway.
What Chelsea needed was to know that I accepted her for her. Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’d meant what I’d said. Her big heart, her optimism—everything that made her who she was—contributed to why I loved her so damn much.
