Page 9 of Falling For Liam
“Fuck that, Liv. I’m not leaving you.”
A smile twitches at the corner of my mouth. I want him here, I can’t lie, but I also don’t want to get used to the feeling of him having my back, looking out for me. I’m worried that if I allow myself to relax too much, it’ll only make me weak when I go back. Being weak will only lead to more pain.
“Wha…what are you—?” I stutter as I watch him toe off his shoes before pulling his shirt over his head. Without instruction, my eyes wander from his face and down to his newly exposed tanned skin. Jesus. He takes a step towards me and my focus drops to his low-slung jeans and the black waistband of his boxers a few inches above.
“Keeping you company,” he says, answering the question I was too distracted to finish. When he gets to the edge of the bed, he grabs the duvet, pulls it back and slides in beside me.
His heat burns as he brushes up against me. Turning on his side, he rests his head on his hand and stares down at me, his shaggy hair falling down into his face.
The intensity in his eyes scares me, but the fear is very different from what I’ve become used to. I’m scared, but in a good way.
“Liv,” he breathes, his spare hand cupping my cheek.
A giant lump forms in my throat. We stare at each other as I fight the tears stinging the backs of my eyes.
I can’t imagine anything better than him leaning down to kiss me right now. My mouth waters at the thought, but even being surrounded by his scent and his obvious desire, I know it’s wrong.
His eyes drop to my lips as my head and heart continue to duel. But in the end, my head wins.
“Thank you for looking after me,” I say. His eyes come back to mine and I manage to contain my sigh of relief—or is it disappointment? I’m not really sure at this point.
“Whatever you need,” he repeats.
“Can we just lie here?”
“Sure.”
I close my eyes, hoping he’ll get comfortable. Well, as much as he can while we’re both squashed into this tiny bed. But I can still feel his eyes on me. They burn a trail around my face before they drop to my chest.
I startle when his warm fingertip runs down my collarbone. I know what he’s found, but there’s no way I’m opening my eyes to see his reaction. The yellowing bruise has almost vanished. Of course he’d notice it.
“What’s this?” he asks, sensing that it’s not just an innocent bruise.
“It’s nothing.”
It tears me apart to do it, but I push his hand away and turn my back to him. I need to shut him out, and I really don’t need him to see the tears that are about two seconds away from streaming down my cheeks.
He makes a weird kind of grunting sound, but he allows me to put an end to whatever this is. He’s already seen enough. He doesn’t need to start digging any deeper into my life.
The effort it takes to pretend I’ve fallen asleep is incredible. I should be tired; I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks, but the tension in the room is too much to allow me to relax. Even the sounds of Liam’s soft, shallow breathing behind me isn’t enough to lull me to sleep.
As desperate as I am to turn back and look at his sleeping face, I’m terrified that he’s not actually asleep, and one more look in those eyes and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to hold myself back. I need to forget, and I have no doubt that Liam would be able to help me with that.
My mind’s still running at a mile a minute when I hear the front door open and two whispered voices coming from downstairs. I guess the party’s over. Frustration runs through me that I bailed on Nicole’s big night. She’s been nothing but an amazing friend to me since we met, and I hate that I wasn’t even able to stick a few hours.
Hearing footsteps climbing the stairs, I school my features into what I hope is a believable sleeping face.
The second the door creaks open, I feel movement next to me.
“Liam, what the fuck?” Nic whisper-shouts, clearly not impressed that we’re in bed together.
“Relax,” he whispers as the covers are pulled back.
“Liam, no. I don’t want to see…oh, you’re clothed.”
“I was just lying with her, Nic.”
“I’m sorry.” There’s regret in her tone. “Is she okay?”
