Page 53 of Falling For Liam
“I know,” I whisper. “But it’s done now, and he’s locked up. I feel like I can breathe again, knowing he’s not able to hurt anyone else.”
My words don’t help relax him at all; neither does whatever Molly whispers in his ear.
* * *
Hours later, Molly manages to convince Ryan that I’m okay and that they need to get home for Lois, but everyone else stays put. They’ve already explained that Lilly’s husband Lucas has arranged rooms at his hotel. I want to feel grateful that they’re here for me, but all I can think about is Liam. He’s not come back, and all I want to do is find out if we’re okay.
I see no sign of Liam, or BJ for that matter, for the rest of the weekend. On the other hand, I can’t seem to get rid of my family. I love that they’re here—it has been too long since we spent any time together, and I feel awful for wishing they’d leave, but I can’t help it. I need to find Liam.
By the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, my parents eventually announce that they need to make a move, quickly followed by Abbi and Jax. I promise them all that I won’t shut them out anymore, and Mum does her best to convince me to go home with them. They don’t seem to understand that my heart belongs here, but then, why would they? It’s not like Liam really gave them a chance to get to know him and understand why he’s so important to me.
The house is deadly silent after I wave them all off, and I hate it. I try sitting and watching TV but I’m too anxious to stay still, so I grab my cleaning supplies and get to work. It’s been a few days since I blitzed the place, after all.
“Oh hey, how’s it going?” BJ asks when he finds me halfway up the stairs with the vacuum in my hands.
“Where is he?”
“Giving you space.”
“What? Why?”
“Fucked if I know. He said something about your family being here and giving you some time together, then he disappeared.”
“You haven’t seen him, either?”
“No, but I spent most of the weekend with this redhead. We kinda lost track of time, if you know what I mean.” His eyebrows wiggle and my cheeks flush.
“You’re a dog, you know that, right?”
“Just sowing my wild oats while I’m young.” I narrow my eyes at him. “What?”
“Nothing. I just think you’re full of shit. Is this really what you want? A different woman every night?”
“Uh, yeah! Why would I want anything else?”
“If you say so.”
“This little chat was enlightening and all…but I really need to shower. That bird’s perfume was—”
“Just go,” I say, moving the vacuum and myself out of the way.
“He’ll be back when he’s ready,” BJ shouts down to me as he gets to his room. “I think what you did affected him more than he’ll ever admit.”
He’s gone before I get a chance to respond. Sitting down on the step, I think about BJ’s words and feel terrible. I was so focused on getting rid of Griff that I didn’t really put much thought into what could have happened and how it would have affected the people around me.
I wait all night, expecting Liam to come home, but the only person to come to the house is Nicole, who does exactly as I was expecting and gives me an earful about my actions and helpfully reminds me about how mad I was at Liam for going after Griff. She’s right, of course. I refused to talk to him for over a week because he could have got himself hurt, but I’ve just done exactly the same thing—no, what I did was worse. I didn’t take two other guys with me as back-up. I went in there alone with just the hope the police would be fast as my get-out plan.
Groaning, I throw myself back on the sofa and stare at the ceiling. I don’t know what to do. He won’t answer my calls, my texts are unread, and I’ve no idea where he is, other than the suspicion that Nic was lying to me and that he’s stayed at her place.
* * *
“Well?” BJ asks all expectantly the following Friday. Raising my eyebrows at him, I wait for him to continue. “A happy birthday would be nice.”
“Oh my god! I had no idea. Happy birthday!”
“A little kiss wouldn’t go amiss,” he says with a wink.
“Ugh, pig. A hug is the best I can do.”
