Page 52 of Begin Again, Part 1

"You don't want to have sex with me, but you can touch her? Were you that desperate?" She whined, shocking his cousins with her accusations.

"Enough!" Liam warned her. If he wasn't above laying his hands on a woman, he would have ripped out her throat on the spot.

"No! I've been patient for two years, even when you barely touched me. Now I know why you refused to have sex with me. It turns out you like rolling in the mud with pigs!"

"Watch your mouth!" He barked, his nostrils flared, his jaw clenched. "And don't you ever call Eden a pig. Your issue is with me. Leave her out of this."

His head banging like fireworks on New Year's Eve, Liam finally understood what his mom had tried to tell him about Laura. They were always an ending waiting to happen, postponed by his sheer stubbornness to hang on to something that wasn't meant to be.

"Are you for real right now? Look at her. She's a freaking midget and blind as a bat, too!" Laura spat, her face contorted into an ugly grimace. "I'm a TEN, and you know it."

"Not with that attitude, you're not. Now leave!" Liam pointed at the exit, the dull ache in his temple finally exploding into a full-blown headache. The sooner she left, the quicker the storm raging in his heart could blow over. "And don't ever show up in front of me again. Don't call me. Don't text me. We are over!"

"Believe me, I'm done with your shit!" Laura said as she rummaged through her purse, fished out his black card, and threw it on one of the cubes.

With a haughty sweep of her platinum-blonde extensions over her shoulder—which Liam had paid for, along with the R275K Birkin handbag on her arm—she pranced off, leaving the sourness of their confrontation and the cloud of her cloyingly sweet perfume behind her.

"Bye-bye!" Julian called after her, raising his glass in the air.

"Don't let the door hit you on your way out!" Matthew added.

The minute they were alone, Liam threw his glass across the room. It hit the flimsy partition with a dull thud and splintered into crystal shards on the floor, splashing brown liquid everywhere. He watched the mess, but his rage didn't cool off, and he wasn't satisfied. So, he grabbed the still-full bottle and was about to subject it to the same fate when Julian sprung to his feet.

"Whoa, dude, chill! You know that shit is expensive," he said, snatching it away.

"I paid for it," Liam grunted. His heart still pounding out of control, his anger roaring in his ears louder than the music blasting through the overhead speakers, he eased back in his seat and loosened his shirt.

"What's eating you? And why was Laura so pissed off?" asked Matthew as he signalled at their waitress to bring an empty glass.

Jade, whose catsuit left little to the imagination and struggled to contain her double Ds, pranced over. She placed the glass on a cube, sat on Julian's lap, and began grinding on him.

Liam grabbed the glass and sighed. He didn't sign up for a front-row seat to an impromptu lap dance.

Julian whispered something filthy into Jade's ear. She blushed like a virgin, giggling as she hid her face on his chest.

Irritated out of his head and in no mood to watch Pornhub live, Liam cleared his throat, jerking his head at the exit. "Leave."

When she didn't comply, he pulled out his wallet and fished out a few banknotes. "Will this be enough for you?"

Jade looked at Julian and then at the cash strewn on the cube, before making a swift decision. Julian's cock wasn't worth missing out on all that money. She picked up the notes, blew a kiss over her shoulder, and waltzed off to make someone else's night.

"What the hell?" Julian growled when they were alone. "Did you just cock-block me?"

"I saved your life and your bank account. You can thank me later." Liam shrugged and poured himself a drink, relieved he wasn't having a heart attack like he was starting to suspect. His hands had stopped shaking, too, and the heavy rock crushing his chest not too long ago had vanished.

"What's this business you haven't touched Laura in two years?" Matthew had to bring up the one thing Liam was hoping they'd all forgotten. And if amnesia wasn't an option, they could at least pretend it never happened.

"So?" Matthew pushed, refusing to let him live down his humiliation.

"I don't want to talk about it!" Liam grumbled and stared off into the distance, his fury rearing its hideous head again. This time it was directed at Eden McBride. Would this shrew of a woman ever stop tormenting him? If it wasn't for her, he'd have a fully-functioning dick, and things with Laura wouldn't have taken such an ugly turn.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Matthew continued, not in the least put off by his stony silence.

"Yeah, you could have come to us. It's normal," added Julian.

Liam's irritation levels went from zero to a hundred in seconds. He loved the brothers, but today they were pissing him off way more than usual. They were like a tag team of prosecutors with their relentless questions, and he felt cornered, like he was on the stand in a trial he was bound to lose.

"Not getting laid in two years is normal for you?" he demanded.

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