Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Maybe it was time to give up the penthouse and build a home so I could have an indoor swimming pool and sauna I didn’t have to share.
Of course, I might have agreed to meet with Pierce because I also wanted to dig into why the man had such obvious problems with Simon. But we’d get to that later.
“Cut your bullshit. What happened after I left the concert? You’ve been quiet recently. Scary quiet. I thought you were pissed about that Allie woman.”
This was why Pierce and I had always gotten along. The man didn’t beat around the bush, and he didn’t coddle anyone’s feelings. He got right to it and figured out a solution. But it meant that if I was looking for someone to lie to me and tell me it was all going to be all right, Pierce was not the person I went to. Sebastian was the upbeat, shooting-sunshine-from-his-asshole type. He always had something positive to say. If I needed cheering up, I went to Sebastian.
And if I was in the mood to be an annoying little shit, I ran off to pester Declan. It was how our group worked.
“I don’t remember if I ever told you, but I had this friend growing up. Liam.” My stomach knotted up saying his name. I hadn’t thought I’d ever have a reason to talk about him. Especially after all this time. But saying his name, talking about all these old memories, stirred up the same rage I’d felt as a teenager. “We went to the same elementary and middle school. He was my best friend.”
Pierce grunted. “I don’t think you mentioned him.”
I paused and licked my lips. My eyes remained locked on my hands balled into fists in front of me. “When I was about thirteen, fourteen, I made a mistake and kissed him. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. Just stupid, I guess.”
“Sounds like you.”
A scoff made my body jump. “It gets worse.”
“Naturally.”
“His mom caught us.”
“Fuck.”
“Pretty much,” I muttered. “She totally freaked out, and then Liam shoved me to the ground, blaming everything on me. Until that moment, he was my best friend. He always had my back. Even against our parents. But with his mom losing her shit, he couldn’t throw me under the bus fast enough.”
“Douche.”
I nodded. My throat grew tight and dry. After clearing it, I continued. “His mother threw a major hissy fit. Didn’t even try to get to the bottom of things. Ripped Liam out of the school we both attended and called my mom. Threatened to have me arrested for sexual harassment and a bunch of other shit.”
“How did your parents take the news?”
With a roll of my eyes, I finally looked up at my companion. “Because my parents have half a brain, they sat me down and asked what happened. When they understood I was only a little curious, they reminded me I needed to ask before kissing, but they didn’t care who I was kissing. I was a teenager! As long as I wasn’t sticking my unprotected dick into people, catching diseases, and getting girls pregnant, they didn’t care. But from that day on, I was banned from having any contact with Liam. They didn’t trust his parents to be rational.”
“That makes sense. Even if your parents could have crushed them in a lawsuit, it would have still dragged both you and the other boy through hell. Neither of you needed that kind of trauma.”
Yeah, I couldn’t argue with that. Even though that first year, I’d come up with plans to “accidentally” run into Liam so I could get some answers. And maybe apologize for the kiss. Not that I felt like it had needed that much of an apology. It was a tiny kiss. It shouldn’t have been such a big fucking deal.
If it hadn’t been for his mom, I would have asked him if he’d liked it or not. If he’d said no, I would have apologized and promised never to do it again. It had never been my plan to fuck up our friendship over something so small and stupid.
“Whatever,” I muttered, half talking to myself. I shoved a hand through my sweaty hair, pushing it out of my face before grabbing up my nearby glass of water. A couple of swallows wet my mouth and parched throat, allowing me to continue. “I ran into Liam at the museum last week.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope,” I said, popping the P. “Ran into him at the bar. Couldn’t fucking believe it. What the fuck is he even doing in Cincinnati? He should be in Providence…or fuck, I don’t know. Anywhere but here.”
“Does he live here now?”
“I think so. While we were sniping at each other, I noticed he was wearing one of those museum employee badges. He’s got to be living here now.” Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands, threading my fingers through my hair. “The past, seeing him here…it’s all been on my mind since that night. What do you think I should do? Should I try to find him and talk to him? Try to get some answers about what happened so many years ago?”