Chapter Five
The next day, Sarah showed up, and I was grateful. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle the Thursday karaoke crowd without her. She jumped right into interrogating me.
“How did working with Mr. Green Eyes go?”
I shook my head. “He has a name.”
“Yeah, so?” She waved me off, then leaned closer. “Were you glad I called in?”
It took all my strength not to lose my temper at her constant prodding. Does she not see how much Liam annoys me? Really?
Speaking of the devil, he strode in with four of his friends, high fiving Burt like he owned the place. He walked right up to the bar, ignoring me as he asked Sarah, “Which tables are Gina’s?”
While I bristled, she quickly answered, “She’s got the right side tonight. Figured I’d give her the easy ones after covering for me yesterday. And your first round’s on me.”
His grin was dazzling. When she put a hand to her chest, I tried not to laugh.
“Thanks, Sarah. I had fun though, even learned a few things.” Then he winked at me.
My hand didn’t go to my chest, but I didn’t have any air in my lungs. Which was just as bad. Fuck me. I glared at his back as he led his crew to one of the bigger round booths in my section.
The flicker of feeling was quickly swallowed by the void as the night wore on. If I were a bathtub, someone had pulled the plug and my emotions had disappeared down the drain along with my energy. I took orders, brought drinks and answered questions, but a robot would have had the same responses.
I felt hollow inside, and I wondered where I had gone. The vital part that made me who I was had vanished. And the worst part was I didn’t even have the energy to be scared about it.
Liam came over after a while to ask my advice on what song to sing, but I couldn’t muster a suggestion. Not even a smart comeback about why he should pick one himself.
“Go find your own song. I’m working.” But my words lacked any bite.
He sighed, turning to do as I bid. Even his beautiful voice did nothing for me tonight. I didn’t have the energy to care, could barely carry on with business as usual.
I was out on the floor delivering a round of drinks to a fairly rowdy table when his song finished. One of the guys at the table was being overly friendly. In my unfeeling state, I managed to conjure a glare, but didn’t even try to put him in his place.
Which was a mistake.
The guy pinched my ass as I walked away, and I yelped. Burt, usually so on top of things, was busy with a group of minors trying to get in using fake IDs, but Liam saw everything.
He stormed between me and the offender. “Hands off,” he growled.
I rubbed the tender spot. The guy had pinched me hard.
“What’s it to you?” the sleaze sneered, not even bothering to stand.
Liam grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him to his feet. “First of all, it’s called manners, and you should get some. Second, she’s my friend. And third, she’s an employee, not a piece of meat you can poke and prod at your leisure. Hands to yourself, or get out.” He was nose to nose with the jerk, barely controlled rage underlining every word.
The asshole held up his hands and straightened. “Sorry, man. Just got carried away, that’s all.” The hardness in his expression didn’t sit well with me. He stared at Liam for a beat longer until Liam let go, stepping away with a sharp nod.
“Don’t let it happen again.” He meant it.
Smoothing the front of his shirt, the guy sat, not even bothering to actually apologize to me.
Liam came over. “You okay?”
I nodded stiffly, embarrassed at the commotion. “You didn’t have to make a scene. Burt would have handled it.”
His lips pressed together, then his gaze dropped to the floor. “Right.” He strode off to his booth. He didn’t talk to me much for the rest of the night, but after all his friends left, he was still there.
“We’re closing,” I snapped, watching him take a sip of his water as I stacked chairs on tables.
“I know. I’m giving you a ride home.”
I bristled at his commanding tone, but he sighed before I could protest.
“Listen, Gina, the guy that got handsy earlier made lewd comments the rest of the night. Loudly.” His jaw clenched. “Just let me take you home. We’re going to the same place, so it’s not even out of my way.”
It didn’t matter that his words made sense, I didn’t want his help. I opened my mouth to tell him so, when he added one word.
“Please.”
His heartfelt tone took the wind right out of my sails. “Fine, be ready to go in ten minutes.”
The crease in his forehead eased and his shoulders sagged. “Deal.”
Ten minutes later, we were the last ones there and I locked up, going out the back way. Unfortunately, Liam had parked closer to the front, so we had to walk along the dimly lit parking lot to get to his car. Three guys jumped out as we neared the corner of the building.
“Shit,” Liam muttered, stepping in front of me.
I stayed near his back as the three of them closed in. A hand clapped over my mouth from behind, muffling my yell.
“We meet again,” the sleaze from earlier said in my ear, dragging me away from the fight.
Liam was holding his own, but certainly had no way of helping me. It was up to me. I tried to fight back, but this guy had nearly six inches on me, and a lot more muscle. There was no way I could take him. The insidious numbness crept over me again.
Why even bother fighting when I can’t win?
Liam knocked out one of the guys, glancing over his shoulder to check on me. Anger sharpened his features as his gaze locked on mine. “Since when are you okay being the damsel in distress?” He snorted. “Maybe you need a tiara to go with that princess attitude.” Then he turned back to his own fight.
My jaw would have dropped if the nasty guy hadn’t been smothering it. Hurt stabbed my gut, followed by a flood of rage. How dare he! That arrogant bastard. I was going to kill him, if those guys didn’t get to it first.
Moves from my self-defense class came rushing back to me, and I went rigid. I stomped on the instep of the guy’s foot as hard as I could, then slammed my head back into his nose. The second his grip loosened, I whirled out of it, kicking him between the legs with all my might. His hands went to the tender spot, his mouth forming an O as he dropped to the pavement, blood gushing from his definitely broken nose.
Liam rushed over, none of the others left standing. “Nicely done.”
Still furious, I took a swing at him, but he dodged. He caught my second punch, using my motion to spin me around and pin me against him. My chest heaved with anger at being caged, and I squirmed in his hold.
“All right, Red. Time to turn that temper back off, and calm down. Deep breaths.” He sucked in slow, exaggerated breaths, and his chest pressed against my back, forcing me to feel his rhythm.
I breathed him in, mimicking him unconsciously as that delicious cedar and pine scent wrapped around me.
He whispered in my ear, “I didn’t mean what I said, but it was all I could think of at the time. I needed you to fight. I’m sorry.”
My anger ebbed, deflating me as I sagged against him. “Asshole,” I muttered. Awareness crept over me, his burly arms holding me tightly to him. I shifted against his firm torso, needing to swallow at the sudden dryness in my mouth.
He chuckled, low, deep and rumbly. “If you’re done hitting on me, I’ll go call the police.”
I nodded before I realized what I’d confirmed. His smug expression taunted me as he stepped away, pulling out his phone to report the assault. Annoyance flashed through me at his teasing but it was quickly doused with relief at being out of his arms.
Although my back felt colder than before.
It was a good hour before everything wrapped up, between statements and getting checked out by EMTs. Luckily, The High Five had video surveillance, so we were able to confirm our story with the footage.
Liam got a kick out of watching me take down the guy at least a head taller than me. “Watch,” he told the officer going over the feed with us. “Right here’s where I piss her off. Check this out.”
The officer whistled at the rage on my face. “What did you say to her?”
I crossed my arms and glared at Liam.
“What I needed to do so she could save herself.” He smirked back at me, adding, “Right, Red?”
It was the second time he’d called me that, and I frowned, tiredness washing over me. I needed my bed.
“Look at her go,” the officer exclaimed. “She’s a little pistol!”
Liam smirked. “Yep, red-hot temper on that one.”
Pieces clicked together—Red Hots were my favorite candy, I chewed Big Red gum, I had a red-hot temper. Groaning, I hid my face in my hands.
“Something wrong over there, Red?”
The emphasis wasn’t lost on me, and I flipped him off.
He chuckled as the video finished. I made the officer a copy, and we gave him our info, finally able to call it a night. My eyelids felt like they were made of cement as I sank into the cold leather seat of Liam’s Porsche. I dozed on the way home, waking up when the lights turned on and he got out.
He opened my door, teasing, “I can carry you. Be the handsome prince in this fairytale.”
“There’s something wrong with you. Fighting in a parking lot isn’t in any fairytale I’ve ever heard of.” I shook my head, groaning as I got out of the car.
“That was the rescuing the damsel in distress part.”
I glared. It stung a little that it took Liam insulting me to get me to that point, but at least I hadn’t made him actually rescue me. That counted for something. “This damsel rescued herself, thank you.”
He punched the elevator button, his gaze weighted in a way that made my stomach flutter. “Yeah, she did. And you’d look great in a tiara.”
* * * *
Sunday night football was the bane of my existence. Avery and Derek always had a bunch of rowdy, obnoxious guys over, and usually I worked. Today I’d gotten out early because of my arm, and had been planning to catch up on some homework.
But I’d forgotten about football.
Team sports had never been my thing. Cross country, now that was a sport. You competing against yourself and your time, pushing to get better each week. Sure, you wanted to be the fastest, but it was also about personal growth. How far you could push yourself, how hard.
I walked into the raucous apartment, the combination of noise and the heavenly smell of food nearly bowling me over. Avery had been cooking again. She glanced up from the chair where she snuggled with Derek, both of them waving in greeting. I waved back, feeling unsettled when the room went completely quiet. Must be an intense game.
The kitchen island was covered in food, and I headed right for it. I’d just put a handful of chips on my plate when everyone yelled in triumph. I jumped a mile, chips flying everywhere.
Liam stood at the edge of the hallway, laughing. He must have just come back from a bathroom break. Still chuckling, he wandered over to snatch a few chips from the bag, watching me scramble to pick up the ones I’d spilled. “Having fun?”
“Yes, this is how I always eat chips. It’s how you determine they’re fresh—the longer the air time, the fresher they are.” I rolled my eyes.
A huge smile spread over his face.
“What?” I finished picking up the last chip and stood to try again.
“Nothing.” He raised his shoulder. “Just haven’t heard that snark in a while.”
“Well, you always bring out the best in me.” I absently piled more food on my plate before I realized he was still staring. Why is he being so weird? “I’ve got some studying to do, so see ya.”
“Hey.” He touched my shoulder lightly as I tried to breeze past. “I know we’re loud. Um, my place is open if you want to go somewhere quiet.” He smirked at my raised eyebrows, glancing pointedly at the island. “Just trying to save the rest of the chips.”
“Really? That would actually be super perfect.” I winced at my ridiculous words.
“Well, my team’s losing anyway, so I’ll hold your plate. You grab your stuff, and I’ll walk you down.”
My lips tipped up in my first real smile in forever. “Thank you.”
When I didn’t move right away, he drummed his fingers on the counter. “Just because we’re losing, doesn’t mean I don’t want to watch.”
Oh, right.I quickly gathered my things, throwing my stuff in a bag. We trotted down one floor to his apartment. It was huge, three bedrooms and a big living room with a fireplace.
“Why don’t you have the parties down here? Holy cow.” I poked around, peering into each of the rooms.
“Looking for something?”
“Yeah, your harem.” I knew he was wealthy but, man, this was huge. “There has to be a reason you have a place this big all to yourself, right?”
He huffed out an annoyed sigh. “Holler if you need anything.”
I gave him a thumbs up and settled in at the sprawling island to get to work.
* * * *
The door opened, startling me from my hyper focus.
Liam blinked in surprise. “You’re still here.”
“Gee, thanks.” Always nice to be forgotten. I ignored the pang of hurt that nicked me, not wanting to examine it too closely.
He sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”
I glanced at the clock, shocked to see it was midnight. Crap, I have class first thing tomorrow. “Wow, I didn’t realize it was this late. I need to get to bed. Is everyone else gone?” I hoped the answer was yes, or I didn’t have a chance at sleeping.
His nod was cut off by a yawn.
Quickly I packed my things. “Thanks again, Liam. Night.”
He mumbled, “Night.”
I hurried to the apartment, changing into a T-shirt and athletic shorts, my usual form of pajamas. As I brushed my teeth, a noise made me pause, then groan. I knew it would happen eventually, and was surprised it hadn’t happened yet.
But I could have gone my whole life without hearing my BFF and her fiancé having sex. No matter how hard I tried, I’d never been able to sleep with a fan or music on. I needed silence, and they were anything but quiet.
Nor did they show signs of stopping.
It was nearly one a.m. when I pulled myself out of bed, grabbed my phone and slid my feet into some slippers. Trudging downstairs, I stood in front of Liam’s door, pushing send on the text.
A few seconds later, the door opened, Liam hastily tugging a shirt over his rippled abdomen. “Gina?” His green plaid boxers were the only other thing he wore.
“Did their team win or something?” I realized how incoherent my question was when I saw the confusion written all over Liam’s tired face. “Avery and Derek. ’Cause they’ve been going at it like rabbits since I got back. And they’re not exactly low-key.” I winced. “If I have to hear them moaning their stupid nicknames one more time, I might just throw myself out the nearest window.”
His blank stare had me sighing. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?” More blankness, so I steeled myself and spelled it out for him. “Can I sleep here? I have an early class tomorrow, and I’m no good without sleep.”
Comprehension dawned, and he immediately stepped back, opening the door wider.
But I hesitated. “You’re alone, right? And you’re not planning some three-hour-long jerk off where you holler at the top of your lungs?”
One meaty hand wiped over his face. “Really, Red? I’m doing you a favor, and that’s what you want to ask me? About my masturbation habits?”
Great, now I’m actually picturing…I shifted uncomfortably, trying to keep my focus off his boxers. “Just keep the roaring to a minimum, all right?”
“I’ll try,” he said dryly, “but I’m not making any promises.” When I still hesitated, he sighed. “Would you just get in here?”
It was harder than I thought it’d be, crossing that threshold, but I did it. Then I stood awkwardly to one side of the entryway as Liam locked up. I trailed after him to his spare bedroom which was all made up and hovered near the bed, waiting for Liam to leave.
“All set?”
I nodded.
His stare lingered on me as he reached over to flick on the bedside lamp. “Night, Red.”
“Night.” I dragged my lower lip between my teeth as he started toward the door, knowing I needed to say more. “Liam?”
He paused, turning back to me.
“I never said thanks.” I shrugged then crossed my arm over my midsection. “For making me ride home with you the other night. For beating the crap out of the other guys. For pissing me off so I’d fight.” When he still didn’t move, I realized I technically still hadn’t said it. “Thank you.”
One side of his mouth tipped up. “You’re welcome.” He turned off the light, leaving me in the dimness of the bedside lamp.
* * * *
My alarm woke me way too early the next morning. Liam was already in the kitchen, and the smell of fresh coffee wafted to me. Blearily, I stumbled toward him.
“Morning.” His deep voice was even gruffer with the throes of sleep.
I rubbed my eye and mumbled, “Morning.”
“Coffee?”
“Yes, please. Not sure I could make it up the stairs without it.” He slid me over a mug, and I took a hot, delicious sip, waiting for the caffeine to jumpstart my brain.
His attention was mostly on his phone, but he asked, “Sleep okay?”
I nodded. “Not enough, but better than if I’d been upstairs.”
“Good.”
I leaned against the counter, enjoying the peacefulness. “You’re a much quieter roommate than Avery.” His chuckle sent a tingle through me, and I clutched my coffee cup to ground myself.
“Yeah, I don’t have any thought-provoking questions prepared. It’s too early.”
“That’s not a bad thing.” My eyes widened. “But don’t tell her I said that!”
Liam mimed zipping his lips. “What’s your Monday like?”
After another sip, I walked him through my schedule. “Oh, and look.” I showed him my bare arm that had no hint of stitches. It had been fourteen days already, and they were just gone. Dissolved, like the nurse said they would.
“That’s great.” He grinned. “And the best part is, no shots.”
I chuckled then glanced at the clock, nearly groaning. “I’ve got to get a move on.” But I didn’t want to leave. “Thanks again, Liam.”
He held up his coffee mug in a silent salute. I paused at the door, giving him a genuine smile as I marveled at the realization that I was reluctant to go. This had actually been…nice.