Chapter Twelve
MADDIE
The entire time Liam is gone, I can’t get rid of the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach over that note I found after my dance recital.
Liam warned me, wanting me to stay home and not go anywhere alone, which makes me believe he knows exactly who this came from.
I’m scared, but not for me, for him. I’ve never seen him so beat up before.
Maybe a few sore muscles and a shitty attitude, but never two black eyes and a bruised face.
When he finally returns home, he’s not himself. The Liam I know left on a plane, and some other person came back wearing his face.
“Hulk, how was the trip?” I ask, and he walks past me as if I didn’t even speak. So I follow him. “Liam?”
“What?” He turns and gives me two seconds of his attention.
“I was talking to you.” I cross my arms, staring at him and how different he looks. “You got a haircut.”
“Yeah. Sorry, there’s a lot on my mind.” He grabs a beer, twists off the top, then chugs half of it. “I need a shower.”
After he leaves the kitchen, I’m left wondering what the fuck just happened. I sit on the couch, replaying every moment before he left—the kiss, the protective way he acted, and how he spent all day watching Glee with me. Now, it’s like none of it happened, and I imagined the whole thing.
One day, he’s scorching hot, and the next day, he’s freezing cold, making it impossible for me to keep up with his mood swings.
By the time he comes downstairs, I’m annoyed, and he knows it by the scowl on my face, but he pretends I don’t exist and walks past me.
There’s banging in the kitchen, then the doorbell rings.
Rushing through the house, Liam goes to answer it.
He cracks open the door, and I hear a man ask for him.
Liam walks outside, and he’s taking so long that I go see who he’s speaking with, but my jaw hits the sidewalk when I see a brand-new Mercedes G-Wagon.
“Are you shitting me?” I gasp, and they both turn to look at me. “You bought a new car?”
“Maddie, please go wait inside,” Liam pleads, then finishes signing some paperwork.
I roll my eyes and do as he says although I want to push his buttons until he stops acting like a jerk. Five minutes later, he’s barging through the front door with the keys in his hand and glaring at me as I jump up from the couch.
“What the hell, Liam? How can you afford that?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“What does it matter?” he asks, walking into the kitchen, but I follow him.
“Because it does. You’ve been acting weird, and I know something’s going on.” I wonder how much money he won on this Vegas trip, considering what’s sitting in the driveway.
He narrows his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Drop it.”
I scowl at his tone and the way he’s treating me like a child. Anger brews with every second that passes between us. Liam grabs another beer and walks past me again. I’m tempted to trip his ass but trail him instead.
“So just pretend you didn’t have a maxed-out Mercedes delivered to our house? Right.”
“Yeah,” he says, plopping on the couch. “Mind your own business for once.”
“What’s your issue?”
Standing over him, I place my hands on my hips. My infuriating gaze nearly burns a hole in his head.
As if I snapped him back to reality, his demeanor changes. There’s something behind his eyes—fear and anger—and they’re mixing.
“I already told you I have a lot on my mind.” He flicks on the TV. “What do you want from me?”
“How about the truth?” I raise my arms, then drop them with a slap.
“What’s really going on? Why are you being such a dick and so secretive?
” I ask, realizing I’ve raised my voice.
Sophie and Mason aren’t home, so it doesn’t matter, but I hate it when I lose my temper.
And right now, I’m at my limit with him.
Liam stands and closes the gap between us, then places his hands on my cheeks. As he lowers his eyes, his shoulders slump. “Mads, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be an asshole, okay? I’m really stressed and don’t mean to take it out on you. Will you forgive me?”
I study his face, contemplating walking away because I’m so frustrated. Instead, he grabs my hand and pops a brow, looking cute as hell. I’m weak because when he gives me that look, it’s impossible for me to stay mad at him.
When I shrug, not wanting to give in right away, the corner of his lips tilts up in a smirk.
“Are you hungry? I can make you something. Or we can order food.”
I suck in a deep breath, then nod. “You know the way to my heart, don’t you?”
“How about pizza and a movie? I’ll even let you pick one of your girly rom-coms.”
“Now you’re just trying to bribe me,” I tell him matter-of-factly, shaking my head at how easy it is to let him back in.
Liam chuckles. “Is it working?”
“I guess. But I’m gonna find a super cheesy over-the-top romance just to make you suffer.”
I plop down on the couch and search through Netflix.
I don’t bring up the Mercedes or his trip out of town for the rest of the night, though my curiosity nearly eats me alive.
Although he’s sitting as far away from me as he possibly can, at least he’s not acting like a dickhead.
But regardless, it’s hard not to take it personally when he lashes out at me.
It’s been almost two weeks since Liam bought that luxury vehicle.
He still hasn’t admitted how he can afford it or where it came from, regardless of how much we’ve pestered him about it.
We’ve all silently agreed to let him be because he’s like a vault.
He’s not budging, and we don’t want everyone tense around each other.
The school year has finally come to an end, and I had to return to my on-campus apartment to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind before turning in my keys.
While I’ve been living at Mason and Liam’s house since the end of November, I decided a few months ago to move in permanently. It feels too much like home to leave.
As I fold a pair of shorts, there’s a knock on my door. I tell whoever it is to come in
“What’re your plans this afternoon?” Sophie asks.
I look at the huge-ass pile of laundry on my bed, then back at her. “Dunno, thought I’d maybe bury myself in these clothes.”
“And Liam’s clothes.” She snickers, walking over and sitting on the bed next to me. She pulls a pair of his boxers out of my basket.
Scoffing, I dig through my gigantic pile and notice he’s mixed his clothes with mine again. “That bastard!”
“I think he needs his ass kicked for that.” She chuckles, grabbing one of his T-shirts.
“Agreed,” I say, separating his stuff from mine. “Has he said anything to you, Soph? Mentioned anything about Vegas or gambling?”
“No. I thought maybe he gave you a little hint or something.”
“Nope. Not a damn peep. Mason heard anything?” If anyone knows, hopefully, it’d be his best friend.
“Mason has no idea. We’ll get to the bottom of it. The Corrigan sisters have a mystery to solve.”
I snicker, knowing how relentless Sophie can be.
“So what’re your plans this summer?” she asks.
“Getting Liam to finally admit he’s madly in love with me, pierce my nipples, and save up for a car.”
“Madelyn!” She laughs, grabbing socks and pairing them.
“What? Well, I’ve done one of those things already…” I lower my gaze because she’s about to scold me.
“You. Did. Not.”
Bringing my eyes to hers, I shrug. “Wanna see?”
Sophie snorts. “Surprised I can’t see them through your tops now.”
“Well, I’m wearing padding so they can heal. They said it can take six months for some, but others say only a month, so I’m hoping it’s the latter.”
I got them done after my recital, and they’re healing fairly quickly.
“Why? So you can flaunt them around Liam?”
“Obviously,” I quip. “One of these days he’ll crack.”
“Alright, so you’ve done one out of three so far,” Sophie says. “You wanna buy a car?”
“Yeah, I can’t rely on you guys all the time, so I might teach more classes to earn some extra money,” I admit, hating that I have to bum a ride anytime I need to go somewhere.
It’s almost as bad as living back in Utah and having my parents take me everywhere.
“The owner told me they were looking for someone to teach the extra baby ballet and tap dance classes over the summer when I mentioned possibly searching for another job. I might take her up on it.” I grab some hangers from the closet and hand them to Sophie.
“Teaching more classes instead of having to find something else would be nice. The kids adore you and you’re so good with them. Plus, you can dance in your sleep.”
“Yep. Work smarter, not harder. Since I’ll be busy, maybe it’ll at least keep my mind off Liam.”
Her laughter is contagious, and soon, I’m laughing too. “I don’t think anything will be able to do that.”
“I can try, though.” I grin, walking out of my room with Liam’s shit in tow. He’s crazy if he thought I was going to fold them too.
“You should put on some clothes,” Liam tells me while he eats cereal at the kitchen table.
I’ve caught him staring at my breasts several times since I got them pierced. They’re healed enough now that I don’t have to wear the padding, and the outline of the barbells show through.
The first time he noticed, he nearly choked to death on his beer.
Sophie laughed so hard she fell off the couch.
It’s a moment I’ll never forget because it solidified that he’s still attracted to me and is fighting it for whatever reason.
It was one hundred percent worth the pain of getting them done.
“It’s late June and it’s hot as hell outside. Sports bras and booty shorts are my summer attire. Should be used to it by now, Hulk.”
Classes finished six weeks ago, so now that I’m always home, we see each other a lot more.
Liam still makes overnight trips when he’s working, but he hasn’t gone to Vegas since he bought his expensive new car.
Or at least he hasn’t mentioned it. I’m not sure if that means he’s done with gambling, but I like that he’s staying closer to home.