Chapter 24 Liam
LIAM
Haley:
Do we need sour cream from the store?
The text had me smiling down at my phone, which apparently all the guys had noticed.
“There he goes again!” Rex yelled, while a few other guys joined in laughing.
I ignored them.
I think we still have some…but I know we’re out of whipped cream.
Haley:
Why would we need whipped cream? I’m cutting back on the pie, I already told you and Millie that.
I bit back a laugh.
Because I want to see what it tastes like when I lick it off of you.
“Hey, Liam. We gonna spar or not?” Rex slammed his gloves together, bouncing in place.
“All right, all right,” I said, leaving my cell behind. Haley loved trying new things in bed, so I had no doubt she’d pick up a ridiculous amount of whipped cream now.
“You ready?” I asked, sliding my gloves on, hearing the front door buzzer go off. From the way everyone seemed to fall quiet, I had a feeling it wasn’t Jay coming in to train.
I turned around and saw Colson walking toward me, wearing his workout gear.
Aw, shit. This was not going to be good.
“In the middle of a session, man.” I tipped my head to him, trying to be respectful, but my best friend just dropped his gym bag, letting it fall to the floor with a loud slap.
“Rearrange it. I want in the ring with you.”
Shit.
If Haley knew her brother was about to get his ass kicked, she’d be pissed at me.
“It’s all good, man. You took too long texting your woman, anyway.” Rex gently hit his glove against mine then exited the ring.
Colson’s jaw tensed while he slipped his gloves on, and then he was climbing into the ring.
“You good?” I asked, trying to gauge where he was at with things. He had texted me after the wedding and it was not a thank you for being his best man.
He jumped in place and huffed. “I’m good. Clean fight.”
Right. Clean, my fucking ass. This asshole wanted to kill me.
“Fine.” I began mirroring his movements until we’d both warmed up enough. I watched as he began looking for an opening.
“We gonna talk?”
“About what?” I played it like I didn’t get his text messages, but they were seared in my brain. The morning after his wedding, he had come up to our floor and knocked on our bedroom door. Haley never woke, but I slipped out and quickly shut the door behind me.
We didn’t say a single word to one another as his gaze flicked to the door at my back.
I could almost hear the wheels turning as he processed what he saw the evening prior, along with how quickly I’d shut the door.
We only stared at one another for thirty seconds before Nora walked up and interrupted, calling Colson away.
Then his messages started coming in.
Colson:
MY FUCKING SISTER, LIAM?
You better explain yourself.
Never mind, there is no explaining THIS. She’s too young, Liam. I warned you about this. I fucking warned you not to go after her. Why her?
Does this have anything to do with you leaving for 9 weeks?
Fuck, man. I’m so pissed off at you, but for now I am going to enjoy my honeymoon, but the second I’m back, we will discuss this.
That would be now.
“How was your honeymoon?” I asked as if nothing at all was amiss.
He came at me with a hook, going for my jaw, and since I didn’t even have my mouth guard in yet, it would have fucking hurt, but I blocked.
He lunged again, all anger and rage, zero patience or thought.
I went for an uppercut but realized he didn’t have his mouthpiece in either and ended up hitting his arm.
“You want to fight without properly protecting yourself? Do it somewhere else.”
I lowered my fists, and Colson chose that moment to hit me in the nose, making my head snap back.
“Fuck!” I groaned, holding my glove up to my nose.
My eyes burned as the sting spread around my face. Blood gushed from my nostrils, but I knew it hadn’t been broken.
Cole rushed forward, ripping his gloves off. “Shit. I didn’t mean to make you bleed.”
“What the fuck did you think was going to happen when you punched me in the nose?”
My gloves were off, my fingers gripping the bridge of my nose and my head tilted back.
Colson stood there, his face grim as he watched. Someone tossed us a rag from below and I held it to my face.
“She is my sister, Liam,” Colson said after blowing out a heavy sigh.
My eyes were still watering but I watched as his face took on a million different expressions. Sadness, shame, fear…all of that played out as he stood there, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I am aware.”
It was a low blow, but so was that punch.
He let out another gust of air, “You get women fawning over you all the time, Liam. Why did you have to go after her? She’s just starting her life. She’s been through so much shit from her parents, from me. She needs someone who will be good to her.”
“And I won’t be?” That fucking hurt.
Colson bowed his head, shaking it before asking, “Why her? Is it just that she was around?”
I pulled the rag away from my nose, finally feeling the flow clot. There was going to be a bruise and zero chance I could hide this from Haley.
“Why did you wait for Nora?”
Cole’s head snapped up, his eyes latching on to mine in challenge.
I shifted forward, needing to grab some ice.
“You couldn’t have her, yet you didn’t date anyone else. You said you did, but we both know that was bullshit. You waited for her. Why?”
My friend ducked under the rope and held it for me so I could exit the ring. Once we were on the mats, I moved toward the locker room with him on my heels.
“I waited because I knew that no one else would ever fit with me the way she did.”
Finding the mirror, I saw my nose. It was red and puffy, and there was swelling around my eyes too.
“That’s why it’s Haley and none of those other women. No one has ever fit with us the way she does. I love her, Cole.”
My friend watched me, as if he was sure I’d add something else to the end of that statement. Or take it back. When I dipped my face to rinse off the blood, I heard him clear his throat.
“Love…that’s… I thought…didn’t it just start at the wedding?”
I grabbed a paper towel and blotted my face. “No, man. It’s been going on for months. Shortly after she got here. And yes, it is why I left. She wanted more of a foundation, and I couldn’t handle being around her if I couldn’t have her.”
His face remained impassive as he watched me in the mirror, until he finally asked, “Does she know?”
Turning away from the mirror, I sat down on the bench and stared at the floor, thinking over how I wanted to word this.
“She knows I feel strongly for her, but I haven’t explicitly told her that I love her.”
Finally settling next to me, Cole leaned forward placing his elbows on top of his knees.
We sat there in silence, just watching nothing as the sounds from the gym lightly reverberated through the locker room door.
“Have you told her anything about Lacey?”
This was not something I wanted to discuss, but for the sake of transparency and getting back in a good place with my best friend, I answered.
“She knows some things. Lacey confronted her before I left. It’s what made her want space.”
Cole turned and lowered his head so that when he spoke it was quiet.
“Does she know what Lacey did to Maddy?”
Fuck. No. At least I didn’t think she did. I assumed Haley would have mentioned something if she heard that story from Maddy.
My best friend knew all this shit about me because for the first time in my life, I actually had someone to share the burden with, but I wasn’t eager to share my greatest failure as a father with Haley.
She would be sweet about it, but there’s no doubt she’d look at me differently if she knew what I had allowed to happen, all because I was in love and wanted the mother of my children to be okay.
I let out a sigh and decided we’d done enough sharing. I had people to train and investors to reach out to.
“Are you going to be okay with us? I’d like to know so we can come visit. The girls will miss you.”
Cole stood, tucking his hands into his pockets. His jaw clenched and then his eyes lowered. That was answer enough for me.
I began to walk away when he stopped me.
“Just promise that you’re going to be good to her. That if Lacey comes back into the picture, suddenly sober and looking like the world’s greatest mom, you won’t drop Haley for her.”
What? Why would he ever even assume that?
“Why the fuck would that even be in your head?”
With a lift of his left shoulder, he simply said, “Because she’s the mother of your children.”
“My girls are the greatest gift I’ve ever been given, but surely you don’t honestly think I would ever take Lacey back,” I looked around, outraged by the notion that my best friend honestly thought I was that much of an idiot.
The way his eyes fell told me he was ashamed he did.
Seething, I paced away from him, bringing my hand to my nose, only to remember too late that it was busted.
“For the record, I am not pining for my ex-wife. She’s been playing the sober, perfect mother card for over a year. After what she did to Maddy, there’s no fucking way I would take her back.” I sighed, feeling defeated.
“We have to get past this. For the sake of our friendship, the girls, and definitely Haley. All of it.”
He nodded, and finally gave me his full attention.
“I’ll support you both. It might just take me a while to get used to it.”
I searched his face, needing to make sure. “You won’t freak out if I kiss her in front of you?”
Cole’s eyebrows shot up. “You already told the girls?”
My chest squeezed at the thought of sitting them down and telling them. There hadn’t been anyone permanent in our lives since their mother. This was a big deal.
“I will be telling them tonight.”
“Shit. Okay, yeah, we’ll get on board. I haven’t said anything to Nora yet. I won’t until you give me the green light that you’ve told the girls, okay?”
I nodded and then we stood and clapped each other on the back.
Now I just had to figure out how to convince Haley that it was time to tell the girls.