Chapter 35
thirty-five
MAYA
“I can’t believe you’re related to Kennedy Rhodes.”
“And I can’t believe I told you she’s my step-sister. I’ve never actually told anyone that since I left home. It’s my best kept secret.” Liam brushes a few strands of hair behind my ear and settles deeper next to me on the bed. “Do you have superpowers, Maya? How is it that I’ve spent the night telling you everything I’ve always kept to myself? What kind of magic are you?”
I smile innocently even if I feel anything but. I’m positive I did not wish for him to tell me any secrets, but my heart skips a beat all the same.
And he’s right. Something about this night does feel like magic. It’s not a unique situation for me to spill my guts to a guy, but it is for them to listen, to really want to know me. And that’s how Liam feels, like someone who wants to understand everything about me.
The feeling is addictive. I can’t get enough.
And once he started opening up about his own family, the mother and step-dad he barely speaks to, the sister he desperately wants to see more of, the fact that he was willing to share any of it with me has me swooning harder than a Disney princess.
“Kennedy’s not what people think, though,” he continues. “She could not be more down to earth. I just wish she wasn’t so busy touring all the time. I want her to know my daughter.”
Now I understand why he didn’t blink an eye at who my family is, not when his sister is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. He didn’t seem impressed or intimidated by our money, which I find incredibly refreshing.
“Have you told her that?” I ask.
“She knows.”
“It never hurts to remind people when you want them in your lives.”
He grunts. “You’re probably right.”
“I actually met her once,” I say, hoping it doesn’t freak him out.
“Really? Where?”
“In the bathroom,” I offer. “At the Met Gala.”
His head falls back as he laughs. “Of course you did.”
I roll onto my side to face him. “She was really sweet. I had been crying when she walked in and she stayed and talked to me for a while.”
“What were you crying about?”
“A guy, of course.” I say it like I’m a cool girl now that would never cry over a guy. Somehow I can already predict how hard I’ll cry over Liam. Everything tonight has felt like a dream, too good to be true. There’s no way he’s as perfect as he seems.
His hand comes up to cradle my face. The move is so incredibly gentle, like he knows exactly how fragile I am, how delicate my heart is.
And then, almost like the thoughts in my head are his own, he kisses me.
Softly. Deftly. Desperately.
He rolls us until he’s lying on top of me, our bodies fused together like the twisted vines inked on his calves.
“Liam, I—” I lick my lips, catch my breath, pray for a little courage. My eyes track a sliver of light making its way through the blinds, the first hint of sunrise. “I didn’t know I could feel this way, not this quickly. Not after one night. But you…” I lose my train of thought when his lips find mine again, more urgently than before.
“I didn’t know I could feel this way at all.” His fingers sink into my hair, sending shivers across every inch of me. He peppers quick kisses all over my face, my neck, my shoulders, and then he sits up, moving off the bed. I whine at the loss of him and he laughs. “I just need to find my phone, check in with the nanny.”
“Right. Of course.” It’s almost morning and he has a kid at home. I cannot let myself get upset about him leaving.
“How about I run home to change and make sure everything’s okay with Poppy. And then I come back and take you to brunch?”
“Really?” I ask, and I hate how excited I sound. He has all the power here and he knows it.
“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than spend the day with you.”
He makes me so giddy I have to pull the sheets up to cover my ridiculous grin.
After a few seconds of watching him get dressed, I get up to help him find everything. Both of us have clothes strewn all over the apartment.
“No, stay in bed,” he urges. “You look too good there. I’ll call you when I’m on my way back, I still have your number in my pocket.”
I dive back under the covers, knowing this smile won’t be going away any time soon.