Chapter 12 #2
My laughter dies off, but a soft smile remains.
Liam can be a lot, especially when he gets going in a group.
He feeds off the energy around him. But he’s also really good at picking up on cues that others might miss.
I’ve witnessed it more than once. Hell, I know for a fact that Nate has seen it.
Nate’s talked about Liam’s intuition more than once on the job, and whether either of them realize it or not, Liam uses that same gut instinct in his everyday life.
“Honestly, Nate? When it comes down to it, Liam might be the most respectful man I’ve ever met. Besides you, of course,” I amend.
Nate’s face twists in confusion. “Liam? Our Liam? We’re talking about the same guy?”
His reaction makes me laugh, and I hit his arm.
“Yes, our Liam.” My belly warms at the term.
“Seriously, he’s really respectful. I mean, sure, he’s flirty and raucous and has zero inhibitions, but I know without a doubt that if I said to him I was uncomfortable with something, he’d stop immediately and apologize. ”
His head cocks to the side, processing what I’ve said. Slowly he nods. “Yeah,” he concedes. “Yeah, you’re right. That is Liam. Willing to push the boundaries, but willing to pull it back if needed.”
“He’s a good guy.” Something that I know my brother already knows. If he wasn’t, Nate wouldn’t be best friends with him. Liam wouldn’t be his second at work. “He’s helped me more times than I can count the last few months. Tonight being a prime example.”
“I would have read that asshole the riot act,” Nate tells me, referring to Paul.
“Which is why it was good it was Liam.”
Now that I’m removed from the situation, and I’ve had time to process my feelings, I can laugh about the look on Paul’s face when Liam started in on him and didn’t quit. The outrage and indignation at each dig Liam made.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Oh, I know I am,” I confirm soundly with a nod. “There’s no way you would have thrown a condom at Paul and told him not to reproduce.”
Nate snorts. “He didn’t.”
“He definitely did,” I laugh with another nod. “And then he apologized because he figured the condom was way too big.”
Nate lets out a howl of laughter. “Jesus Christ. I’ve seen that fucker’s dick, he ain’t enormous.”
My eyes double in size as I gasp. “Nate!”
“What? I’m just saying mine—”
“Nope! Get out!” I cut him off. It’s my turn to wave my hands in surrender before gesturing to the door. “I don’t need you to start talking about your dick. I don’t want to know!”
“Well I didn’t want to know about Bob!” he counters, indignant.
“Out!” I shout at him, pushing him towards the door.
He shoots me a grin over his shoulder, but he goes without any more trouble. With the door open and his big body halfway out of it, he pauses to look at me one last time. “You sure you’re good?”
“I’ll be better once you let me get back to Bob. Now go. I’ll see you in the morning.”
A minute later he’s officially gone, the door is closed, and I’m turning back towards the inside of the room. I don’t even reach the bed before Liam is popping up from the other side of it, his hands immediately hitting his hips.
“My dick might not be enormous, but neither was Mighty Mouse.”
I mirror his stance, jutting a hip out. “Shall I start calling you Mighty Mouse then?”
He looks smug as one corner of his mouth lifts into the type of grin only Liam can give. “How about Mighty Bob? Since apparently that’s what I am.”
“I think I like Mighty Mouth better.”
He slowly stalks around the side of the bed, his eyes darkening as his tongue runs over his lips. “I knew I could do it.”
“Don’t be arrogant.” Even if he deserves to be.
Rolling my eyes as he reaches me, I rest my hands on his chest as his grip my hips. He has just the smallest smattering of hair in the middle of his pecs before it disappears and starts again near his belly button. I don’t generally like hair on a guy, but on him it’s sexy.
Everything about him is sexy. Not just on a physical level either.
On a deeper level. He listens to me and truly hears me.
He’s there for me when I need him, with whatever version of him I need.
The flirt, the goofball, the rescuer, the protector, the talker, or just the company.
I feel seen with Liam in a way I’ve never felt seen by another man.
It’s a slippery slope that I’m on. I fully realize that.
Coming back to the hotel was the best thing for me. I needed the break from everyone to sort through my thoughts. Of Paul, and why I reacted the way I did. Of Liam, and whether or not I should be continuing down this path with him.
It might only be a couple more days, but after today I realized how much havoc those couple of days could play on me. Especially when I know that Liam doesn’t see any of it the same way. I had to make peace with that if I was going to continue.
When I opened the door for him tonight, I felt at peace with my choice, slippery slope or not.
“Did you mean all that stuff?”
Lifting my gaze to find his serious one, it takes me a moment to realize what he meant. “What I said to Nate? Of course I did.”
The smallest of smiles lifts the corner of his lips. It’s strange not to see him in a full blown grin or at least with his signature smirk. Sure, I’ve seen some other expressions this week, but there’s a shyness about him that I don’t understand.
“Thanks.”
His arms wrap around my waist, and he pulls me in, pressing my body flush to his in a tight hug that has him burying his face into the side of my neck.
It catches me off guard. It’s not like we haven’t hugged before, but it’s normally him comforting me.
This feels more like him needing comfort.
Sliding my arms around his neck, I squeeze him back, only understanding that he needs this.
“Suppose my reputation is pretty bad when my own best friend is questioning how I act around his sister,” he says with a self-deprecating chuckle, his voice half muffled by my skin.
It makes me hug him fiercely. Now I understand.
Nate had no idea that Liam was on the other side of the room, and it couldn’t have been easy for Liam to hear those thoughts that weren’t meant for his ears.
I thought the penis comment would have more of an effect on Liam, but now I think I was mistaken.
“I think he was just worried after seeing Paul,” I reassure him, curling my fingers into the hair at the back of his head. “I think it threw him as much as it did me. At least until you showed up.” Turning my head an inch, I press my lips to his cheek. “Thank you, by the way.”
“I’ll be there for you anytime you need.”
We stand like that for a while. Neither of us moving, neither of us willing to let go of the other. Just taking strength from each other in the ways we both need while we breathe in sync. It’s calming and peaceful, making me wish that we could stand here like this forever.
Finally he takes a deep breath, releasing it against my neck in a light chuckle. “Guess I’m not really giving Nate a reason not to question how I am, am I? If he knew the things I’ve been doing to you…”
It should probably make me feel guilty. Hell, the whole situation tonight with Nate should probably make me feel guilty. But I don’t. I broke my promise, and I feel terrible about it, but I’m not going to feel guilty anymore. How can I feel guilty about something that feels so right?
It was one more of the things I thought about with my alone time. I love Nate to pieces, but I don’t regret a second I’ve spent with Liam this week.