Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
Danika
I can’t sleep. Not like a normal night where I’d toss and turn or wake up from the horrid feeling of the same traumatizing memory, but I can’t sleep in the sense of…
there’s a man in my living room. A man who isn’t my roommate’s boyfriend but an exceptionally large one with tattoos.
A member of an MC and he killed someone tonight.
The air is too thick, too polluted with tension.
He’s still here in my apartment and how do I know? Because I haven’t heard him leave. You can hear a coin drop on this creaky ass floor.
Screw it.
With an aggressive toss of my bed sheets, I peer out through the crack in my door and stealthily open it.
He’s right where I left him, on my sofa, on his back, his hands folded over his stomach, but I can’t tell if he’s asleep.
What if he’s not breathing? Wait, why would he not be breathing?
I roll my eyes at the stupid intrusive thought then trudge forward.
I make the lightest, quietest footsteps ever as my bare feet touch the cold hardwood.
There are creaks and squeaks as I approach the couch and hopefully, he doesn’t notice me looking ridiculous for sneaking up on him like this.
Liem.
It feels odd to call him by that name, when all this time I’ve only known him as Hush. But I like Liem. It suits him. Hush doesn’t do him enough justice. Doesn’t give him enough meaning. There’s so much more to him then just his quiet persona.
His long body makes the sofa look doll sized as he’s stretched out, eyes closed.
Shallow, small breaths are rhythmically visible from his chest rising and falling.
My shoulders drop, loosening from their earlier tension and I take this moment to weirdly stare because I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so at peace.
His long, jet-black lashes graze the tops of his sharp cheek bones.
His full lips relaxed, the pinks of them standing out on his pale skin.
But then that peace vanishes. A quiet moan escapes him as his eyes start fluttering and his body trembles.
He's having a nightmare.
Do I wake him? Let it pass maybe. I go to inch closer, but I catch my foot on the corner of the coffee table.
Ouch.
Forgetting the pain, the action sends me falling right on top of Liem, chest to chest and he jerks awake. As he should.
His hand flies up, wrapping around my throat and the Liem I know isn’t here, the Hush I thought I knew, is someone else entirely. The grip he has on me tightens and I let out a choking sound unable to breathe.
Reality sets in and he blinks. Realizing he’s not in his nightmares but inside my apartment with me, he releases me, jerking his hand away.
“Fuck. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?
” The gruffness and panic of his voice sends a chill rippling through me, and his eyes are full of terrified concern.
He reaches out stroking the spot that is already sore from his grip.
I cough, my throat now sore. “I’m sorry. You were having a nightmare, and I freakin’ tripped and…” I tilt my head down in shame, registering I’m still on top of him. Underwear out because my baggie T-shirt is now crinkled up past my ass cheeks.
We stare at each other, his chest heaving in and out.
We are so close, bringing back the memory of being snowed in at his place, but this feels different, the air seems different.
It’s like we share the same breath. I don’t know how to explain it, but what I know for sure is, he’s remarkable.
Handsome. Stunning. My hands rest on his bare chiseled chest, slightly clammy from the nightmare he had just endured.
His eyes dip the slightest to my mouth, down my body. His feather like touch on my neck creeps downward, his thumb grazing my skin until he stops right above the top of my breast. The tension penetrates my lungs making it extremely hard to breathe.
But with the utmost disappointment, he flicks his gaze away like I’m a nasty human being lying on top of him. And just as I’m about to throw myself off, there’s hushed voices on the other side of the door, a key fiddling with the lock and then it swings opens and my heart dips into my stomach.
Liem is up, his hands holding my arms to help me not fall back and then he’s shielding me with himself like the two people who just walked in are going to try to murder us. Only, it’s not potential murderers, it’s my roommate and her boyfriend.
They both halt their hushed laughter and freeze.
“Oh shit. Sorry. Didn’t know you had company.
” My roommate, Stella, and her boyfriend peer at me with wide eyes.
Their gazes flick back and forth between me and the large body of a man towering in front.
I’m glad for the shield, remembering I don’t have on pants.
Luckily, my shirt falls at my thighs. But it’s an anxiety that’ll never go away, being vulnerable like this.
Being a target because I let myself get looked at.
Women shouldn’t have to think that way.
It’s a long minute, but I peek around Liem, to greet my roommate who I haven’t seen in weeks. Her suitcase makes a thump as she sets it down beside her leg.
“It’s not, we weren’t… I thought you were in Hawaii.” I actually didn’t know for sure where Stella was, we don’t exactly have a tight relationship as roomies.
I give a friendly and awkward wave to her boyfriend who I never really cared for, and he nods back, taking in my bare legs under my short T-shirt. Which doesn’t go unnoticed because Liem inches another step.
“Oh yeah, that, well.” Stella finishes dragging her suitcase inside and closes the door behind her. “We never went because our flight got cancelled.” There’s something weird in her tone but I’m not about to address it.
I don’t ask where she was this whole time because truthfully, it doesn’t matter. All I am to her is another person to help pay rent so she can take her fancy vacations with her douchebag boyfriend.
What the hell’s his name again?
Her boyfriend keeps glancing over at us. Probably because both me and Liem are stuck to the floor like I didn’t just get caught straddling him.
“Dude, are those my pants?”
All three of us look, though I clearly already knew, and Liem carries the same blank look.
I quickly say, “He needed an extra pair. Hope that’s okay.”
He just shrugs and heads for the fridge. “Looks like your roommate doesn’t know how to keep the fridge stocked. There’s no fucking beer.”
Stella ignores him but spares a few more glances at Liem. I mean, he’s hard to miss and especially without a shirt. “You two look like you might pass out or throw up. Don’t let us stop you from whatever it is you were doing.”
But before I can defend our nothingness, Liem speaks. “I was just about to leave.”
“Ah, come on, man. We can all hang out. Play some cards. Tell stories.” Stella’s boyfriend chuckles like he’s mocking us.
He’s a cocky asshole.
Liem spares him a tight glare, before looking over his shoulder at me. “You gonna be okay here?” He glances down at my legs, and a flash of anger appears.
Of course he’s running for the hills. This is all too much, and after last night the last thing he wants is unwelcome company.
He goes to say something keeping his eyes locked on my bare legs, but I pay him a gentle smile. “Let’s go. Your stuff is in the bathroom. Though it might still be damp.”
Liem’s brow raises and he stalks closer into my space. “You washed my clothes?”
I swallow, fidgeting with the bottom of my shirt, tugging it down more. “I didn’t think you’d want the reminder of it all.”
Our whispered conversation makes it seem like we’re alone.
He studies me a beat. “Come with me.” Liem takes my hand, dragging me away from prying eyes and listening ears, then closes the bathroom door behind us. My back presses against it as he throws his hands on either side of my head. I gasp as the warmth of him seeps into my soul.
His head hangs low before locking eyes with mine. “How could you be so nice to me? After what I’ve done.”
My eyes narrow, and I gently reach up embracing his face. “Because you have a kind heart. You’re a good man, Liem. Despite what you may think of yourself.”
His breathing staggers, making the space incredibly thick between us. He stares down at my lips and my eyes flutter, taking in his familiar feeling.
“Liem—”
“Hey! I gotta take a piss,” Stella’s boyfriend shouts through the door and Liem backs away, sending an annoyed heated glance over my shoulder.
He tugs on his shirt and hoodie, and I open the door, her boyfriend barreling inside.
He smirks, his eyes red rimmed and he crowds my space for no reason, sending me trapped against the wall.
“Thanks, Dani baby.”
A low, subtle growl comes from Liem as he pushes Stella’s boyfriend with enough force it knocks him into the cabinet behind him.
Liem barricades himself between me and no name.
He’s wearing his cut now which douchebag notices because he’s gone a weird shade of gray and the earlier smirk he wore has dropped to a frown.
“Oh fuck,” he says in a low tone laced with fear. “You’re screwing a biker member?” Instant regret because his mouth parts in terror.
It’s too late though because Liem throws a firm punch straight into his nose.
“Holy shit. What the fuck?” No name stumbles, holding his broken nose. “I’m bleeding, man!”
“What the fuck is going on?” Stella appears in the doorway and falters in step after seeing her boyfriend in shambles. “Ethan? What happened?” She lays a hand on his arm taking us both in. A look meaner than I’ve ever seen on her. When I see her that is.
My palms lay flat against the bathroom wall.
“He punched me! It won’t stop bleeding!”
Liem causally walks up to Ethan, grabs him by his shirt, and drags him over to the sink. He smacks the faucet up, forcing Ethan’s head underwater.