Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Days have turned into weeks, and the weeks have turned into months since our night on the bookstore roof.
The afternoon light brings warmth and a happy respite from the rain over River Falls, the sky an unbroken blue after a week of gray days.
Will walks beside me, close enough that I don’t question where he ends and I begin.
His hand drifts to my lower back as the sidewalk narrows, not possessive, not gentle, but protective, and I hate that my head and my heart have already learned the difference.
Margaret insisted on meeting us in town, just for a walk, she’d said when she came over to the bookstore earlier this morning. She’s standing near the fountain when we round the corner, pink hair vivid against the gray stone, her purple coat unmistakable. She beams the second she sees us.
“There you are,” she calls. “I was starting to think my favorite grandson ditched me.”
“I could never ditch you,” he retorts playfully.
She looks over and smiles when she sees me. “How are you doing, dear?” She asks.
Before I can answer, I notice Will shifting in front of me.
A small half step that puts half of him in front of me.
I feel his hand slide from the small of my back to my hip in a firmer grip as if he is bracing for something.
That’s when I notice the man standing beside Margaret and recognize him instantly.
The bar. The drink. The apology that felt rushed and uneasy.
My stomach tightens. His eyes move from me to Will, and a look of relief passes over his face.
“Grandma,” Will says calmly. “You didn’t say you were bringing company.”
She waves a hand. “Oh, hush. Renzo was already with me.”
Renzo grins, eyes flicking between us before landing squarely on Will. Relief flashes across his face.
“There you are,” he says. “I’ve been trying to reach you all morning, Liam.”
The wrong name hits my ears.
Will freezes.
So do I.
The fountain keeps running, and people keep walking around us. The world stays normal around me while something inside my chest tightens sharply as my body immediately hears the name Renzo just said.
“Liam?” I repeat quietly.
Renzo blinks in confusion. “Yeah.”
Margaret laughs lightly, completely unaware. “Oh, don’t mind him. He insists on calling him Liam even though he’s been my Will since the day he was born.”
My chest tightens, and I look up at Will. “What’s going on?” I ask.
Margaret turns to me, smiling warmly. “Oh, sweetheart, didn't Will tell you? His name is actually Liam William Davenport, William is after my husband. I’ve called him Will since he was a baby because Liam sounded too serious for such a happy baby. Liam only ever comes out on paperwork and business nonsense.”
She chuckles.
Renzo’s smile fades.
Slowly. “You… didn’t know?” he asks.
The silence that follows is devastating. I turn toward Will, toward the man I kissed on rooftops, who wrapped me in his jacket, who let me believe he was safe. “Will?” I whisper.
He doesn’t answer. His jaw is tight. His eyes are a dark shade of blue; they almost seem black.
“Your name,” I say carefully. “Is Liam?”
Margaret’s smile finally falters. “Oh? You didn’t know?”
Renzo swears under his breath. “Fuck.”
I step away from Will, the space between us suddenly unbearable. “You’re Liam Davenport.”
“Lilly…” Will, no, Liam says while reaching out towards me.
“No.” The word slips sharply out of my mouth. “Don’t touch me!”
Margaret looks between us, slow realization dawning that something bad is happening between us. “What’s going on, Will?”
Will exhales, slow and controlled. “She didn’t know my first name was Liam,” he said to her before turning to me. “I was going to tell you, I just didn’t know when...”
“When?” I demand, cutting him off. “After I trusted you more? After I stopped looking for exits?”
Renzo runs a hand through his hair. “I thought she knew, man. I swear.”
“I don’t care,” I whisper. The town keeps moving around us. Laughter, footsteps, life around me continues while mine feels impossibly small and broken into many pieces.
“You’re Liam Davenport,” I say again, suddenly the pieces making sense in my brain. “The man I ran from.”
“Yes,” he answers quietly. The single word feels like betrayal.
Margaret steps forward instinctively. “Lilly, I'm sorry I didn’t know.”
“I know,” I say, not looking at her. “You didn’t lie to me.”
My eyes stay locked on him. “But he did.”
His gaze doesn’t waver, instead his expression hardens slightly with resolve. “I wanted you to know me without our backgrounds poisoning it.”
“And when I kissed you?” My voice cracks. “When I let myself want you?”
“That was real,” he says immediately.
My laugh sounds sharp and broken. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“I didn’t force you,” he replies, low and dangerous.
“No,” I whisper. “You just let me fall without telling me what I was falling into.”
Margaret presses her lips together, pain flickering across her face. “Liam would never do anything to trap you.”
“I wasn’t trapped,” I say softly, looking up at him again. “I was tricked.”
His eyes darken. “Careful.”
I lift my chin because I won't shrink. Not now. Not again. “Or what?”
The tension between us snaps tight, electric and volatile; there's still that part of me that wants him even after being confronted with the truth.
“I need space,” I manage to say, far steadier than I feel.
He nods once, controlled. “Take it.”
I turn away before my legs give out. Before he can see how badly my hands are shaking. Behind me, Margaret’s voice trembles. “Lilly…”
I don't stop to look back at him. I cross my arms over my chest to keep the trembling at bay and walk away from the first person who makes me feel safe and wanted, besides my dad.
And behind me, his voice follows, quiet, certain, devastating. “You can hate me as Liam,” he says. “But you don’t get to pretend you didn’t feel anything for Will.”
My throat tightens from unshed tears, and I know I need to leave before I do anything I’ll regret even more. I turn to look back, and I continue walking back to my home.
The worst part isn’t that he found me. It’s that some part of me still knows he’s right.