Damn.
It was even worse than I'd imagined. His girlfriend didn't just leave him for someone else. He'd walked in on the girl he was going to propose to in bed with his best friend.
My heart ached with sympathy. I placed my hand on his back.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I can't imagine how much that must have hurt."
"The worst part?" he chuckled darkly. "That wasn't even the first time that happened. I walked in on my mom once, too. Walked in on her fucking that asshole she left us for. I was young, but not too young to know what was going on. That was the catalyst. She knew she couldn't keep it a secret anymore. So she told my dad and took off."
"Oh, fuck," I whispered. I scooted closer and laid my head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Liam."
"I know it's no excuse," he said. "I know I've got shit I have to work on. But being betrayed like that, twice… It's a hard thing to get over. " He ran a hand over his face. "It kind of fucked me up."
I ran a soothing hand up and down his back. "I understand."
"When I got that invitation to the wedding… I went a bit nuts." Liam kept his eyes forward, trained on a point in the distance, as if he couldn't make himself look me in the eye. "Then I saw you with Morris and it was like my worst fear was coming true. The woman I loved was going to leave me for another man."
My hand stilled. My lungs squeezed and released, taking the breath away from me.
Love.
He'd said it.
Liam said he loved me.
I was still stuck on those words, unable to move past them, but he was still speaking, as if he hadn't registered the importance of what he'd just confessed to. As if he hadn't even realized he'd said it to begin with.
"So when I said it had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with me, I meant it. I was upset and jealous and paranoid and I couldn't stop thinking about what Paula had done. What my mom had done. In the back of my mind, I think I was just waiting for it to happen again."
Liam finally turned to look at me. My eyes were still wide with shock at his use of the L word. He cupped my face, brushing a thumb across my cheek gently.
"I never wanted to hurt you," he said. "That's the last thing I would ever want to do. I was just so worried you were going to be the one to hurt me, first. I don't think I could have taken that. If you had truly left me for Morris, I think it would have destroyed me."
I stared at Liam. I stared into those green eyes. Earnest, aching.
I lowered my head to rest my forehead against his. I closed my eyes and took in a shuddering breath.
"I would never hurt you like that," I told him quietly. "I would never betray you. Because I—" I steeled myself. I never thought I'd say these words ever again. But now, looking into those eyes, I knew the truth. "Because I love you, too."
Liam let out a pained sound and crushed me to his chest.
"I am so fucking sorry," he murmured.
"I know," I said. "I understand. And I forgive you." I pulled back, just an inch, until our lips were a mere inch away. "But if you ever say shit like that again, I really will kick you in the balls."
He choked out a laugh before pecking a quick kiss on my lips.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," he murmured.
That small peck, the briefest of kisses, sent a tingle running through me, like a direct line from my lips to the very core of me.
I had never craved him so much, not even before we started dating. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was his confession. Maybe it was the real truth about him that made my heart melt. Whatever it was, I had to have him.
I’d missed him so much. I’d missed the man who’d made me pour my heart out to him. The man who had made me believe in love again.
I pressed my lips against his, running my hands up his cheeks to cup his face.
A quick laugh escaped him at my move. His familiar embrace surrounded me in seconds.
