"That's not the point," I said. "You don't go waving that kind of money around in a place like this."
His forehead creased into a confused frown. "It's a kid's fun fair."
I wanted to smack him. So I did. I smacked him lightly in the chest with the back of my hand.
"Do you really want to go flashing those bills around?" I said. "Do you not remember the abandoned buildings and broken windows we passed by? Most people don't even make that much money in a week's worth of work. Most people here are probably never even seen that much money in one place. The only people who have are drug dealers."
Now it was Liam's turn to look like he'd bit his tongue.
"Are you saying people are going to think I'm a drug dealer?" he asked under his breath.
"No." I scanned the room with a furtive eye. I couldn't stop myself from picking at my nails, flakes of polish coming off under my fingers. "I'm saying people are going to think you're a rich asshole and some of them are going to want to get a piece of that."
A look of understanding finally crossed his face. Understanding and chagrin.
"I thought this place had been cleaned up since you last lived here…?" he trailed off.
"Cleaner, yes. Spotless, no."
"So you're saying I might get jumped and shanked in an alleyway?"
I nearly reeled back. Liam words were like a bullet through my chest. A bullet that shot through the almost-healed fissure inside me, cracking it wide open. Dark tendrils oozed out, slithering between my organs, wriggling their way between my ribs. They congealed in one big mass around my heart, threatening to clamp down and squeeze the life out of me.
Liam couldn't have known how close to the truth he was.
"I didn't even think of it like that." His eyes weren't focused on me. They were now scanning the room warily, just as I had done.
I forced myself to breathe, taking a slow, shallow lungful of air. My fingers and toes tingled, my body both chilled and boiling hot at the same time.
"I'm sorry I'm an idiot." Liam returned his attention to me. His face turned concerned. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
I hadn't meant for the words to sound so curt, but it was hard to talk through my tight throat.
Liam took both my arms gently in his hands, making me face him. I didn't know what he saw in my expression, but his own turned pained.
"I'm sorry," he murmured again. "I should have realized."
His green eyes were so soft, caring. They were like a beam of green light blasting through the darkness.
The dark tendrils writhed and squirmed, fleeing that glow, disappearing back into the fissure. My breathing evened out. I pressed my hands against my thighs, stopping my fingers from picking at the red lacquer on my nails.
"I'm fine," I said. "I just want you to be safe."
"I'm sorry I made you feel otherwise." He leaned forward and tilted his head down.
I put a hand up to still him. "No PDA in front of the children."
He paused, then tipped his chin up and pressed a kiss to my forehead instead of my lips.
I heard a burst of high-pitched giggles from behind us.
"Someone's got abooooyfriend," came a chorus of voices.
I groaned and thumped my head forward onto Liam's chest.
"Great," I said. "Jessie's going to get a hundred letters from angry parents appalled at the inappropriate behavior their children were subjected to."
