“Dude, you seem very nice, but—”
“I’m gonna do you a favor, Ty. I can read between the lines ofdudeandbut, so I’ll just say it’s nice meeting you and be on my way. Hope you have a good night.” I could tell he was sincere as he offered a friendly handshake.
I took off, moving quickly, determination rising with my rage as I stomped out of the bar, heading down the street. Turning the corner onto a side street that took us back to Liam’s building, I searched around, hunting for the ditcher, when I spotted the back of his jacket and that familiar size and shape of his head. He walked down the sidewalk, back toward his place.
Motherfucker.
As I neared him, I called out, “Hey,asshole.”
There was fire in my insult, and he stopped, turned back to me, his eyes narrowing like he was surprised I hadn’t taken advantage of the opportunity he’d set up. As I caught up with him, I stopped in front of him, tucking my hands in the pockets of my jacket.
Again, that silent stare, but unlike the other times we’d shared it, I didn’t feel like I was seeing anything other than red.
“What was that back there?”
“Was Joey not your type? The way you were looking at him, you coulda fooled me.”
“Wait. Was that some kind of test?”
“No, I thought I was helping myfriendout.”
I cringed at the way he emphasized that word.
“I don’t get what’s going on here, Liam.”
He hesitated, taking an exaggerated breath before saying, “I can’t give you whatever it is you’re here for. I’ve been honest with you from the start that all I could be for you is a friend.”
It was like he’d taken a hot poker and shoved it through my chest.
“Honest from the start? Tell me there’s nothing here, then. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t feel a goddamn thing and that it’s all in my fucking head.”
“Is that what you want to hear?” His words were ice-cold, devoid of emotion.
Maybe I’d made up this fiction in my head about what I was feeling…what I figured we were both feeling. No, I wasn’t making it up. I thought about all our conversations, about the way he made excuses to touch me more when we were near each other, same as I did with him. The way we fucking danced together. As I reflected on it all, how it felt like we just kept inching closer and closer together and now he was shoving me away, it pissed me off.
“Screw you, Liam,” I muttered, stomping past him.
Pain coursed through my body.God, he wasn’t wrong. He hadn’t misled me with his words, but his actions, those told an entirely different story, and it pained me to think that I could have gone off with Joey, had the best sex of my life, and Liam wouldn’t have given a damn. That there I was, hurrying down the sidewalk of Boystown, and Liam wouldn’t even care enough to try and soothe my pain.
I hadn’t made it a few yards before a screeching sound captured my attention, and I spun around.
A black van came to a stop on the side of the road, beside Liam. The side door was already open, and three men in black pants, long-sleeved shirts, and ski masks jumped out.
The fuck?
Van screeching to a stop? Black ski masks?
My rage vanished as my worry about Liam escalated, and I hurried my ass back to him.
As the guys approached him, I noticed one held a handgun, which he aimed at Liam, clearly who they were after.
Liam moved quickly toward him, faster than I figured a guy his size could move. He seized his attacker’s wrist, and as the gun went off, it shot one of the other attackers in the arm.
Not with a bullet, though. Some sort of dart.
The one who’d been shot cursed but went for Liam, who seized him by the throat and slammed his head against the armed attacker’s. The remaining masked assailant put something to the back of Liam’s neck, what looked like a Taser, and as it shot, Liam called out.
Fortunately, I was just in time, hurling myself at his assailant, wrapping my arms around him and forcing him to the ground with me.
