“No, you shouldn’t have, but those two are out of control. What the hell were you thinking, stepping between them?”
“I was thinking that I wanted them to stop fighting in the middle of Ruthie’s diner.”
“You’re lucky he only hit your cheek. How bad is it?”
“Well, it doesn’t exactly feel like butterfly kisses,” I muttered.
Sighing, he pulled me into his arms and rubbed my back. “Bailey, you’re a fucking mess.”
Chuckling, I buried my face in his chest. “I know.”
“Those assholes don’t deserve you.”
“I didn’t sleep with Archer,” I mumbled, not even sure if he could hear me with my mouth pressed against his shirt.
“What?”
I stepped back, ducking my head. “I said I didn’t sleep with Archer!”
Brody winced as he nodded to Mayor Cameron as she hurried past us.
“Maybe this isn’t the right place for this conversation.”
“Why? The whole town is already talking about me. What’s a few more tidbits of gossip for them?”
“Piglet, you have to stop giving them things to feed on.”
“I didn’t give them anything on purpose. All I did was go for breakfast at the diner. Cora made sure the rest played out precisely how she wanted.”
“Well, if there’s gossip, Cora would be right in the center of it.”
“The whole town is, Brody. Let’s not place the blame all on one eager waitress,” I sighed. “Well, I guess that’s the rest of my day ruined. Along with my outstanding hangover, I now have a pounding headache to match it.”
“Come on,” he held out his arm. “I’ll take you home. Then you can tell me all about what really happened last night.”
“I thought you wanted me to stop spreading gossip.”
“I do. To everyone else, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what really happened.”
We started off toward my apartment, but it was clear he wasn’t going to let this go.
“And what did you hear?”
“Well, I heard that after you dragged Archer out of the bar, Liam was pissed as hell and got blind drunk. He followed you outside…”
I only half listened as he rambled on about the latest slice of gossip about his dear sister. My thoughts kept drifting back to the diner and the way Liam reacted. He’d swung at Archer, and for what? He made it perfectly clear he didn’t want me.
Now that my memory was back, though a little fuzzy, I remembered the way he talked to me last night, how he threw me out of his house. There was no mistaking his desire for me to leave.
So, why did he hit Archer?
Why cause any trouble at all if he no longer wanted me?
That thought plagued me the entire way home, all through the day, and at night when I was lying in bed, trying desperately to think of anything but him.
33
LIAM
