A sob tore its way up my throat as I felt every single truth in the song. We weren’t right for each other. We had hurt each other so much.
Him with his lies, but me…I had hurt him by refusing to allow even an ounce of forgiveness when I knew his intentions were honest.
And yet…he loved me so very deeply, and I knew in my heart that I would never love anyone the way I loved him. He was part of me, down to the very marrow of my bones. If he walked out of my life now, if this was really goodbye, I wouldn’t survive.
“I will always love you,” I murmured along with him as he poured his heart out for everyone in the bar to hear.
I could no longer hold back the tears as his song came to a close. Clutching my hands over my heart, the traitorous organ broke as the idiocy of my decisions rushed to the surface.
“Bailey? Are you okay?” Cheyenne asked, gripping my hand.
I shook my head as the tears fell hard. After all this time, my heart had finally decided to mend, but it was screaming at me to give Liam another chance. To let him back in and forgive what I had once deemed unforgivable.
“I need to see him!”
I shoved my way through, knocking people aside in my haste to find Liam and tell him I still loved him—that I couldn’t live without him.
But as I got closer to the stage, someone else was already taking their turn at the microphone. He was gone.
“No,” I whispered, my eyes scanning the room for him. “He’s gone.”
“There!” Cheyenne shouted, pointing to the door.
My eyes darted there, catching just a glimpse of his hat as the door swung shut.
“Excuse me!” I shouted, pushing my way through the throng of people. “Move! I need to get to Liam!”
“Hey! Watch it!” someone shouted when a drink crashed to the ground.
But I didn’t care. If I didn’t catch him now, it might be too late. He was saying goodbye. He was telling me he was giving up, and I just couldn’t live with that. Not when my heart had finally healed. Not when I knew that I would never be happy if Liam Parker wasn’t in my life.
“Coming through!” Cheyenne shouted. “Lady with a baby!”
The crowd went silent and parted for me, their eyes wide as they stared at my flat stomach.
“Great. Way to start the rumor mill,” I snapped as I bolted for the door.
“Hey, I cleared the way for you. Go get your man!” she cheered as I flung the door open and stepped out into the pouring rain.
Looking left, I couldn’t see a damn thing aside from the rain falling in sheets. The cold drops chilled my skin as I stepped further into the downpour and scanned the sidewalk until I finally caught a glimpse of someone in the distance under a streetlight.
“Liam!” I shouted, running after him.
I splashed through puddles, water sloshed into my boots, and a permanent chill settled into my bones in just the few seconds I was outside. But none of that mattered when the man I loved was walking away from me.
“Liam! Wait!”
I wasn’t even sure he could hear me over the sound of the rain hitting the metal roofs and the cars driving past, splashing water gathering on the side of the road as it fought to drain at the curb.
“Liam Parker! Stop right now!” I shouted as I ran down the sidewalk, my clothes soaked, my body chilled.
He paused, his large body turning ever so slightly. Time slowed as his hat tipped forward, the rain spilling off the rim. Then his dark eyes peeked out and landed on me with an intensity I hadn’t felt in months.
I hadn’t even realized I was missing that brooding gaze until right this minute when it hit me like a thousand thorns piercing my skin and splaying me open, forcing me to admit what I had been denying since I thought he betrayed me.
Without Liam, I was just bouncing through life, not really living at all. But as his eyes connected with mine, I just knew that no matter what happened between us, I wouldn’t really be alive unless I was in his arms.
“You’re leaving me?”
