A second later, he catches my wrist. I yank out of his hold and spin around. “Don’t touch me.”
He holds up his hands and steps back, a panicked look in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have grabbed you. I just…” He tugs a hand through his hair and lets out a heavy breath. “That’s not what I meant.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Really? That’s funny because that’s exactly what you said, wasn’t it? ‘She’s not anything to me.’”
He shakes his head. “I only said that because I didn’t want to spill my guts to a guy whose job is to invade my personal life.”
I let out a sad, weak laugh. Hot tears burn my eyes. I glance off to the side and quickly blink them away.
A sudden wave of fatigue hits me. I’m so tired of this. I’m tired of the years of pushing aside the pain he caused when he insulted me in college. I’m tired of this weird, strained friendship we’ve had.
“Kendall.” My name is soft and pleading on his tongue. “Just let me explain. I swear, I didn’t mean it like that, I was trying to?—”
“You know what, Liam? I’m not interested in anything you have to say anymore.”
“Kendall, please.”
I ignore him as I walk to my car. I climb in and drive off. And that’s when the tears fall.
Chapter 25
Liam
Iboard the private plane, my stomach in knots as I look at Kendall.
She’s standing a dozen feet in front of me, smiling as she talks to Micah. They put their bags in the overhead compartment and slide into their seats.
Right as Kendall sits down, she catches eyes with me. Her smile drops. Pain flashes in those big brown eyes. My heart sinks.
A second later, she looks away and nods along with whatever Micah is saying to her.
Regret stabs through my gut. Even just the sight of me hurts her.
And why wouldn’t it? After what happened last week, I don’t expect her to look at me any other way.
I think back to that night when Kendall and I shared that hot-as-fuck kiss in the alley.
My dick twitches just thinking about it. Her lush lips, the way she moaned into my mouth, the way she hooked her leg around me and pressed her pussy against my hard cock, the way she pulled my hair the more turned on she got…
And then that paparazzi scumbag came along and fucked it all up.
Except he’s not the one at fault. Yeah, he interrupted us and ruined the moment. But I’m the one who ruined everything because of the way I answered him when he pried into my personal life…
She’s not anything to me. We’re just friends.
I grit my teeth when I think about what an asshole I am for saying that.
I didn’t mean for it to come off that way, like Kendall means nothing to me. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
I think about her constantly. Her laugh, her smile, the way her eyes light up when she’s talking about books and poetry, the way her hair falls around her beautiful face, the way she teases me and gives me shit. Fuck, I miss her.
I only said that to the paparazzi dickhead because I wanted to protect Kendall. I didn’t want him to know that she meant anything to me because if he knew that, he’d go after her too.
I’ve been playing hockey professionally for years so I’m used to getting hounded by those annoying paparazzi dicks. They’re fucking vultures. They follow me and my teammates around the city and when we’re traveling for away games. And it’s not just the players that they harass. They go after significant others and kids too. And it’s fucked up because it’s not illegal. Paparazzi can pretty much do and say whatever they want to get a photo or film us.
I didn’t want Kendall to go through that. Just the thought of those scumbags trailing her and harassing, especially when she’s out with her aunt, makes me want to rage. So that’s why I said she didn’t mean anything to me. It was the only way I could think to get rid of the guy and protect Kendall.
