The guy cowers down as Liam hovers over him. Liam’s chest heaves as he glowers at the guy. He reminds me of a caged animal that is aching to break free and attack.
“Don’t ever fucking do that again,” Liam growls at the guy.
He nods. “I-I won’t.” He looks over at me. “I-I’m sorry.”
Liam leans down and pulls the guy up by his shirt. And then he punches the guy in the stomach.
The guy falls to the ground with a howl, clutching his stomach.
Liam hunches over him. “Get the fuck out of here.”
The guy hobbles off down the street, disappearing down the hill.
Liam walks back over to me, pulling me into his arms. “It’s okay,” he whispers, holding me tight.
I close my eyes and deep breathe, sinking into his warm body. I get a lungful of his spicy, woodsy scent. It’s instant comfort.
I nuzzle into his chest and it’s a second before I realize that he’s shirtless.
I lean back and look at his bare chest. I gaze up at his face. “No shirt?”
He flashes a half-smile that’s so sweet, my chest aches.
“You called right when I got out of the shower. I had time to put on sweatpants and not much else.”
I notice he’s barefoot and his hair is damp too. “You must be so cold.”
He gently grips my chin in his hand and shakes his head. “I’m doing just fine. How are you?”
I try to speak, but my brain feels tired all of a sudden. Like the stress and panic of the last few minutes are trying to work their way out of my system, and my brain is having trouble verbalizing how it all feels.
Liam presses his mouth to my forehead. “It’s okay,” he says softly against my skin. “Let’s go inside.”
He takes my hand and glances at the bag of food in my other. Somehow I managed to keep hold of that in the chaos of everything.
As if on cue, my stomach growls.
“Let’s get you fed,” he says as he leads me down the sidewalk to his front door.
Chapter 38
Kendall
“Is there anything I can get you right now?” Liam asks.
He’s sitting next to me on his couch, looking at me with an intensity in his eyes I don’t think I’ve seen before.
I shake my head and offer a small smile. “I’m stuffed.”
He takes my empty plate from me. “Congrats, firecracker. You’re queen of the clean plate club.”
I let out a soft chuckle. He drops a soft kiss to my forehead before standing up and walking to his kitchen.
When he comes back, he tucks the plush blanket on top of me tighter around me. I let out a soft hum.
Ever since Liam saved me from that creep, he’s been in caretaker mode. The moment we stepped inside his place, he walked me to his couch and draped this blanket over me. He made sure I ate and drank enough. He seems to understand that I don’t want to talk, so he hasn’t peppered me with questions. He flipped on the TV to my favorite guilty pleasure show—Real Housewives of Orange County. He just let me eat quietly and watch the show while he sat next to me and did the same.
He’s been so sweet and protective and doting. It’s making me warm and fuzzy all over. And pretty emotional too, if I’m honest.
