I didn’t respond. I was scared but I couldn’t show him weakness, Liam was on the attack tonight.
But apparently, he could read it on my face. “Good. Means you’re not completely stupid.”
Not exactly reassuring, but coming from Liam, it might have been the closest thing to a compliment I’d get.
“Are you scared?” I asked.
He paused, and his jaw worked like he was chewing on the words. “Yeah,” he said finally. “But we’re doing it anyway.”
Noah clapped his hands together. “Alright. Let’s go over the plan one more time, then you two are heading out. And for the record”—he looked between us—“if you get caught, I don’t exist.”
“Noted,” Liam said.
We spent the next twenty minutes going over the plan. Entry point. Server room location. The exact steps for accessing the system and running the deletion script. Noah walked us through it three times until we both had it memorized.
Finally, he stood. “Okay. It’s ten-thirty now. You need to get to Kingswell and wait for the security sweep. Once I confirm it’s clear, you go in.”
Liam grabbed a black hoodie and with his dark jeans, he looked like he was about to rob a place. He looked good.
My hands were shaking. I shoved them in my pockets. Noah was going over the blueprints and Liam turned to me. Close.
“Hey. We got this.”
We... as in us together.
I looked at him and he wasn’t smiling. Wasn’t trying to make it seem easier than it was. I didn’t get it. Just a moment ago he was berating me in front of Noah. But when no one was looking he was here for me, he cared, and he hated me all at the same time.
He was about to risk everything, just like he did at the fight when he defended me.
“Yeah, thanks, we got this,” I said.
Noah walked us to the door. “Earbuds in. Phone on. I’ll be guiding you through. Do exactly what I say, when I say it.”
“Understood.”
We stepped into the hallway. The dorm was quieter now. We walked down the stairs side by side, not speaking.
Outside, the night air bit at my face. Cold and sharp. Liam started walking toward the bridge, and I fell into step beside him, half a pace behind.
I watched the way he moved. Confident stride. Hands shoved in his hoody pockets. Shoulders relaxed despite what we were about to do.
The wind shifted and I caught it—his scent. Soap and deodorant.
It hit me like a wave.
Brackett Lake. Those early mornings at the marina before our shifts started. Before the sun got too hot and we got sweaty from hauling fuel lines and cleaning pontoon boats. Just the two of us happy to see each other.
Back when we just wanted to get closer to each other because there was nothing in the way. So close that I could smell exactly this, his soap, his sweat—just Liam.
I imagined what it would be like if this was normal. If we were just... together. Boyfriends. Walking back to my dorm after hanging out with Noah. Not hiding. Not calculating risk. Just existing in the same space without it meaning the end of everything.
Going to parties together. Studying in the library. Him waiting for me after practice. Me waiting for him.
Normal things. Simple things. Things I’d never have.
Neither of us said anything, but as we crossed back toward Kingswell—toward the building we were about to break into—I felt the weight of what we were doing settle over me.
This was real.
