“What are you doing?” he asks suspiciously, and I give him my back.
“Grabbing the car keys,” I mutter.
“You can’t drive.”
I roll my eyes. “They’re not for me.” I don’t elaborate, as I know if I say who they’re really for, Josh might not like it. He sighs in annoyance, and I already know what comes after this.
“Why are you so disrespectful, Bianca?”
I turn around, appalled. “Text Mom if you wanna know why I’m taking the keys.”
“You know—I’m tired of this.” He closes his laptop gently and runs a hand over it. “I’ve shown you kindness, and have provided your mother and you with your every whim. Therefore, youneedto learn to respect me. Especially when I’m now engaged to Kate.”
I’ve been studying Josh, especially how he acts with Olivia. Buying everything she desires, paying for her blind loyalty. He has these little quirks that have been growing more since Mom and him got engaged. For once, I’m sick of always looking down and taking it, chalking it up to stress.
“Respect isearned, and while I appreciate everything, I can’t be bought and won’t fall at your feet because you demand it,” I say, trying to be calm, considering Liam is right outside the slightly opened door.
“Youwillrespect me one way or another,” he promises while I’m walking away. In response, I roll my eyes as I open the door to find Olivia getting out of her car, moving to talk to Liam.
Flirting, more like it.
His eyes snap to mine and Olivia looks over at me smugly. “Did Daddy scold you?” she mocks, and I don’t even know what to say.
Liam moves away from her at that, and I don’t answer as I walk off. Olivia asks where he’s going, but his footsteps don’t stop—in fact, they speed up. I head to the passenger side of Mom’s car, but there’s a gentle hand on my wrist that makes me turn around. His eyes scan me from head to toe; I don’t give him the privilege of eye contact.
“How long has he treated you like that?” he asks. I shrug, not wanting to answer, but he continues. “Does Ms. Kate know? I mean, surely she wouldn’t let him speak to you like that. But when I heard him say that stuff to you ...” He looks at me as different emotions flutter in his eyes. My heart tugs as he continues. “No one should be disrespected like that.”
I take a deep breath, not acknowledging it. “Here are the keys.”
I slide into the car as he walks around to the driver’s side. I take shallow breaths and close my eyes, trying not to freak out.
I can do this.
Liam doesn’t say anything when he climbs in, and when he starts the car, I aim all the air vents toward me. He begins the drive, and I hold the side of my seat in a death grip even though he drives significantly better than Josh does. We go over a pothole and I wince.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Mhm,” I mutter, trying not to show more of my freak-out.
He flicks the turn signal on and again attempts small talk. “So, why don’t you drive?”
While I don’t want to respond, I do. “Don’t have my permit.”
He looks almost shocked that I said something. “Oh, is it because of the—”
“I don’t really wanna talk about it.”
He nods, and I notice the subtle change—if he was driving amazing before, it’s perfect now. That was the last thing he said, and even though my annoyance is with Josh, I’m still not entirely okay with Liam either. For once, I don’t know how to act with him; it’s awkward. It was easy at Josh’s event. We said we’d stay away from each other for multiple reasons. We aren’t the same people anymore, especially the whole thing with him and Vanessa, but I guess that fell through. Then, at the shelter, he was acting perfectly professional and I thought that could work. We would act like there’s no history between us, no vulnerable moments or confessions, just two people volunteering.
But ... I look down at my arm and his words bombard my brain.
Don’t look at the wound. Look at me.
I’m trying to help, Bianca.
For the first time, everything melts away, and it’s him and me. When he was always by my side, when he protected me more than anything else in his life. For a moment, we were Bianca Harrison and Liam Parker, the best of friends, and I recognize how much I miss that.
The neon lights are hard to miss as well as the bustling parking lot. The doors slide open, and Liam sighs as we find a line a little longer than he probably expected. We don’t say anything to each other, and I’m fine until I get the feeling someone is staring at me. Discreetly, I turn and see a group of guys looking at me suggestively. Trying to hide my cringing, I stare down at the floor, counting the specks in the tiles. I desperately try to avoid eye contact with everyone, and on the cusp of feeling extremely self-conscious, I make a move in poor judgment.
