“He’ll come around. You just have to be patient with him,” Tequila tells me, gulping down the last bit of her Long Island.
Her positivity is admirable, and I wish I had the same outlook on life. But she doesn’t fully understand Liem. Not like I do or have grown to. It sounds cocky but I understand him. I know what makes him tick, for the most part. What makes his inner voices haunt him daily. The pain is too familiar not to understand.
After a short while, Liem breaks away from the guys and sits by himself at the bar. Knowing him, his social battery has run out.
With Tequila on Throttle’s lap, I sneak out of sight finding myself unable to stay away any longer.
Approaching him, I can feel the flutters in my stomach. “Hey.”
The floor beneath me screeches when I scoot my stool closer to Liem’s. Wanting to absorb his presence even if it’s a selfish thing to crave.
“Hey.”
“You don’t drink?” I ask, eyeing the water at his palm.
“I used to. But then I realized if I didn’t stop, then I never would.”
His words cut through me, sharp and hard. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I told you before, this isn’t for you to bear.”
“You seem to trapmydemons, why can’t I help carry yours?”
“You have enough scars, and I won’t let you take on mine. You’re too special for that kind of ugly, Danika.”
A slow song starts as I stare deeply at his profile. “Dance with me.”
His jaw moves, as he stares straight ahead. “What?” Only a sliver of uncomfortable movement.
“Dance. With. Me. Please.” There’s a slight beg to my voice, but I don’t care anymore. I’d beg for him, plead for his attention and touch.
Liem darts his focus anywhere he can, avoiding me completely, searching for an escape. Well, damn. I didn’t mean to frighten the poor guy. I just asked him to dance with me.
“Hey. It’s okay. We don’t have to. Let’s just sit here and—”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” I agree, and turn in my seat, getting into an awkward position.
Way to go, Danika.
“I mean, yes. I’ll dance with you.”
I move slowly as he pins me with a heated stare and my heart jumps.
We rise, and I snag his hand in mine taking the lead. His warmth pours over me as we walk to the dance floor. Tequila and Throttle are sweetly slow dancing. She smiles over Throttle’s shoulder, and I give her one in return.
With me and Liem facing one another, I peer up at him and him down at me. This doesn’t have to be weird, but neither one of us has probably done this in a long time.
I go to make the first move, to lift my arms around his neck, but he quickly places a hand at the small of my back.
I’m a goner.
I all but melt at his touch and step closer, leaving a tiny length of room between us.
I snake my arms around his neck. The shaky breath he lets out is telling and I step back to allow him more space, more breathing room, but he then pulls me into him, my body barricaded against his chest and I breathe him in. Soak him in until I feel like I might crumble into a million pieces.
We sway to the song, and he pierces me with his stare. A cover songis strumming through the speakers and nothing else exists. Not the bar. Not anyone. My demons are gone. My monsters, too. It’s a world where nothing bad exists. Not the man who took everything from me. Just me and Liem.
