“If you like, I could track down Rupert and have a chat with him instead. He might be missing some teeth afterward, though I’m sure he could afford dental surgery.”
Oliver shook his head. “He’s your friend.”
“I don’t know how to make you believe he isn’t. No friend of mine would treat you how he did.”
“You set the example.”
Liam nodded slowly, a hint of shame creeping into his gaze. “I know. I’m trying to fix that.”
“If you’re here for a pity fuck—”
“I’m not,” Liam interrupted in a low voice. “I’mtryingto bloody apologize. We can do it for everyone to see and hear if you like, but I’d rather not.”
Oliver studied him for a long moment before finally stepping back, giving Liam room to enter his home. Liam did so, never taking his eyes off Oliver. The weight of his attention made Oliver’s skin prickle, and he half wished he’d put on a shirt after all. Oliver took a few seconds to reset the security on the control panel to give himself time to compose himself. When he refocused on Liam, the other man was no longer looking at him but at the foyer they stood in.
“Lovely home you have,” Liam said.
“Thank you. I’m not offering you a cuppa, if that’s what you were hoping for.”
Liam laughed tiredly. “Still wouldn’t piss on me if I were on fire?”
“No.”
“Right. I deserved that.” Liam rubbed a hand over his face before letting out a heavy sigh and meeting Oliver’s eyes. “I also know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, and I’m not here to ask for it. I just wanted to apologize for the way I treated you when we were younger, for whatever bollocks you’ve had to endure over the years because I was a shit friend.”
The sincerity in his words made Oliver swallow tightly around the lump in the back of his throat. “Why did you make that bet? I wasn’t the only one you hurt because of it.”
Liam shook his head, gaze troubled. “Honestly? Because back then, if I wanted to do something, I did it. That’s the truth, Ollie. I was a prick who didn’t much care about anyone else, and I let myself be surrounded by others who would never tell me no.”
“Some apology.” Oliver nodded at the front door. “You can see yourself out.”
Liam snagged his wrist, keeping Oliver there when he would’ve walked away. “The SAS knocked some sense into me, but I didn’t think about all the shit I’d done growing up that had hurt others around me until after I got hit by Splice. Almost dying puts a lot of things into perspective. It’s not an excuse, because I shouldn’t have done any of it in the first place.”
Oliver was abruptly reminded that the country could’ve very well had a royal funeral instead of a royal birth or wedding over the last few years. Knowing that the man standing in front of him wouldn’t even be here to apologize if not for a quirk of genetics was a disquieting fact. Oliver might have hated Liam when they were younger, but the past seven months of them working together had only proven that people could change.
In the grand scheme of things, Oliver preferred who Liam was now, even if he would never admit it out loud.
“I never wanted you dead,” Oliver said in a quiet voice.
“Don’t lie,” Liam said wryly, still not letting go of Oliver’s wrist.
“I’m not. No one deserves to die by Splice.” Oliver licked his lips, refusing to blink as he stared at Liam. “You know the worst part about that bet of yours? It wasn’t just the social humiliation. I lost a friend and never got him back.”
Liam raised his other hand, warm fingers cupping Oliver’s cheek. His thumb swept over the delicate skin beneath the eye there, and the touch sent a shiver down Oliver’s spine.
“I’m sorry I hurt you, Ollie. It won’t happen again.”
Oliver expected Liam to kiss him like on the roadside, but he didn’t. He let Oliver go, and the absence of his touch made Oliver want it back with a sudden acuteness that ached. He knew the right thing to do would be to let Liam walk out the front door, but Oliver couldn’t quite bring himself to let that happen.
They were older now, and Oliver could live with another mistake if it meant he got to see just how much Liam had changed over the years.
Oliver grabbed Liam by the collar of his stupidly tight T-shirt and dragged him into a kiss that was awkward for all of a second before Liam got with the program. Warm hands gripped Oliver’s waist before sliding around to cup his arse and pull him flush against Liam’s solid body. Oliver hooked a hand around the back of Liam’s neck, keeping him there as they kissed.
Liam was a force to be reckoned with as he twisted them around, shoving Oliver against the front door and sliding his thigh between Oliver’s legs. Oliver gasped against Liam’s mouth as he rocked against the firm muscle there, his cock waking up with interest. Then one of Liam’s hands slid up his torso to grip his chin, tilting his head back a little, making it easier to deepen the kiss. Oliver arched against him, letting Liam hold him there as they kissed until it hurt to breathe.
Oliver tore his mouth away from Liam’s, but that didn’t stop the other man from kissing him. Liam pressed his mouth over the pulse point of Oliver’s throat, sucking at the skin there until it felt like there was a connection between Liam’s teeth and Oliver’s cock. He moaned, and Liam scraped his teeth back up his throat to nip at his ear.
“Tell me to stop,” Liam growled.
