Chapter 7: Liam
The bridge was visible from the boathouse dock.
Emily stood near the middle, hands shoved in her jacket pockets, staring down at the water.
My chest felt lighter than it had in days.
This morning on the water with Alex—the perfect synchronization, the way our blades had moved like we'd been born for it, the heat that had built between us even in a goddamn boat—it was still humming under my skin. Electric. Real in a way nothing with Emily had felt in months.
And now she wanted to talk.
Good.
Because I'd been thinking too. About what I wanted. About the fact that we'd been on a "break" and honestly? This was probably what I needed. No more forcing myself to be present when my head was somewhere else. No more guilt every time we did anything.
She deserved better than what I'd been giving her.
I could tell her that. Be honest—well, honest enough.I'm not ready for a relationship right now. You deserve someone who can give you what you need.
Clean. Simple. The mature thing to do.
I started across the bridge. Footsteps echoing on the wood. The river moved beneath us, dark blue-black in the late morning light. Both boathouses visible downstream—Riverside's beat-up dock, Kingswell's glass and stone monument sitting pretty across the way.
I didn't look at it long.
Emily turned when she heard me coming.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey."
She shifted, arms still crossed like she was holding something in. Her face was harder than I was used to seeing, not anger but frustrated.
"Thanks for meeting me."
"Yeah. Of course."
"I've been thinking about what happened," she said.
Here it was. The opening I needed.
"Emily, look—"
"Let me finish." Her voice had an edge I wasn't expecting. "You lied to me, Liam. About everything that happened that night. And in the hallway—"
She stopped. Swallowed.
"You looked guilty."
The word hit wrong. Made my shoulders tense.
"I know I fucked up," I said. Came out rougher than I meant it to. "I shouldn't have lied about the break-in."
"Are you sorry you lied? Or just sorry I caught you?"
Heat crawled up the back of my neck. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I don't know if I can trust you anymore."
