I ignored him and continued, “The same guy who sent that video to everyone to watch repeatedly until I had to be transferred to another school after being harassed so much.”
The muscles in his jaw worked, and I wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh at that or contradict it. It had been his fault; there was no way he could argue around that.
A familiar pain danced in my chest when a new song began to play on the radio. Without hesitation, I stabbed a random button on the stereo, begging for it to stop.
Liam glanced from me to his stereo, surprised I’d had the audacity to touch it.
“Jesus. It won’t happen again. Sorry,” I said.
“What do you have against Billy Joel? Because I can just pull over here and you can walk home.”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Just…bad memories.”
He looked at me like he was expecting some sort of explanation, and I knew he would keep pressing until he got one.
“My dad was a huge fan and used to sing all of his songs around the house. He taught me how to sing and play that one on the piano.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, remembering performing it that night—the last night he’d ever heard me play.
“I’m sorry.” Liam’s silky tone filled the cab sometime later.
My eyes opened and froze on a green guitar pick that must’ve fallen on the floor.Was he apologizing? To me?
“It must be hard, not having him around and things like that reminding you about it all the time.”
My mind fumbled for a response, but when we locked eyes for a brief moment, none was needed. He knew what it was like to lose a father. Maybe not in the same way, but he’d still lost his. There had to be reminders of his dad everywhere, like I had with music.
For the first time, I saw the stone-cold wall he’d put up begin to dissipate.
My lips curved up. “If you’re still offering, I’ll take that jacket now.”
7
Liam
Daddy issues. I’d never thought I’d have them, but here I was, letting that night my father had been arrested run through my head.
I blamed Avery. I knew that look on her face too well, that feeling of when something brought back an unwanted memory.
I told the guys that I’d be back at Elevens after dropping Avery off at home and a quick change, but once I walked through the door, I didn’t want to leave again. Waking up early to get some hours in at the studio had left me exhausted, but that could also be because of my night with Avery.
As soon as I got out of the shower and climbed into bed, sirens rang through my neighborhood, heading down my street. The sound of police cars echoed in my ears like Avery’s song in the truck, and I was thrown back in time.
Images of my dad with his hands cuffed behind his back were burned into my memory like the flickering blue and red lights. I had known he’d been selling opioids for a couple of years, but I also knew he was doing it to keep us afloat. That was why I worked so hard to get the band going—so he could stop.
Once the band started taking off, I gave my parents nearly every cent I’d earned to help them with bills. But instead of leaving the drug industry, he used my money to take in more supplies. More product. It wasn’t until I found out he’d sold to Danny that I called law enforcement. I knew it meant he’d be put behind bars for a long time, but I couldn’t enable him anymore, and I didn’t want my mother around it. She’d already started using because of him.
I had no idea where she was anymore. My mother had stopped talking to me the moment my dad was forced into the back of that cop car. I missed her, and I hated him. But most of all, I hated that I missed him too.
As the sirens faded off into the distance, so did my memories, but my eyes wouldn’t stay closed. Frustrated, I left my room, took a towel from the bathroom, and headed out back, deciding it was better to wear out my body than to sit in bed for the next few hours, thinking.
After I swam six or seven laps, Danny appeared beside the pool with the two girls I’d shooed off at the bar earlier. His arms were draped over their shoulders like they were holding him up more than he was holding them.
“I brought you a present,” Danny said.
The redhead giggled and stepped forward while her friend licked the inside of Danny’s ear.
He shrugged. “I thought since you didn’t come back to the party, I’d bring the party to you.”
I hoisted myself up out of the pool. Water dripped from my trunks onto the redhead’s shoes, but she was too busy eye-fucking me to care.
