Shit.I’d just woken everyone up.
Milton and Lexie shuffled back to bed while Liam stayed behind.
Danny sat back on his heels. “You’re still having those?” he asked, referring to my nightmares.
I used to get them all the time for the first couple of years after it had happened. Danny and Mom would take turns, coming into my room to wake me, but my mom was rarely there, so it was usually Danny’s burden.
I shook my head. “When I moved out, they kind of stopped. I only get them once or twice a year, usually around this time.”
Danny’s eyes fell to the floor as he nodded. “Ten years next week.” He shakes his head. “I can’t believe it.”
I noticed it was still dark outside and glanced at my watch on the window ledge. “It’s five o’clock? I’m sorry, guys.”
We hadn’t gotten back to the house until after three thirty in the morning, and even though I’d darted to my bedroom as soon as I stepped through the front door, afraid to be around Liam any longer, the rest of the band hadn’t gone to bed right away, as I had. They’d probably just fallen asleep.
Danny shrugged and patted my leg.
Liam continued to watch me intensely, like he was waiting for me to spontaneously combust. I forced a tired smile to try and ease his worries.
“You still free that day?” Danny looked over his shoulder when he reached the door.
That day?He’d asked about it like we were going to the movies.That daywas the anniversary of the day our dad had died.
“Always.” I sighed, remembering our yearly visit to the cemetery to visit Dad.
Rain or shine, we planned our lives around it. The only day of the year where Danny, Mom, and I were all in the same proximity of one another. And for the most part, we got along, but that was usually because we didn’t talk.
Liam lingered in the doorway after Danny walked back upstairs. I gripped the sheets covering me as I held his stare.
He cleared his throat and quickly poked his head out the door before he quietly shut the door behind him. It only took him three strides with his long legs to reach me.
I stared up at him.
He jutted his chin out, telling me to make room for him, and when I did, he climbed in beside me. The bed dipped from his weight as he made himself comfortable, folding an arm behind his head to rest on.
“Liam? What are you—”
A flash of nerves sparked in my stomach as he wrapped his free arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. As much as I’d thought he was testing me when he came in, like the time I’d napped in his bed, I now thought he was actually testing himself. This was uncharted territory for the both of us, but he was battling an internal struggle on his own as he lay with me. I could see it in the crease of his brow and the indecision in his eyes. But I could also feel the pull he had to me, and I, to him.
He was choosing to cross a line. One that Danny might not approve of. And maybe one Liam didn’t want to cross but felt he didn’t have a choice.
“Liam,” I protested even though my body had already started to curve to fit his. Not that there was much room not to. “I don’t know what this is for, but if you’re trying to comfort me, I don’t need it. I’m a big girl.”
I lifted my head up when he didn’t respond.
He stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought.
“Liam?”
“I know you don’t need it, Av. But I need …”
My head got tired, so I rested my chin on his chest. “What? What do you need?”
He focused on me again and wiped away what was left of my tears that hadn’t dried. “I need to be near you. All right?” He sounded annoyed that he’d had to admit that out loud.
I suppressed the smile fighting its way to my lips.
“Don’t do that.”
