26
Avery
The expression on Danny’s face the following days was always the same, even when Liam and I weren’t in the same room. He was mad, and he had a right to be. I was just glad he hadn’t kicked me out, but something told me he wouldn’t have done that even if he had walked in on us in theact. He was too good of a person. He put up this cold front, but he was a softy through and through, and at the end of the day, he loved me despite our past.
Liam seemed distant. He still found ways to touch me or kiss me when Danny wasn’t looking, but he hadn’t come into my room since before Nina’s birthday. And the one night I had gone to his room, he had been sound asleep—or at least, I’d thought he was.
I tried to come up with a reason. Maybe it wasn’t as exciting for him now that we weren’t sneaking around; the adrenaline wasn’t there for him anymore. But I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d scared him away after telling him that this was more to me. More than sex.
The band was busy working on the new album and finishing up their tour, and I had more than enough schoolwork to take up my time, so maybe it was better to end things this way. Slow and painless rather than quick and heartbreaking. I’d be gone on Sunday, and it would all be over. No more late-night hook-ups or morning cuddles. I’d fall asleep, surrounded by my books, as always, and wake up alone.
My lungs burned as I settled into the bottom of the pool. I pinched my eyes shut and continued counting, but I couldn’t ignore the pain any longer. I made it to my personal record when my diaphragm began to spasm and knew it was time to come up.
The sound of water breaching overhead made my eyes shoot open, and I saw Liam’s shape swimming down toward me. I pushed off the bottom as he circled his arms around my waist and swam us both up to the surface.
I nearly choked on the oxygen as soon as I was above the water, coughing and heaving my way to the wall. Liam pulled me out of the water like I weighed nothing, and that was when I noticed he was still fully clothed.
“What the hell are you doing?” He seethed.
My body tensed like a coiled rope. “Swimming.”
“The fuck you were!” He ran his fingers through his wet hair, shaking his hands when he finished. “You were underwater for at least two minutes!”
“Almost three and a half.”
Liam released a dry, humorless laugh as his neck muscles twitched. “What the hell is wrong with you? You nearly gave me a heart attack! What were you trying to do? Were you trying to—”
“I was holding my breath!”
“Until you didn’t feel like it anymore?”
“I was about to come up before you jumped in!” I urged.
His chest rose and fell with labored breaths as he studied me.
“Ask Lexie! She walked in on me in the bath one time, doing the same thing.”
“I’m sure she enjoyed that.” He sat up and threw my towel over my shoulders, keeping one arm around me for warmth.
My breathing began to even out as we sat at the edge of the pool with our feet in the water.
“What’s going on, Avery?”
Knots tightened in my stomach. I wrung my long hair out, hoping to put off my answer but it was no use. He could sense something was off about this the moment I’d tried to tell him it was nothing. I knew this wasn’t normal, but I had been doing it so long that it’d slowly become normal to me.
“I would think after what you went through in the river, you’d be scared of the water.”
I shifted uncomfortably, swirling my feet in the pool. His gaze tore through me like a warm blade, leaving me exposed. It was like he could see everything for what it was with me.
“Oh. Shit,” he muttered. “Avery…”
I shook my head to try and stop the tears from forming, but they came anyway.
Liam tightened his arms around me. “You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay.”
“The water isn’t what haunts me.” Hot tears sprang loose when I met his stare. “It’s knowing I could’ve saved him if I’d stayed under longer.”
“Oh, Avery. No.” Liam’s voice came out in almost a whisper as he pulled me into his lap. “You don’t need to carry that. Your dad wasn’t wearing a seat belt. He was gone the instant you guys hit the water.”
