“How’s Matt?” I asked, his wellbeing mattering more than this stupid feud over who we’d spent our nightwith.
“What?” Liamblinked.
I turned toward Lucas. “How is he? Did he also get bangedup?”
“He looks better than I do. Fucking Alex Morgan. I was this close”—his index finger hovered a breath away from his thumb—“to killing him. This.Close.”
“I’m really sorry you guys got jumped,” I said, “but I stand by my conviction. Sarah cozied up to Alex Morgan to getusinformation. Not to give themany.”
Lucas narrowed his eyes at first, but then he shook his head, tossing his shaggy black hair. “I don’t buy that, Clark. She’s a Creek through andthrough.”
Tension whirred as loud as the AC vents blowing cold air into the high-ceilinged room. It was interrupted by the ringing of a cellphone.
Lucas pulled it out of the pocket of his black mesh shorts. “It’sFrank.”
“Pick it up,” Liam said, “and tell him whathappened.”
“He probably wants to speak withy—”
“Just take the call, Lucas. And tell him I’ll call him back when I’m donehere.”
Meaning, when he was done hauling me over thecoals.
Once Lucas had walked to the other end of the gym, busy recounting the Creeks’ trap, Liam said, “You didn’t tell me the Watts would be at your birthdaydinner.”
“Why are we still talking about that, Liam? And how do youknow?”
“After Lucas and Matt got jumped, you weren’t answering your phone, so I tracked you through the blood-link to tell you what happened. Led me straight to that fancyrestaurant.”
“I didn’t see you,” Isaid.
“I didn’t go inside. I thought better of interrupting your cozy celebration.” After a beat, he added, “You’ve found another family, and there’s no place in it forme.”
And here I thought he was about to admonish me again. My throat squeezedtight.
“I hate how it ended, Ness. I hate that August came back. I hate that you and him have all this history. I hate that whatever fucking God up there decided to link the two of you! Why notus? Why the hell not us?” he whisperedhoarsely.
After the heat of his anger, Liam’s anguished outburst softened my stance. “I didn’t choose him because of a magicallink.”
“You chose him because I failedyou.”
Like my throat, my heart tightened. “Your distrust broke me . . . brokeus. . . but it didn’t drive me into someone else’sarms.”
“Then whatdid?”
“When you slept withTamara—”
“It was amistake.”
“Don’t say that,” I said gently but firmly. “She’s the mother of your baby, Liam. Besides, she’s not a random girl you picked up in a club. You guys have history, just like August andme.”
Pain crinkled Liam’s face. “If I could goback—”
“But you can’t.” A beat of silence filled the cavernous space, disrupted only by Lucas’s animated conversation. “We have to learn to live with our choices. And in the end, even if your intention was to test my affection, maybe what happened is a blessing in disguise. You’re an Alpha, Liam. An Alpha with a strong,strongpersonality.” I made my tone light to sweeten my assertion. “You need a woman who’s willing to bend without breaking. I’m not that woman. When someone bends me too hard, Isplinter.”
He snorted. “You obviously haven’t spent much time with Tamara. She’s notsubmissive.”
I smiled. “Perhaps not, but from what I’ve seen, she worshipsyou.”
