My footsteps are muffled by the carpet as I make my way down the hall. No sign of Pierce. His door is closed, no light visible. Maybe he’s asleep, or maybe he’s out doing whatever Pierce does when he disappears these days. I don’t knock on Liam’s door, just turn the handle slowly and slip inside.
He’s propped up in bed, the blue glow of his laptop illuminating his face. His hair is slightly mussed, like he’s been running his fingers through it, a sure sign he’s been working on something complicated. He glances up and gives me that small half-smile that always feels like coming home.
“Hey. Good game,” he says, closing his laptop.
“Not me. I just wore a nice suit.” I shrug out of my jacket, draping it over his desk chair.
“The suit was doing important moral support work.”
I laugh softly as I kick off my shoes and pull my tie loose. Liam shoves his laptop onto his nightstand, on top of a stack of books. He shifts over without being asked and pulls the covers back, making room as I climb into his bed still wearing my dress shirt and pants.
The sheets are warm from his body heat as I curl myself around him. And then the scent of peaches hits me. It’s mixed with his scent. My brain goes offline for a minute as I take it in.
“I slept with Ash tonight,” Liam says quietly into the darkness.
My eyes snap open. I wait a beat. I wait for that jealousy of someone else’s hands on her to come flooding in. But it doesn’t. I turn to look at him, propping myself up on one elbow.
“Really? That’s awesome.” My enthusiasm is immediate and real. “Was it good? You didn’t have her stay over?”
Liam looks slightly taken aback by my response. “No, she went home. And yes, it was… good.”
I fall back onto the pillow, grinning at the ceiling. “This is perfect.”
“You hoped I’d sleep with your girlfriend?” I can’t read into the emotion behind his voice.
“She’s not…” I start, then pause. “I mean, we haven’t had that conversation yet. But yes, that’s how a pack works, right?”
Liam is silent for a moment, processing this. “You want her to become part of our pack.”
“Obviously.” Well, it’s not obvious until just this second. I turn to face him again. “She’s amazing. And the way she smells—”
“Beckett,” Liam interrupts, his voice taking on that careful tone he uses when he’s about to say something difficult. “We need to talk about Ash.”
The shift in his tone makes me tense. “What about her?”
“I’m worried.”
“If this is about you thinking she’s after my money or fame again…” I sit up, suddenly defensive.
“No.” Liam sits up too, facing me. “I was wrong about that. This is something else.”
“Like what?”
“Have you noticed how she behaves sometimes? How she flinches when someone moves too quickly?”
The questions hit me like physical blows because, yes, I have noticed. I just hadn’t pieced it together as something coherent.
“She’s just… careful,” I say, but even to my own ears, it sounds weak.
Liam shakes his head. “It’s more than that. It’s learned behavior. Defense mechanisms.”
I think back to the science center, how she’d been so lost in the light display until that kid interrupted, and how quickly she’d folded back into herself afterward. How she’d reacted when the paparazzi photos appeared online, her genuine fear. How she mentioned her father being old-fashioned.
“So? Pierce is like that sometimes too.”
“Yeah? And why is Pierce like that?”
I open my mouth and then shut it.
