Her expression went flat, and just when I saw her anger coming through and prepared myself for whatever she would say, she turned and pushed through the people behind her—making her way to the door.
“Whew. Talk about drama,” a husky voice said next to me.
I turned and jerked back when I saw Kennedy standing directly beside me. But at second glance, my body relaxed when I realized the wrong sister was standing next to me. “Where’s Kennedy?”
Kira shrugged and turned to look behind her. “Dancing . . . somewhere. I don’t know, I lost her a little while ago.”
“I’m gonna go look for her.”
“You gonna save her from all the big and bad guys at your place, Liam?”
I smirked and gave her a questioning look. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
She held up her hands in mock surrender. “Didn’t say that. You just might want to be prepared for what she throws at you after what happened at the beach. I may have heard what just went down between you and that girl, but she didn’t, and I know she isn’t forgetting what she saw earlier.”
If Kira was warning me, I could only imagine how bad it was about to be. Turning around, I moved slowly through the people standing around drinking and dancing. I was just about to turn around to go back to where I’d left Kira when everything in me halted, and my blood boiled. My hands clenched into fists, and I had to force myself to stay where I was instead of going over to punch a guy sitting on the arm of one of my couches.
Kennedy was practically fucking his thigh along to the music, and his hand started wandering up her skirt as I sat there watching them. I knew I needed to turn around and go someplace where I couldn’t see them. I didn’t have a right to make her stop what she was doing, especially after she watched me with Cecily, but that wasn’t stopping me from feeling like it was my right.
A hand touched my arm, and when I turned, I found Kira looking at me with wide eyes—her head shaking back and forth. “She’s just doing it to get a reaction out of you.”
“Don’t—”
“No, Liam, I know her. I know what she’s doing! She wants to get back at you for this afternoon even if she won’t admit it!”
“Well, then it’s fucking working! But there’s no point to try to stop it when all she has done is push me away, and now I’ve finally given her a reason to.”
Kira’s eyes widened. “There isn’t?”
I ground my jaw and narrowed my eyes at her. “You and I both know she doesn’t want to be saved—”
“That doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be saved by you!” she yelled, cutting me off. “Liam, don’t let her continue to push you away. I know she needs you despite everything she’s done so far!”
My eyes darted to the side, and my body locked up again. Kennedy’s head had dropped back and the guy was leaning his head toward her chest.
Fuck this.
I moved from Kira’s hand and pushed forward through the crowd as fast as I could. As soon as I was close enough, I grabbed Kennedy around the waist and yanked her back before the guy’s mouth could touch her.
She was yelling at me. But with the music and my rage, I couldn’t make out her words as I pulled her away. It was taking everything in me to continue walking forward rather than going back and beating the shit out of someone who had no idea that the girl in my arms belonged to me. I practically carried Kennedy out of the main room, down the hall, and into my room. As soon as the door was shut, I turned and pinned her back against it.
“What the fuck is your problem?” she screamed.
“I want to know the same damn thing, Kennedy! What was that out there?”
Her eyes widened, then narrowed in anger. “You’re really going to ask me that after what I saw today?”
Leaning in close to her, I spoke low. “You have no idea what that was this afternoon, but I’ll tell you it wasn’t welcome.”
“I’m sure,” she bit out. “Because having girls climb onto your lap must be so rough on you!”
“If it’s not you? Then yeah, it is. You would know that if you hadn’t been avoiding me for the last few hours, and then trying to get off on some guy’s leg in my goddamn place.”
A cynical smile was plastered on her face. “What’s wrong, Liam? Jealous because it wasn’t you? Have you forgotten you don’t have a say over who I—”
She cut off quickly when I slammed my hand against the door and put my face directly in front of hers. “You are mine.”
“You do not know me, Liam Taylor, don’t you dare act like you own me!”
“Don’t I?” I challenged. Without giving her a chance to respond, I continued, “One last time, Kennedy. Why are you pushing me away when I know that’s not what you want?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say anymore!” she yelled. “What do you want, Liam? Do you want me to say you’re right? Okay, yes! Yes, Liam, I want you! Obviously you already know that. But I can’t—”
Before she could finish, I pressed my mouth firmly to hers. An aggravated moan rose up her throat before her lips parted—and then she was grabbing me and pulling me closer. My tongue slid into her mouth, and each stroke was matched with one of hers. If I had been watching us, I wouldn’t have known if we were kissing or fighting. Like the night in Vegas over a year ago, there were hands searching, I was situating myself between her legs and biting down on her lip, and she was moaning and arching away from the door—all the while we both fought to be in control of the kiss.
I knew the exact moment she gave in to it. Her body relaxed against the door, her hands began clinging to me instead of grabbing, and her moans turned into soft whimpers. But like at the bonfire, her body suddenly stiffened and she began pushing against my chest. When I looked down, her eyes were glued to her hands, her breathing ragged.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“What?”
“I can’t do this.”
“No. No, you can’t go back to that.”
She pushed harder, but I held her against the door—afraid if I let go she would leave and that would be it for us. “It doesn’t matter if I want you or not, I can’t be with you! Don’t you get that?”
“No, I don’t! For so many reasons, including what just happened, I don’t buy that bullshit for a fucking second!”
She shook her head, indecision and fear covering her face.
“Tell me why you’re scared. Tell me why you’re fighting this.”
“Scared?” Kennedy gave me a puzzled look and laughed. “There you go acting like you know me again, Liam. You don’t. You don’t know me, and you do not own me. You need to forget about what happened between us.”
“Forget about you?” I asked softly. “You can’t ask me to do that.”
Her dark eyes bounced back and forth between mine for a few seconds before they dropped to the floor. “After what I saw of you and that girl this afternoon, I don’t think it’ll be that hard for you.”
“What you saw with Cecily was her trying to make sure you would want nothing to do with me—nothing more.”
She shook her head a few times and choked out, “I can’t.” The words came out thick, and I watched her face tighten as she fought through whatever emotion she was trying to hide from me.
“Kennedy,” I whispered, and leaned close to speak into her ear. “Yes, you can. If you would give us a chance, you’d see exactly why I would be good for you. You’re scared; I want to erase your fears. You’re fighting something that happened long before you met me; I want to face whatever it is head-on so the pain in your eyes goes away.”
She didn’t say anything for long moments, but I stood there waiting for the words that would either confirm what I already knew or cause me to back off for good.
“Moon, please,” I begged.
Her hands pressed against my chest again, and I held back a disappointed sigh as I took a step away. But as soon as I raised my head, her hands were curling into my shirt and she was reaching up to crush her l
ips to mine.
This time there was no fight. Kennedy never tried to gain control. Her body immediately relaxed between mine and the door, and she easily moved with me when I pulled her farther into the bedroom.
Our lips never parted as I laid her on the bed and followed her down until I was hovering over her. One of her knees curled up along my side when I settled my body onto hers, and I ran my hand up her long leg, pushing the loose material of her skirt up her thigh until it was bunched in my hand against her hip. Moving down her throat, my lips made soft passes against her skin, and a frustrated whimper escaped her mouth at the teasing touches. My fingers gripped against her hip and the bed as the need to run my hands over her grew stronger, but I knew if I went there, I wouldn’t stop—and I needed to stop. “You’re done pushing me away,” I said against her skin.
“I’m done,” she agreed breathily. Kennedy’s hands moved from where they’d been gripping my shirt between our chests, and made a slow trail down. The moment they touched the skin just above the top of my shorts, I groaned against her neck as I fought with myself over what I knew we needed, and what we both obviously wanted. Before she could do anything else, I pushed away so I was hovering high above her, and stared down into her dark blue eyes.
“We already know what we’re like together, Kennedy. I’m not making the mistake of starting this with another night like in Vegas.”
“You’re saying Vegas was a mistake?” she asked huskily, but even with the breathy sound of her voice, it was obvious she was joking.
“Never. But sleeping with you the moment you give yourself over to me again would be a mistake. You could easily disappear from me in the morning, or realize how much you don’t want this once the night is over because I rushed things with you again. I’m not taking that chance.”
She looked at me for a long moment without saying anything, her eyes thoughtful. “And if I’m the one who wants tonight to go a certain way?”
The corners of my mouth curled up, and I leaned closer to run my nose down hers and kiss her quickly. “You wouldn’t be the only one who wanted it, but it wouldn’t matter if you begged for it. I’m not risking it after fighting so hard for you. You finally acknowledging that you are mine is all I need tonight. I’ve been waiting for that moment since you fell back into my life, Kennedy Ryan.” After another slower kiss, I pushed up and rolled away from her to sit on the bed.
Kennedy followed me up, but sat facing me. “That girl—what’d you say her name was?”
I looked at her with my forehead bunched together, but before I could ask who she meant, I knew the answer from the way her eyes took on that same betrayed look they’d had this afternoon on the beach. “Cecily?”
“Right, Cecily. Who is she?”
As much as I wanted to say she was nobody, I knew I couldn’t. To any other girl in my life, that would have been my immediate answer . . . but not to Kennedy. “She was one of many girls who meant nothing more than the fact that she was convenient to have around. She also works for your uncle, and we’d been . . . uh, seeing each other for a handful of months before you moved here. Nothing ever happened outside of work or our places. If we happened to be out with the same group, we acted like we worked together and that was it. That was what I liked about her. She wasn’t clingy, and she saw me simply as someone who could satisfy a need. It wasn’t until I backed away and started turning her down when you moved here that she got mad. I think she wanted to make you ignore me, and have me make a big scene so it would look like she had been wronged.”
Kennedy raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat. “Is this—is that what you’re wanting from this?” she asked, using a finger to indicate the two of us.
I laughed and shook my head once. “Are you serious? No. If you were like them, I wouldn’t have thought twice about trying to pursue you—especially after the first time you made it clear you didn’t want anything to do with me.”
Kennedy’s eyes got bright with amusement, and the look was so welcome after the intense beginning of this conversation. “Oh, a little confident there? So many women fall at your feet that you don’t have to bother yourself with something like pursuing one of them? Must be nice.”
I huffed softly and stood. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her up with me and over to the door. Just before I opened it, I turned to face her and waited until her eyes were locked on mine. “No one was ever worth the chase. But you? You will be worth it every time. I will always chase you, Kennedy.”
8
June 27
Kennedy
AT THE SOUND of knocking, I shot Kira a look and stood to go open the door. “I don’t need dates, Liam,” I said by way of a greeting.
“Yes, you do,” he countered, and smiled at Kira.
“I don’t do dates.”
“Neither do I, which is exactly why we should.” Stepping into the doorway, he laid one hand on my waist and passed his lips across my forehead. “You look beautiful.”
It’d been two weeks since I finally gave up trying to fight my attraction for him, and every time we’d hung out in that time, he’d asked if he could take me on a date. I just didn’t see the point in going on one when we were together all the time, and dates to me meant that there would be a small title attached to what we were—and I wasn’t a fan of titles anymore. It had taken Kira agreeing for me to get to this night. But I had to admit—with his confidence, sweet observation, and nonchalant attitude toward the whole night, he was already making it easy to go through with it.
After my initial swoon at hearing his deep voice tell me I looked beautiful, I shook my head and tried to hide my smile. “This is stupid.”
“I don’t care, we’re still doing it. I even made reservations—we’re going all out tonight.”
I stopped trying to fight my smile, but still raised one eyebrow. “We’re going all out, and I don’t even get flowers?” I asked, trying to sound hurt. I clicked my tongue and whispered, “Strike one, Mr. Taylor.”
“You mean these?” He brought his other arm out from around his back, and produced a brightly colored bouquet.
“Aw, look at you being sweet.”
“I tried,” he said with a cheesy grin.
I took the flowers from him and started backing up to put them in a vase, but Kira was right behind me and took them out of my hand. “I’ve got this, you two go.”
“See you later,” I called out to her after she’d retreated, and followed Liam outside and to his car. My eyes widened in surprise when he opened the door for me, and I couldn’t hold back my smile as I slid inside.
“Okay, fine. The first strike has been erased,” I said once we were reversing out of the spot.
“Good,” he huffed, and sent me a look. “Because I have no fucking clue what I’m doing.”
“Ah, yes, of course. Because you’re used to having girls just fall at your feet, right?”
“Exactly,” he responded immediately, his eyes never leaving my face. “Until you.”
We’d barely reached the street outside of the complex when a car behind us began honking repeatedly. Looking behind us, I saw the driver was waving with one arm, and his passenger was holding both her hands out and mouthing the word stop.
“What the hell?” Liam whispered, but pulled over to the side of the road and rolled down his window.
The car pulled up beside him, and the lady pointed to the back of the car. “Your tire is flat!”
Liam looked in his side mirror, then out the car toward the back. “Are you kidding me?”
“Nope. Sorry, man, but it is flat flat.”
With a wave, Liam mumbled a thank-you, and sighed when the other car pulled away. When he turned to look at me, his eyes widened as he saw how hard I was trying to hold in my laughter. “This is funny?”
The laughter finally burst past my lips, but I cut it off quickly. With an amused expression, I asked, “Did you not see this?” I pointed to the huge screen on his dash. At the top was a warning about the pressu
re in the tires.
Liam sighed, and looked like he was kicking himself. “Wait. You saw it and you didn’t say anything?”
“No, no. I saw it after those people pulled up and started talking to you.” Liam was looking at me like he was trying to figure out if I was telling the truth, and I laughed. “I swear! But can we bring back strike one now?”
He rolled his eyes, but I didn’t miss his smile as he got out of the car and popped the trunk. Once he’d taken the spare out and disappeared behind the rear of the car, I got out and went around to watch him.
“Stay in the car,” he ordered, but his tone was gentle. “I don’t want you out here in case anything happens.”
“Oh no, this is a must watch. Besides,” I mumbled as I took a picture of him, “Kira needs to see how the night is starting off.”
Liam raised one hand to flip me off before going back to jacking up the car, and I couldn’t help but laugh again.
It wasn’t long before the spare was on and we were heading toward the restaurant. The entire way there, we talked about the only other time he’d gotten a flat, and I told him about all the times Kira and I had gone out to our cars to find our dad had taken off a tire and hidden it when we were supposed to be grounded.
The second we stepped inside the restaurant, I was blasted by a distinct smell, and I looked around to try to find the name of the restaurant—since I hadn’t bothered to look while we were outside. I didn’t have time to find what I was looking for, but kept my mouth shut as we were led back to a booth. I just hoped like hell that there would be something on the menu that I could eat.
After quickly glancing through everything, I bit back a smile and had to hide my face from Liam for a minute before I dropped the menu to the table and looked at him.
“You already know what you want?” he asked, surprise coating his words.
“Uh, well, if you want to end this date in the ER, then I can try to find something,” I offered, and my lips stretched into a wide smile when he looked at me in confusion. “Liam, I’m allergic to seafood.”
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