Worth The Fight

by Rachael Brownell

  KEVIN: Are we twelve? Look, everyone go sit in a corner and cool the fuck down. I swear to God if anyone ruins today for Sasha, I will hunt each of you down and kill you.

  SASHA: Please, continue. This is epic gold. My makeup is running because I'm laughing so hard but that's fine.

  AARON: I think she left us. Maybe she didn't like being called out on her whorish ways.

  KENDRA: You think I'm a whore? That's rich, @Aaron. The only whore I know is @Cassidy. She's the one that left Garrett at the altar and jumped in bed with Liam before the night was over.

  LIAM: I'm only going to say this once so listen up @Kendra. You know what you did. You know the truth about what happened. Either own it or stop talking about it. As far as what happens between Cass and me, that's none of your concern. She's my best friend, the love of my life, and I will protect her until the day I die. From you and anyone else. My best recommendation is for you to move along. You're not welcome here anymore, and neither is your boy toy. End of discussion.

  KENDRA: You're such an entitled dick @Liam.

  KENDRA: What? Nothing else to say?

  KENDRA: Fuck all of you. You can all go to hell.

  The texts stop shortly before midnight. I contemplate replying to her accusation, but I know it's not worth it. She'll get defensive and mean. Nothing I say will matter. She has her thoughts on the situation, and that's all she cares about.

  Why she thinks I've been sleeping with Liam this entire time is beyond me. It's funny, though. Considering we hadn't even had sex yet when she sent the messages.

  Rereading the messages as I finish loading the dishwasher, I can't help but laugh at the situation. My friends are amazing people. We have each other’s back. Always. Especially when one of us is being attacked. Aaron throws down humor. Kevin reminds us we need to act like adults. Sasha encourages us to act like idiots. And then there's Liam.

  Protecting my good name. Protecting all of us. The unofficial leader of our group.

  Because when Liam says the conversation is over, we listen.

  No one added any fuel to her fire after that. He shut it down. Shut her down. He knew that talking to her was what she wanted. She was looking for a fight. She was angry and trying to rile everyone else up.

  Still, my fingers hover over my keyboard wanting to respond. To say something, anything, in my own defense.

  Thankfully my phone rings in my hands, stopping me from making a mistake and replying to her text.

  "Hello?"

  "Good morning, Cassidy. How are you, sweetheart?" Betty asks.

  "I'm good, Betty. How are you?"

  "I'd be better if I knew you and I were having lunch today."

  "Lunch sounds great. Liam got called in to help with a case, so I'm free all day."

  Betty and I decide when and where to meet for lunch. After I hang up with her, I jump in the shower and start getting ready for the day. My mind is still reeling from the text messages, seesawing back and forth on whether or not to reply, when I hear the front door open and footsteps in the hall outside my bedroom.

  Liam said he was going to be gone most of the day.

  No one else has a key to the apartment.

  I'm sure he locked the door behind him.

  "Cass," a familiar voice calls my name. "Where are you?"

  What in the hell is he doing here, and how did he get in?

  Peeking my head into the hallway, I find Garrett standing, arms crossed, outside Liam's bedroom door. He's staring into Liam's room. There's a look of anger on his face that I've seen a few times before. A clear warning that what he sees is unsettling.

  It's enhanced by the discoloration of his left cheek. His eye is puffy, slightly closed from the swelling, and there is a large black and blue bruise beginning to form on the outside of his cheek.

  Aaron didn't break his jaw, but he left a nasty mark.

  I step into the hall and mimic his stance. "What do you want?"

  "You are sleeping with him," he states, reaching down and picking up my forgotten corset.

  Cleaning up my discarded clothing from Liam's floor was on my to-do list. I hadn't made it that far yet. I wasn't expecting company, so it wasn't a top priority. Hell, my hair is still wet, dripping down my back and soaking through my tank top. There's still fog on the bathroom mirror. I barely had slipped clothes on when he hollered my name.

  "How did you get in?" I ask, disregarding his observation.

  "The door was unlocked."

  "Why are you here?"

  Garrett tosses my corset back in Liam's room and takes a step toward me. I shake my head, and his feet falter.

  "I wanted to talk to you. Liam's keeping you away from me."

  "About what? I was pretty clear in the hall last week. I don't want anything to do with you. You made your decision, and now you can live with it."

  "This is because you're fucking him, isn't it."

  "This has nothing to do with Liam. This is about you. You're not the person I thought you were. You're not the man I thought I was marrying. You're a wolf in sheep's clothing. I may not have seen it at first, but I do now, and I'll forever be thankful for that. Thankful to you for finally showing your true colors.

  "I've said it before, and I'll say it again, so listen closely. I want nothing to do with you, Garrett. Not now, not in the future. I'm moving on. You should too. Whether that be with Kendra or someone else. We. Are. Over. So if you'll please leave, I have a lunch date I'd rather not be late for."

  "No one will ever love you like I loved you," he hollers as I'm about to step into the bathroom. Betty is expecting me in a little over an hour. I don't have time to waste on him. To waste talking about the same shit we've been talking in circles about.

  I get that he sees what a big mistake he made. It doesn't change the situation. It doesn't make me want to give him a second chance. If anything, it makes me want to give him a matching bruise on the other side of his face.

  "I hope not," I state, looking over my shoulder and directly into his eyes. "I deserve better."

  The front door slams moments later, indicating he's gone. I rush out of the bathroom to lock it behind him so he can't sneak up on me again.

  Against my better judgment, I decide not to text Liam and tell him what transpired. He has enough to worry about right now. I'd rather not be added to his list. His sole focus should be this case and solving it as quickly as possible.

  For the officer’s family. They deserve answers.

  My issues with Garrett will be here after his case is over.

  Unfortunately.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lunch with Betty is exactly what I needed after my unwelcome visitor. We talk about everything from her vegetable garden to ideas for how to decorate my classroom this fall. With only a month until school is back in session, I need to start planning, and Betty has always been a huge help when it comes to this.

  After lunch we head to the craft store and binge shop. The plan was to get ideas, to figure out what inspired us, but I think we both knew how it would end up. I've never walked out of that store without spending a hefty amount on things I didn't need.

  Today's haul included reward stickers, little toys, new books for my classroom library, and fun posters to inspire my students. And that was just for me.

  Betty ended up buying a few decorative pieces of wall art for the addition Michael is putting on their house this summer. He wanted a man cave, somewhere to hang out with his friends and host football parties. She wanted a sewing and craft room.

  Guess who won?

  Michael is going to end up in the basement with all his friends again this fall. Not that he would ever complain. As long as his wife is happy, he's happy.

  Liam is a lot like his father. His happiness comes from making others happy.

  My dad was the same way. He devoted his life to making my mother happy. To finding ways to make her smile. From the simple act of bringing her flowers for no reason to doing things she wanted to do that he
hated. Friday nights he would take her dancing and let her stomp on his feet. Saturdays were spent at the flea market. My father would hold my mother’s bags while she shopped.

  And Sundays they went to church. My father never believed in a higher power, yet he went with her every week, sat next to her in the pew, and prayed when he was asked to.

  He did it all in the name of love.

  Michael is the same way when it comes to Betty. He and my father were not only best friends but they were brothers at heart. They thought alike. Acted alike. Even walked similarly. These men that I have been blessed with in my life have the biggest hearts.

  "So how are things between you and Liam?" Betty asks as we load our purchases into my trunk.

  I knew this was going to come up eventually. She has been slowly dancing around the subject most of the day, more than likely waiting for me to bring it up. I had hoped to avoid it altogether. If I were talking to my mother, Liam would have been all we talked about today, but that's not the case.

  Even though I think of Betty as my second mother, I don't know if I can talk to her about my relationship with her son. It doesn't feel right.

  I sure as hell can't tell her how amazing last night was. Or how I'm anticipating him coming home tonight so we can do it again.

  Those are things I assume she'd rather not know. Details about our relationship that she's probably not asking about. But she is asking about us, and I need to say something, anything to curb her interest.

  "Fine. Living together is easier than I thought it would be," I say, hoping she won't press me for issues.

  "You know, Michael and I lived together before we started dating too. You learn a lot about the other person when you share a small space with them. Sometimes it's the best thing for a new relationship."

  This I knew already. My father and Michael lived together all through college. They shared a three-bedroom apartment with another guy until he failed out of school and fell off the face of the earth. Betty moved in with Michael halfway through their sophomore year after having an argument with her roommate and answering an ad my dad had posted to fill their vacant room. Then my parents started dating during their junior year of college. She and Betty became fast friends, and when the dorms closed for summer, my mother moved in with them.

  Wherever my parents went, Betty and Michael went. Four friends always hanging out together, going to the movies together, the beach, staying up late and drinking. That's all it was until one day Michael and Betty decided to stay home from a frat party my parents were going to.

  Betty was getting over a cold and Michael claimed to be behind work for one of his classes.

  My mom said she knew what was going to happen that night. That she saw their feelings for each other growing. My father was clueless, though.

  The next morning, Michael and Betty were an item. They've been together ever since.

  "I know more about Liam than I ever wanted to know. And that was before I moved in with him."

  "You don't know everything, though. You'd be surprised what you notice when you really look at someone. When you look for things, good and bad. I know this is all new to you, and that you two are probably still floating on cloud nine, but if there's any advice I'd want you to take, it's this. Listen with your heart, but let your head lead the way."

  "What do you mean?"

  Closing the trunk and leaning against it, Betty let's out a sigh.

  "My son has been in love with you for as long as I can remember. I gave him the same advice years ago when I first realized he was putting his life on hold waiting for you to feel the same way. It's not that I don't love the idea of you two being together. In a way, I think you were always meant to be together. Just like Michael and I. It's just that he was letting his heart guide him through life. He followed you to college. He followed you home. He never let another woman in. His heart’s never been broken. He's guarded it and kept it safe.

  "What he refused to see is that you were out there living your life while he was waiting for you. So be gentle with him, Cassidy. Be forgiving. He's going to make mistakes. He's never been in a real relationship. Losing you would be the one thing that breaks him, and as much as he knows that and as much as that scares him, he won't be prepared if that happens."

  Her words have me choked up. It feels like an apple is stuck in my throat. I can barely breathe, let alone respond. When she pulls me in for a hug and tells me she loves me, the first tear falls.

  She didn't tell me any of that to scare me or push me away. She told me that to protect her son but also to protect me. She doesn't want either of us to get hurt.

  Liam's been at work for two straight days. He's stopped home long enough to sleep, shower, and shave. This case is top priority right now, and because of the nature of it, Liam is working it mostly alone.

  I've kept busy by shopping for back to school supplies. My recent excursion with Betty sparked my creativity, and I found a theme for my classroom this year.

  World traveler.

  It's something I had always planned to do after college. I was going to backpack around Europe. Visit the most popular places and discover hidden gems. Make friends with locals and experience their culture firsthand.

  With the death of my parents, that dream was put aside. I needed to find a job, to start my career. I wasn't free to do any of that anymore. I had responsibilities.

  When I proposed the idea to Garrett for our honeymoon, I was met with a look of disgust. He had no desire to see what other countries had to offer unless a beer and a beach were part of the trip.

  Our tastes were drastically different in most aspects of life. I shouldn't have been surprised.

  Liam would have gone with me. He would have been a great travel companion. His thirst for knowledge is even greater than mine.

  It has been since we were little.

  We used to play a game where we'd pretend to take these epic adventures. One of us would choose the place, and the other chose what our mission was. Sometimes we were spies and we had to save the world. Other times we were lost kids and had to find our way home.

  Of course we always did.

  My favorite was when we pretended to be tourists. We'd run around the backyard with binoculars and pretend to see amazing things through them. The Eiffel Tower. Big Ben. Greek ruins. Whatever country we were pretending to visit.

  We were maybe eight years old when we first played, and I remember begging my mother to take me to the library so I could find a book on Spain. That was the place Liam chose, and after he described it to me, I wanted to know more about it. I wanted to know everything.

  That game sparked so many ideas for us. We even made a list of all the places in the world we wanted to see someday. I wonder what happened to it.

  As I sort through all my purchases of the week, Liam is on my mind. I wonder if he's eaten. If he's found a moment to rest his eyes. He's been coming in after I fall asleep and gone before I wake up. I only know he's been home because he brews a pot of coffee in the morning and leaves me little notes next to the machine.

  In addition to my constant worries about Liam, his mother's words are echoing loud and clear. They've been on repeat since we parted ways on Sunday.

  Listen with your heart, but let your head lead the way.

  A simple statement with so much meaning.

  My heart tells me to take this chance with Liam. He's worth the risk.

  My head tells me that we're speeding down the road. That it would be a good idea for us to slow down, take a breath. Being apart the last few days has sucked, but it's also probably a good thing for us. If he were here, I can only imagine what we'd be doing right now.

  Not that I would object to that.

  In fact, I'd really enjoy it if the other night is any indication of his skills. Because, yes, he has skill. Techniques I wasn't aware existed. Even the way he kisses me, with such passion and need and desire . . .

  Shit! I'm getting hot and bothered just thinking about it
.

  It's definitely a conversation we need to have before we make any more giant leaps.

  Because I want to do this right. Screwing this up would be a kick in the face.

  And that's what I plan to tell him when he gets home tonight. He promised to at least take a break long enough to eat dinner with me. I didn't ask him, he offered. I think he misses me as much as I miss him.

  It still amazes me that it's the little things that I notice, that stand out. That I miss the most.

  Going to bed without him and waking up alone.

  Drinking my coffee in the morning without the smell of his soap lingering in the air. His smell has long faded by the time I get out of bed.

  Folding clothes without him there to make jokes about our underwear “getting it on” in the dryer.

  Or maybe it's the fact that in my entire existence, I've only lived alone for a few months. I always had a roommate, or six, in college. And after I moved back home, I moved in with Garrett two months after we started dating. Then I moved in here.

  Because I had nowhere else to go.

  And Liam was rescuing me. Again.

  Like he always has.

  I've never been on my own. Not for long. And even when I was, Liam was always there to keep me company.

  Speaking of Liam, he walks through the door just as I stick my hands in the mixing bowl, covering them in raw hamburger meat and seasoning.

  "Whatcha making?" he asks, wrapping his arms around my waist as I begin mixing everything together. His lips trail down the side of my neck, peppering kisses in the most sensitive places, causing me to lose focus. "You missed me, huh?"

  "Not at all," I lie, the sultry tone of my voice making my words less than believable.

  Attempting to distract myself from the growing need, I dump in two eggs and the bowl of breadcrumbs I’d set aside.