start running down my cheeks.
This isn’t how I imagined this day would go.
“Ahh, so you snarl and bite now?” he questions with a smirk. “Good.”
I stare at him, stunned into silence. This guy…
“I’m serious, Liam. Your brother has made it pretty clear how fucking disappointing I am, I don’t need you to add insult to injury, so please, go.”
Liam’s face falls when he sees me crying. I’m a hot mess, God, I quickly turn around so I don’t have to see the look on his handsome face.
“Cupcake…” he whispers, but I’m done. I wasn’t expecting for him to make me feel this horrible, just like his brother did.
“Honestly, could you tell me one thing. Where do you and your brother get the nerve to come all the way out here and judge me when it’s your family that has hurt me over and over again?”
“Mia…”
“It’s like you can’t rest without destroying someone to the very core.”
It’s unfair to pin all this on Liam—or Julian for that matter. As far as I can see, they weren’t part of Courtney and John’s scheming but then what? What’s their part in all of this?
“Fuck, Cupcake, I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Liam whispers.
“Well tough shit, asshole, you did.”
“Cupcake, I didn’t just rant like that to make you feel awful,” Liam starts. I can feel the heat of his body right behind me and he wraps his arms around me from behind, then whispers in my ear. “I didn’t mean to make you cry, Cupcake. I’m sorry.”
“Then you need to reevaluate your word choices and intentions because that was shitty.”
“I will admit, I wanted you to feel bad for leaving me,” he whispers. “Don’t you know by now? If you wanted to run, you should’ve come to me.”
“Why?” I sniffle, and he tightens his hold around me. “So you’d stop me?”
Liam sighs, then turns me around in his arms, but I can’t look him in the eye. He brings two fingers to my chin and tugs so I can look at him. That’s when I see the soft smile on his face. Not judgmental at all like I feared it would be, just nothing but understanding and warmth. This guy… why couldn’t it be him for me?
“No,” he whispers. “I would have put gas in the car and we’d get on the road and run together.”
That makes me smile for some reason. God, I didn’t realize how much I missed him until seeing his face just now.
“You’re crazy.”
“Cupcake, you knew that the moment you let me dance with you at that party ages ago.”
“You’re right about that,” I whisper. And just like that, more tears start falling down my cheeks.
“Please don’t cry,” her whispers
“Oh, Liam…”
Maybe it’s because I’ve always felt this intense connection with him. Or maybe it’s his calming effect he has on people, making them relax. Or maybe it’s him, his eyes filled with worry, but I don’t know, I just take one step forward and the next thing I know, I’m wrapped in his arms so tight.
I can’t help but cling on to him, as silent sobs wrack through me.
“It’s all going to be all right, Cupcake,” Liam whispers in my hair. “I’m here now.”
“I wish I believed that,” I whisper. “But I’d love to.”
“That’s all we really have, Cupcake. Faith.”
Faith? There was no way to cling to that when the facts have presented themselves already.
There’s obviously something wrong with me.
Nicky is hiding it.
My father is the cause of it.
Then there’s the thing with Julian and his future—a future I’ll never be a part of.
“What happened between you and my brother?” Liam questions, making me sigh.
“Things between Julian and I…” I trail off, not knowing what to say. Each time I look in the mirror or look down at my arms and wrists. I see Julian’s tortured face. And now, there’s a possibility that Liam might see it too, my vicious attempt to take my own life. “They are complicated.”
“Fucking understatement of the century, Mia,” he mumbles. “He’s a good guy though. His problem though is when he cares, Mia…”
“He cares deeply,” I finish for him. “I’m afraid this time he’s grown to resent that flaw in himself.”
“A flaw?” Liam scoffs. “It’s the biggest trait I adore in my brother. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an asshole, but he’s the kind of asshole other assholes can’t even dream of being.”
“So, do you boys just sit around and aspire to be assholes?” I mock. “I mean, girls like good boys too.”
“That’s