The Rebel - Raleigh Ruebins Page 0,16

the place completely his own. He had beautiful patterned rugs on the floor. Bookshelves already crammed with books. There were a few big, multicolored plush throw blankets on the couch in the living room.

He’d always been obsessed with blankets. I used to call him a Liam burrito when he was all wrapped up.

That was definitely something I didn’t need to be thinking about. Liam wasn’t someone I got cozy with anymore, and he never would be again.

“Do you have a first-aid kit?” I said as we reached the bathroom.

“Um, I have… rubbing alcohol?” he said. “And Band-Aids. I definitely got those.”

“You got about four blankets for the couch already, but no first-aid kit?” I said.

“I know I’m not good at... adulthood,” he said, pulling in a sharp breath of air through his teeth. “Sorry, it hurts.”

I took him to the sink and briefly washed the mud off his palm, then used the rubbing alcohol to sanitize around the cut. I cleaned the blood off his forearm, my fingers skating over his tattoos.

I cleared my throat. “I like these,” I said.

“You like open wounds?”

“No, jackass. I like your tattoos.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you. A lot of them are new.”

I caught his eyes for a moment, then brought my fingers to the pocket watch tattoo near his elbow. “I remember this one, though.”

He puffed out a laugh. “Yeah. You saw me cry like a baby when I had that one done. That was before I met Katie.”

Liam had dragged me to a seedy tattoo shop in a bad part of town to get the pocket watch tattoo. It was a recreation of a pocket watch that used to belong to his grandfather, who’d been the only family member Liam ever liked. When he got news that his grandfather died, Liam cried and cried, and that night, made me go to the tattoo shop with him.

“Took a second for that one to heal, too,” I said, my head swimming with memory.

“It was a fucking doozy.”

“The night you got it, I kept waking up in bed next to you, afraid that I’d rolled over onto your arm.”

The corner of Liam’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “You woke up like ten times that night, I swear.”

“And then the next morning I was so worried,” I said.

“You were so careful. I remember your dick being very, very hard that morning, but you were afraid to even fuck me.”

“I wanted it bad, but I was so sure I’d mess up the tattoo and hurt you.”

“Turned out fine, though,” Liam said, lifting an eyebrow.

I puffed out a laugh. “I don’t know if it was because I was delirious from lack of sleep, but that morning was one of the most memorable blow jobs I’ve ever gotten.”

I was hardening a little under my pants just thinking about it. The morning after he’d gotten that tattoo, it had been a rare rainy day in Los Angeles. The light in the room was grey, and all I could think was that Liam’s eyes matched the clouds outside perfectly. He’d let his eyes rest on mine as he sucked me off, and it was dreamy as all hell. He’d made me come three times that day, the third one happening after I said I “couldn’t possibly have another orgasm” and he had to challenge me, proving me very wrong.

For God’s sake, now I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d come three times in one day.

“We were somethin’ else,” I said quietly, looking away from the tattoo.

He breathed deep, nodding.

“So who’s Katie?” I asked, knowing I needed to change the subject. I wasn’t sure if I liked reminiscing about my past with Liam or if it was killing me.

“Katie’s the most badass woman I’ve ever fucking met,” he said. “She’s been my main tattoo artist for a few years, and she’s my best friend. Helped me escape Col—well, she helped me get out of LA.”

I ran one last pass of disinfectant over his cut and he winced.

“Ow, god damn it,” he said.

“That’s all we need. Let’s dry it off and get some Band-Aids on it.”

“Then you’ll stop fucking torturing me?”

“I’m not torturing you, I’m saving your life.”

He let out a loud laugh and I couldn’t help but grin. “Red, it’s true that you actually have saved my life on many occasions. But I doubt I would have died from this little cut.”

“Fair enough. But I’m just saying, I saw you almost pass out back there.”

“Kinda like you almost passed out when I