a stroke,” he starts. “Calm down, will you. I don’t want to be responsible for your death. That’s Julian’s job and we both know my brother wants to skin you alive.”
“What?” I shriek again, but he just bursts out laughing then quickly groans in pain. Serves him right!
“You need to get a life,” I huff, then walk over to the highboy in his private room and pour him some water with ice chips and grab a straw.
“And you need to get laid,” he counters, accepting the cup with his uninjured hand. “See, caring bone.”
“Excuse me?” I frown and he smirks.
“You. Need. To. Get. Laid.” He elongates each word like a mockery. “I mean, I almost did that, but I have a feeling my brother and I would be mortal enemies if I did. Good God, did we both dodge fatal a bullet.”
I feel like I’m being hit with one shocking statement after another, like the guy literally doesn’t have a filter. If he has one, it’s fucking faulty.
“But then again, we did kiss, and I sucked those delicious tits like a starving man in front of a free buffe.” He groans low in his chest, but I can see the mischief in his eyes.
“You’re horrible.” I shake my head.
“Because it’s the truth, cupcake.” He starts laughing but coughs instead, groaning in pain.
“You deserve that pain,” I say, folding my arms. “I don’t even feel sorry for you. You have a trashy mouth.”
“It’s so fucking fun to make you blush,” he admits, then drinks his water. “I know no one ever gets close enough to do that to the almighty Ice Queen of Clintwood Academy.”
“Will you stop that,” I huff, then drop down into the chair, tired and weary all of a sudden. “I didn’t try to blow you up.”
We stare at each other for so long it feels like time expands and shrinks between us.
“I know,” he admits after such a long time, I don’t think I’m breathing at all right now.
“You do?”
“Yes.” He watches me, then he frowns, effectively murdering the hope that was starting to bloom in my chest. “But that doesn’t mean others are on the same page.”
“Oh God.”
“There are people who actually believe you did it,” he says, and I stand up, unable to remain sitting.
“Then he’s winning,” I murmur, and my vision blurs, my heart is pounding away so fast that I can’t catch my breath. “He framed me, and people are believing it.”
“What?”
“Oh my God,” I gasp, clutching my necklace with a death grip, it’s digging into the flesh at the back of my neck. “What am I going to do?”
“Mia, seriously, calm down.”
But I can’t calm down. If anything, my heart’s knocking against my ribcage and it’s so painful; I feel like I’m about to pass out with the pain.
“I didn’t do anything,” I whisper, but the room is shrinking around me, the walls closing in on me. “I didn’t touch his car.”
“Mia!” Liam snaps and I jerk around only to see him struggling to get out of bed.
“Oh God, what are you doing?” I gasp.
“Trying to get to you so you calm down,” he snaps, brow furrowed in pain.
“Well, I’m alright,” I whisper. His face smooths out, growing soft.
“Cupcake, come here,” he whispers too. “Help me get back in bed. You did this.”
Shaking my head, I quickly walk over to him, then help him back into bed. He groans, clearly in a lot of pain, cursing under his breath. But when I tuck him back in, he watches me silently.
“You’re good at that,” he observes.
“I’m good at a lot of things,” I murmur, fluffing his pillow. The move is so natural to me that when I finally register the silence, I freeze.
“You’re good at taking care of sick people.”
I quickly step away, images of my mother flooding my mind. Liam watches me silently, but I can see that he knows everything.
“Like I said,” I murmur. “I’m good at everything.”
Like he knows I want to drop this, he clears his throat, then glances at my face. It’s then that I feel the wet trails on my cheeks. With a gasp of surprise, I quickly wipe the traitorous tears away. Liam studies me quietly but neither of us address that.
Good. I’d hate to kill him when he’s still useful.
“Okay, Mia,” he starts. “Why are you here, cupcake?”
For some reason, that damn pet name has come to mean more than just ridicule in the space of a few minutes since I’ve arrived. It’s like we