in me, I’d bow.” He rolled to his side so he faced me and pushed my hair away from my face, tucking it out of the way. His laugh dissolved into a gentle smile, softening his features.
In his eyes, I was powerful. Desired. Wanted. It was a heady combination. One I could get used to, if I let myself.
“Why are you always doing dares?” Liam asked, surprising me with the randomness of the question.
“What?”
“You said when you play truth or dare, you always pick dare. Why?”
No one had ever asked me this before. “Remember what I said about sleeping with my teacher?” I winced in embarrassment. “Like I said, no one really knew about it. But people spread rumors about me as if they knew anyway. Lauren—remember her?”
Liam nodded.
“The last night they were in town—the night we got married—she made an offhand remark about how I had the hots for the teacher in high school. I was teased a lot for that in school by other students. Like, they hovered too close to the truth for comfort. So when we would play truth or dare, I always chose dare because it was easier than lying if I was asked a truth about something I wanted to hold secret.”
“That makes sense.”
“And then it evolved from there. People would give me seriously ridiculous dares. Streaking. Jumping off waterfalls. Telling a stranger I was in love with them…”
His smile grew wider. “That last one was by far the craziest.”
“It was.” An unexpected wave of tenderness crashed through me. “Anyway. I don’t like lying, so I just keep things like that to myself. Like my dad’s affair. Better to not even talk about it than to lie.” Which was why I had dodged my brother’s calls and my mom’s texts for the last few days. Guilt nibbled its way into my heart. I couldn’t put it off forever. But the conversation made me think of something I wondered, but hadn’t asked. “Liam, why aren’t you ever asking me truth or dare?”
“Do you want me to?”
I didn’t know the answer to that question. “Answer my question first,” I said, poking him in the ribs.
“I guess because you said how you’ve cultivated this personality of always accepting dares—no matter how wild. You don’t need to perform for me. I don’t want you to be anything than who you are already.”
If he hadn’t begun tunneling his way into my heart already, he would sure be there now. “But aren’t you curious about how crazy and wild I can be?”
“Tori,” he said, taking my hands in his. “I don’t want you to feel pressured to do something crazy, or to be honest if it makes you uncomfortable. If you want to do something spontaneous, do it. If you want to open up that pretty head of yours and tell me your thoughts, do it. But don’t do it because I’ve asked you a truth or dare. Do it because you want to.”
Yeah. I was in big trouble.
“Have you talked to your parents since we got married?”
Sending up a silent thanks for the change of subject, I said, “Nothing except for that text to reassure them. I’m just afraid of what will happen to my family now. I know avoiding going home isn’t a long-term solution, but it’s the only one I’ve got. I know, it’s horrible. I run away from my problems like a coward.”
His eyes traveled over my face. “You are far from a coward in my eyes. Being scared doesn’t make you weak. You are bold. Brave. You remind me of one of the greatest people I’ve ever known. If the whole world had the same passion you did, we would be a lot better off.”
The tenderness in my heart grew, leaving little room for my lungs to expand. We were encroaching on dangerous territory, Liam and I. “You know, you mentioned your issues with Will. How he seemed aimless and irresponsible. You could say those same things about me. I have a degree I’m not using. I live with my parents. I’m still a child, basically.”
“No, you’re not.”
“It’s nice of you to say so, but your issues with Will are the same things I’m guilty of.”
“Where is this coming from?”
“What do you mean?”
Liam sat up so he was looking down at me. “Why are you trying to push me away prematurely?”
My stomach clenched. Nerves lit up like little fires within me. “I’m not trying to push you away.”