“Moon, I’m going to kill you!”
Helaughs,but this seriously is a horrible joke, and I feel myself start to panic.
“Say the words, and I’ll kill him for you.”
I whip around so fast that the gondola slightly rocks. “Liam.” I let out a breath of relief. “I thought I was being kidnapped.”
“I’m sure you did,” he says unamusingly, and I can’t help but laugh. “You look…” His eyes cast down my frame before a smile touches his lips. “There should be a whole new word to describe you.”
I feel my face heat as his eyes bore into every inch of my skin like he’s trying to memorize me. “You really are perfect, Dory.” He whispers now. “Completely without fault.”
I look between his eyes, and with the way he watches me… I think every cyberbully could try to tear me down and fail because his words seem to put a force field around me.
“I love it when you say that.”
“I’ll tell you every day if we stop the no-talking thing.” A smirk plays at his lips before he adds. “We can sit here in silence, but I want to talk to you about something.”
I give in and say, “Silence would be awkward for the entire ride.”
A smile spreads across his face as we sit down. “I spoke to your brothers.”
“You what?” I pull away to look at him, but he seems completely serious.
“I got Moon to send me August's number from your phone. I spoke to him, and he said he's over what happened between us.”
Yeah, he told me that a while ago.
“So I got him to talk to Sire,” Liam starts carefully.
“No, you did not.” I almost don't believe him until he goes on.
“I was wrong about you being afraid of your brothers. I see now that you just didn't want to hurt them by dating someone who did something messed up to them, but after a month of bothAugust and me harassing Sire, he came around. I'm going to be very honest with you…” He starts carefully.
“Uh oh.”
He stifles a laugh before explaining. “Ididthreaten him so he wouldn't call you about it because you've been so stressed with working over here, but they'll be here for your show on Saturday, and you don't have to lie to them. I'm not implying we're getting back together, but you don't have to be stressed about Sire completely hating me.”
As I look between his eyes, I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from telling me I don't even care about how Sire feels at this point. I'm half as miserable as he is, and it took me long enough to realize being apart is hurting more than what he hurt me.
“How's therapy going?” I ask instead, honestly wanting an update.
He looks down at the water as he answers. “She wants me to figure out how I'm not like my dad, but I don't see how I'm not. I get my anger issues from him. She said I shouldn't place blame, and instead, call it the root of my anger, but he's the reason for—well, everything.”
“And she thinks you're different from him?”
He only nods in response, and I know his dad isn't in the picture because of the note he sent with my flowers last month, but I know nothing else about him.
“I have a gift for you.” He swiftly shifts the conversation as he grabs a bag beside his feet. “And this isn't a please-take-me-back-because-I'm-miserable gift. I just saw it and thought of you.”
I let out a quiet laugh as I took the bag from him. I recognize the brand and when I take the box out of the bag, my jaw slightly drops at the way the entire charm bracelet seems to shine. Myfingers run along every charm and I let out a soft gasp when I notice one is actually glowing a soft green.
I notice it’s a firefly, and when I bring it closer to read, it saysyou light up my life.As if on cue, Me Belle Evangeline starts playing, and my head snaps up. I look around, and beside us on another gondola is the small band that plays in town.
“Stop it.” I look back over at Liam, and he’s already watching me with a smile. “I love this.” I try to remind my brain that I’m not supposed to fall for his cute gestures, but screw my mind. I get to fall tonight, even if I don’t tell him.
“Look at your charms.”
I glance back down at the bracelet, and he scoots down to sit closer to me. I break into a laugh when I notice the Dory charm, and it’s so freaking cute. “Very creative.”
