“I always leave a decoy path. I didn’t know you’d be the one to follow me, or I would have left a different one. By the way, I think you smell lovely now. The second bottle of body wash really did the trick. And that rendition of ‘I Can Do It with a Broken Heart’? Oof.” He slaps a hand on his chest. “I didn’t know you were a Swiftie.”
Oh. My. Gosh. My body is burning now. “I’m going to blind you with this shampoo. Get out!” I toss the bottle at him, and his eyes fly open just in time to catch it.
“I eagerly await my demise, darling, but we need to talk about the box.”
“We can do that when I’m dressed. AndwithCaleb.”
“Pass. He’s too grumpy.”
“He’s my partner, and we need him.”
Liam rolls his eyes and pouts. “Fine. But can we kiss again?”
“Get out.”
“I’ll take that as a maybe.” The glint in his eyes softens as he hops off the vanity. I’m currently blocking the door—the very door he is striding for with purpose. He stops, only inches from me. I had things I wanted to say to him, but the words get swallowed up by the ravenous look in his eyes. He brings a finger to my cheek, tracing a drop of water down my jaw, my neck, stopping at my collarbone. “You are beautiful, and I wish to heaven I never had to let you go again,” he whispers, replacing his fingers with his lips and pressing a kiss to my collarbone. His five o’clock shadow brushes my sensitive skin, and I shudder.
I’ve changed my mind. We can kiss. But before I can make a move, he slips around me and disappears out the door.
I lock it behind him, if only to prevent myself from running after him, then hurry to dress before he can run off. When I emerge, I check the only other room upstairs, but it’s empty which means—
There’s yelling and a series of quick thuds and muffled grunts. Caleb found him. And now he’s beating him up. I race downstairs to find… Caleb in a headlock? Looking very, very pissed.
I can’t help but smile. “Annoying, isn’t it?” I say to Caleb.
He elbows Liam in the side, and Liam flinches, releasing his hold. Caleb’s got his gun on him in a second, and Liam’s hands fly in the air.
“Wait!” I jump in front of Liam.
“Aw, are you trying to protect me, love?” Liam says.
“Shut up,” Caleb and I say at the same time.
“Cruz, move, so I can arrest him.” Caleb’s glare flies right past me and straight at Liam.
“You can’t.” I sigh.
Caleb’s eyes jump to mine. “Excuse me?”
“It’s my fault. Liam’s grandfather is being held hostage because of me.”
It’s deathly quiet. Caleb is still holding the gun, but he seems to be thinking. Then there’s Liam behind me. A ghost of his hand settles on my back, and I will myself to stand on my own two feet instead of caving into him.
“Explain,” Caleb says.
“Yes, this is an explanation I’d like myself,” Liam chimes in.
I turn away from both of them.
“He was one of only two people who knew where I hid the evidence.”
“You went to my grandfather?Hewas your help.” Liam asks. “He never told me.”
“Why would he?”
Liam frowns, his cocky confidence nowhere to be seen. He looks genuinely hurt. “Maybe because every summer I asked if you’d returned or if he knew where you went. Because I looked everywhere for you and never stopped. Maybe because he knew how much I cared for you.”
He falls silent. And so does the rest of the room.
