His arms wrap around me in a tight embrace, and we both still, breaths ragged and hearts beating wildly in time with one another. I close my eyes and rest my cheek on his head, letting the quiet moment seep into my bones.
He’s still inside me, but it feels too good, too right—like he’s a part of me and I don’t ever want to let him go. Eventually, I muster enough energy to move off his lap, shifting so we’re in the same position we started in with Liam at my back, holding me like I’m the most precious thing in the world to him.
How do I return to my lonely life in Nashville? How do I sit in my sprawling penthouse apartment, looking out at the skyline, wishing he were there with me? Longing for his touch? How do I say goodbye when the time comes, and not regret it for the rest of my life?
The truth is simple: I can’t.
He’s turned my world upside down, and I’ll never be the same again, but I can’t ask him for the same in return. He has Aiden and a whole life in Oak Ridge. A life I might not fit into for much longer. The sobering thought leaves me with a dull ache in my chest.
Whatever happens next, I know I can’t waste another moment like this while we have them. I close my eyes and let him hold all of my pieces together, knowing that when the time comes to let go, I may never be whole again. Someday, Liam Murphy is going to break my heart, and I’m helpless to stop him.
Chapter 25
It’s Always Been You
? Misery Business - Paramore
Ruby
Liam: One hour down, 23 to go.
Ruby: Say pspsps to Cheese Whiz for me.
Liam: Apparently Mrs. Winslow made him a catio last month and he hasn’t been caught in a tree since.
Ruby: Sounds like extortion. Go Big Cheese.
Liam: Did you drink anything other than coffee today?
Ruby: I had water.
Liam: Opening your mouth in the shower doesn’t count.
Ruby: Wanna see what else this mouth can do?
Liam: Fuck, Goldie. I don’t need to be getting a hard-on at work.
Liam: You better be naked and in my bed when I get home in the morning.
Ruby: That sounds like a threat.
Liam: It’s a promise.
I’m almost finished setting up for a movie night when the doorbell chimes. “I’ll be right back, little man.”
“You gotta hurry or I'm gonna finish all the popcorn without you,” he says with a hint of amusement in his voice.
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t you dare!”
Aiden giggles as I jog up to the door and peek through the window. The smile disappears from my face the moment I see a woman standing on Liam’s doorstep. She has a pinched expression on her face as she waits impatiently on the stoop.
Inhaling a calming breath, I swing open the door. “Can I help you?”
She eyes me from head to toe, her expression of disgust telling me everything I need to know.
She’s about my height but thinner, with long brown hair pulled into a severe ponytail, brown eyes, and bright red lips. She’s wearing a black pencil skirt and a white silk blouse tied in a bow at the neck. She looks every bit the uppity bitch I assume she is. I know her type—I met plenty of them at my label.
“You must be my replacement,” she says with a sneer. “I’m here to see Liam.
