His eyes held emotion I couldn"t identify. "You doing okay?"
"I"m fine," I lied. I was as fine as I was ever going to be.
He ran his fingers through his hair. "I just..."
"You don"t need to explain anything to me, Liam." I knew he would make excuses why he hadn"t called. He hadn"t reached out to me once, but I didn"t expect him to. I didn"t blame him for being unable to forgive me for what I did. If the situation were reversed, I"d feel the same way.
He dropped his hand to his side, his arm muscle flexing. "Did that guy bother you?"
"What guy?"
"The one that was just here."
Oh. I forgot about him. As soon as Liam appeared in front of me, everything else faded to the background. He was the only thing that mattered to me when he stood in a room. "No. He didn"t bother me."
"Do you know him from somewhere?"
What was he thinking? "We have calculus together-even though I didn"t know that until he brought it up."
He nodded slowly. "Are you...seeing him?"
I was offended he even asked. "No."
A flash of relief moved across his eyes then disappeared.
I didn"t ask the same question because I already knew the answer. Liam loved me even if we weren"t together. And if he was ready to move on, he would tell me straight to my face, not let me find out in some other way. I would give him that same respect, even if I were planning on spending the rest of my life alone.
He waited for me to ask. I could see it in his eyes.
But I trusted him. Even if he didn"t want me anymore, I would prove it. I never asked why Theresa was at his house, and I wouldn"t ask him anything now. I held my ground and didn"t back down.
"Did you want to continue to train?" he asked.
Did he want to? "I"m sure you"re busy with your own training. I"ll be fine. I just joined a gym."
"You go by yourself?" he asked in surprise.
"Well, I haven"t gone yet. I was going to start tomorrow."
The surprise was still in his eyes.
"Well, my food is getting cold..."
He didn"t move out of my way.
I took a deep breath, waiting for something to happen.
Finally, he stepped out of my way. "I can walk you out."
"I"m okay. But thanks anyway." I walked pa.s.sed him. "Have a good night."
He didn"t say anything back.
Wordlessly, I walked through the doors and took a deep breath once I was outside. The cool ocean air burned my lungs. Seeing his face made me want to drop everything I was holding and just hug him. Not only was he handsome and perfect, but his soul was beautiful underneath. I just wanted to be held by him.
But that wouldn"t happen.
Once I got to my car, I put the pizza box in the pa.s.senger seat then shut the door.
Then I froze.
That guy hit on me, trying to make a pa.s.s at me. He cornered me, moving close to me. He even extended his hand toward me quickly.
And I didn"t flinch.
I wasn"t scared.
I didn"t cower away and run.
I stayed. I held my ground and stayed.
I stood still, staring at nothing in particular. The revelation hit me hard. It was the first time I felt safe by myself, that I didn"t need Liam or Scotty to come to my rescue. I didn"t panic and scream.
I was okay.
I moved to my driver"s door then opened it. A flash of movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, but when I looked, no one was there. I sat down then pulled the door shut. Once I was locked inside, I looked in the rearview mirror. A large shadow walked back inside the bar. I couldn"t distinguish a face or even a shirt, but I had a strong suspicion who it was.
Liam.
On Sat.u.r.day, Scotty came to the kitchen table at noon.
I eyed him while I worked on my computer. "Up late last night?"
He downed his coffee then blinked the sleep from his eyes. "She just couldn"t get enough."
I rolled my eyes and turned back to my computer. "You doing it again tonight?"
"I"m not sure. It depends on who"s at the fight."
Fight? "Liam"s?"
He looked uncomfortable. "Yeah..."
This must be his first one. He hadn"t mentioned it to me, but we weren"t talking lately. I hadn"t seen him in a few days. "Where is it?"
"At the shack in the gaslight."
"What time?"
He eyed me. "Are you going?"
"I think so."
"Really?" He seemed surprise.
"What"s the big deal? Just because we aren"t together anymore doesn"t mean I can"t support him."
"But you hate that kind of stuff."
I shrugged. "Like you said, it"s a sport."
He didn"t seem convinced. "I thought you didn"t feel comfortable with Liam doing that?"
"Just because he"s like that in the ring doesn"t mean he"s like that all the time. I know he wouldn"t hurt me, or anyone else for that matter."
He looked at me with new eyes. "Should I tell him you"re coming?"
"No," I said. "He"ll probably see me. And if he doesn"t, he"ll just see me at the next one."
Scotty stared at me for a long time, a new look in his eyes. Then he sipped his coffee, holding back whatever he was thinking.
Chapter Five.
Liam I had my s.p.a.ce. Keira gave it to me.
But I didn"t want it.
I missed her. I wanted her back. But every time I found the strength to call her, I quickly changed my mind. Nothing had changed. She still didn"t trust me. There was no guarantee she wouldn"t hurt me.
My first fight was coming up and I trained hard for it. I forced protein down my throat and lifted weights for two hours a day. I ran in the evenings, doing six miles in less than an hour.
My body was back to its peak. Hard muscles lined my body and my core was strong. I was bigger than I used to be, but I still didn"t rival my opponents in size. I kept my frame lean on purpose. What was the point of having so much muscle if it slowed you down?
My mind was focused on the task, but my thoughts lingered on Keira. When I saw that guy talking to her at the bar, my body naturally tensed in defense. I was protective of her, would always be, but she wasn"t my girl anymore so I couldn"t intervene. If she wanted to talk to him, I wouldn"t stick my nose in her business. If she was respecting my privacy, shouldn"t I respect hers?
I watched her body, not seeing any signs of distress or fear. She appeared calm, almost bored. She wasn"t scared, and that surprised me. Anytime she was alone with a man, she was on alert.
That didn"t seem to be the case anymore.
But I couldn"t deny the jealousy I felt. Even if we weren"t together, we still were. That"s how I felt, at least. I had several opportunities to hook up with random girls, but none of them interested me. The only woman who had rolled around in my sheets was Keira, at least for the past year. How could I tarnish something so beautiful with something that meant absolutely nothing to me? I just wanted Keira, to feel the unrealistically perfect relationship we had.
But it was gone.
She threw me away.
My first fight had arrived. I wasn"t nervous, and I certainly wasn"t scared. If I won the fight, a large check would be handed it to me. If I lost, the check would be substantially smaller. But I wasn"t worried about the outcome.
I always won.
I sat in the locker room and stared at my shoes. My gloves sat beside me, ready to be put on. I was shirtless because I preferred to wear as few clothes as possible. The size of my body was an excellent way to intimidate my opponent. Size and strength dwindled in importance compared to mentality. My mind was stronger than anything else.
Bran patted me on the shoulder. "Nervous?"
"If you ask me that again, I"ll rip your head off."
He laughed then sat beside me. "I always know how to get a rise out of you." He handed me the water bottle. "You need anything?"
"No." I kept staring at my shoes.
"Everything alright?" Bran asked.
I hadn"t told Keira about the fight. I knew what her response would be, and it would break my heart. It would just remind me that she would never trust me-at least not as much as she said she did. "Yeah."
Johnny dropped a towel over my shoulders. "Your opponent is puny. We got this."
"Size has nothing to do with it."
He smirked at me. "Are you saying you can"t take him?"
"No, that"s not what I"m saying at all," I said.
Johnny walked away. "You"re on in five."
I stayed in my spot.
Small hands moved up my back and to my shoulders, ma.s.saging me.
For just a fleeting moment, I pretended it was Keira, there to comfort me. The hallucinations of her only tortured me more. When I realized who the culprit was, my muscles tensed in annoyance.
I stood up and glared at her. "Don"t. Touch. Me."
Adrianna smirked at me, clearly unafraid of me. Why couldn"t Keira be that way? And this woman actually had something to be scared of.
She sauntered closer to me. "Come on, Liam. You need some support since you"re old girlfriend never gave you any of it. I"ll always be on the sidelines, there to support you for every match. It"s what you need."
Knowing the lies she fed Keira ripped us apart, made me shake in anger. "Bran."
"What?" He stood up.
"Get her out of here before I strangle her." The cord in my neck were straining against the skin.
Adrianna still didn"t flinch. "Liam, I know what you"ve been through. I can-"