“Unless you’re listed as his next of kin, they’re not going to let you in until morning. Sit tight. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know, okay?”
I sank down on one of Liam’s mom’s couches, barely feeling the softness of the old, worn fabric. “Okay, thank you.”
“Mae…”
“Yeah?” I asked distractedly.
“If Heath comes to you, you have to turn him in. You know that, right?”
I swallowed hard, my gaze meeting Heath’s across the room. “I know,” I lied. One day, when all of this was cleared up, the first thing I’d do would be apologize to Perry for lying to her. But right now, I had to protect the people I loved. Heath was one of those people.
He seemed to sense the shift in my mood and came to sit beside me as I hung up.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I hate that you had to lie to her for me.”
It didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was here, and safe. But Rowe wasn’t, and that ate at me. Worry gnawed away at my insides like a rat, but then I noticed Liam watching me from the tiny kitchen, and my heart broke in two.
He was barely holding it together.
I rushed to his side, wrapping my arms around him.
He folded in on me, engulfing me in his embrace, tucking his face into my hair and inhaling deep breaths. “What if he dies? What if I hit him too hard and caused a brain bleed or something?”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t offer any condolences because I was terrified of the same thing.
But Heath could. He stood from his spot on the couch and inched aside the curtain, peering out into the street. His face was a grimace when he turned back. “You did what he asked. If this is anyone’s fault, it’s mine and Rowe’s.”
But nobody could take away the literal blood on Liam’s hands. It was there as a reminder until the cuts and bruises healed at least.
Not only that, but being in this house again had to be hard for him. I knew he hadn’t been here since he was a teen, and there were reminders of his childhood all over the place. Photos of him and his brother hung proudly on the walls, yellowing slightly with age and sun exposure. It was a double whammy of epic proportions, coupled with a day and night none of us would ever forget. “I think we should go to bed,” I suggested, running a soothing hand down Liam’s arm. “Today has been…a lot. There’s cops everywhere, so we aren’t getting any farther tonight.”
Heath nodded quickly, and Liam let me lead him down a short hallway. There were only three doors, all of them closed. I looked back over my shoulder at Liam for guidance, and he pointed to the door straight ahead. “That was mine and Hayden’s room when we were kids.” He opened the door to his left. “Bathroom, if anyone needs it.”
He didn’t need to point out that the other room was his mother’s. There was no need to open it and intrude on her privacy any more than we already were.
I moved ahead and twisted the handle on Liam’s childhood bedroom door. I couldn’t help the smile as I walked inside. It was like stepping into a time warp. The bedroom was barely big enough for two single beds and a chest of drawers. But the beds were neatly made with matching bedspreads, and baseball posters still stuck on the walls.
Liam gazed around the room. “It’s almost the same as the day I left.” He ran his hand over one of the bedspreads, smoothing out a nonexistent wrinkle. “I don’t know why she kept two beds. She could have gotten rid of one so Hayden had more room after I went to live with my grandparents.”
I stepped in and wrapped my arms around him from behind. “She kept it there for you. In case you ever needed to come back. That’s probably why there’s still two beds in here, even though you and Hayden are both grown men. Just in case you ever need her.”
Liam hung his head. His hand covered mine, holding them tight to his chest. “She ran away from us at the shelter that day…”
I nodded into his back, remembering the way she’d taken one look at Liam and bolted. “And that’s something you two can discuss…but this…” The room had a fresh, clean scent to it, like it was dusted and cleaned regularly, and the linens changed, even if nobody slept in them. “I think this proves your mother doesn’t hate you. I think it proves she always hoped you’d come back to her.”
Heath had gone silent at my back, but now he sat on Hayden’s old bed. The frame squeaked, and I was sure Heath’s feet would hang out the edge, but it was a hell of a lot comfier than his bed in solitary. “I’ll take this one. You two can share that one, if you don’t mind snuggling. But Liam seems like he needs it.”
I didn’t want to be apart from either of them, and the small gap between the beds felt like a chasm. I needed to be touched. Held. I needed that reconnection with both of them.
But it was nearing two in the morning, Heath barely fit on the bed alone, and Liam did look drained. Rowe’s condition weighed heavily on my mind, so I simply nodded, stripping down to my underwear before pulling back the blankets on the bed to slip beneath them. The sheets were old and worn, but clean and smelling of lavender. From my spot beneath the covers, I watched Liam and Heath both take off their clothes until all they wore were boxer briefs. Liam crawled in beside me. Heath switched off the light and got into his bed on the other side of the room.
As soon as Liam pulled the covers over us, I sought him out, desperate to feel the warmth of his skin against mine. He was just as eager. We met in the middle of the narrow bed, chest to chest, our legs entangled around each other. Instantly, his cock thickened between us, and he sighed before pressing his lips to my bare shoulder.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “Ignore that. Sleep.”