32. Liam

32

LIAM

M y phone buzzed. It was Ava.

Val turned over and gave me a sleepy smile. “Who is it?”

“My sister. I’ll call her back later,” I said as the buzzing stopped.

“No, call her back now. You can go in another room if you want to, but I don’t mind listening to you.”

This wasn’t the way I wanted her to find out about Val. “She doesn’t know about us.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be quiet. Are you two close?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then why don’t you want to talk to her?”

I sighed. “It’s a long story.” I’d refused to tell him why I borrowed the money before, but now that seemed ridiculous.

I knew plenty of shit about his family, and I felt certain he had resources that would help him dig up anything he wanted to know about my past.

“I borrowed the money so she could go to college.”

Val shifted, sitting up. “Not many siblings would do that.”

“Did you know already?”

“I assumed that was part of it, but I didn’t know if there was something I was missing.”

“She was about to start her sophomore year after the accident. I tried to earn enough to cover her tuition once I recovered, but it was impossible. I fell further and further in debt.”

“That’s not right. She should have been eligible for aid.”

I nodded. “She should, but almost failed out the semester after the accident. She wasn’t doing well after losing Mom and Dad.”

“Of course not. What happened to you the night of the accident? I’m sure you had a hard time mentally and physically.” He brushed his fingers lightly over the scar on my collarbone and the one hidden by my hair.

“I got a serious concussion, and the seatbelt broke my collarbone, but my parents were hurt much worse. They didn’t die at the scene, though. There were weeks of surgeries and attempts to save them before they both succumbed to their injuries.” I closed my eyes and pulled away from him, wanting to curl up in a fetal position. The thought of my parents lying in the hospital, unable to speak or move because they were in medically-induced comas made nausea curl in my stomach.

“It’s okay. I’m here.” Val rubbed my back. I usually wanted to be alone whenever I thought of my parents, but his touch calmed me. “Text your sister and let her know you’ll talk to her later, then tell me the whole story, no matter how long it is.”

I sent a quick text to Ava, telling her that I was working and I would call her back later, then I let Val pull me against him. As he combed his fingers through my hair, I wanted to fall back asleep. That would be a hell of a lot easier than telling him the whole story.

“My sister’s name is Ava, but I guess you know that.”

He smiled. “That’s a lovely name.”

“Thanks. She wasn’t with us on the Cape the night of the accident. She’d been dating a guy long distance. They only had a few days together before he had to leave for summer school, so she stayed home. That’s why she wasn’t in the car. They broke up not long after that, but I’ll always be grateful to him for giving her a reason to stay home. What if I’d killed her too?”

Val took hold of my chin and forced me to look at him. “You didn’t kill them; the driver of the other car did. He was clearly driving like a maniac. And I have a feeling you’re dismissing how tough your own recovery was.”

“We’ll get to that. I’m fine now, and I’m all my sister has. My parents weren’t rich, but we always had plenty. There should have been something to help us, but once their hospital bills were settled by the estate, all their money and property went to charity except their cars and a small sum that didn’t even pay for a funeral. I don’t get why they would have done that. We…we thought they loved us.”

Val’s mouth dropped open. I’d never seen him so surprised, but it was nothing compared to how Ava and I felt when we met with my parents’ attorney. “What did you do?”

“I tried to find decent work, but it was hard, and the bills piled up.”

Val kissed the top of my head. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

“I lost the job I’d had, because it took me so long to recover from the concussion. At first Ava refused to go back to college, but I told her she had to. I would do whatever was necessary to pay her tuition. I kept borrowing as much as I could and ignoring bills here and there, digging myself into a deeper and deeper hole.”

“I’m going to help you. We’re going to make this right.”

I shook my head. “It’s my responsibility. Ava only needs one more year to get her degree. I couldn’t let her drop out when she was so close, so I borrowed the money from your family and used it to pay her tuition and housing fees.”

“Liam, baby, you should’ve told me that to start with.”

“Why? You told me you weren’t running a charity. Why would I think you would care what the money was for?”

He blew out a long breath. “Most of the people who come to us aren’t thinking about anyone but themselves. They want to save their own ass from something they got themselves into. You’ve been hurt, and there’s no one to help you. You want to take care of your sister, and you don’t deserve the financial burden you were hit with. Ava should be able to go to school without it ruining you. I imagine she wants you alive when she’s done.”

“Of course she does, but wishing away the bills didn’t to a damn thing to get them paid.”

“Does she know how you got the money?”

“Yes, and she knows I’ve been working at the club. She hates it and she keeps threatening to leave school. I can’t let her do that.”

“We won’t,” Val said.

“I don’t have a lot of options. I’m kind of at the end of my rope. I really shouldn’t be here. You need to take me home so I can get what I need for my shift at Pound.”

“No.”

I pulled away from him and moved to the side of the bed. “Please, Val. If you care at all, let me work off the debt. I don’t need your family after me on top of everything else.”

He shook his head. “You’re not going back to that storage unit. You’re not going to live there, and you’re not going to work at the club anymore. I’ve had enough of other men looking at you.”

“Then what the hell am I going to do? Run? How far would I get before your father found me, even if you refused to look?”

“Baby, I didn’t bring you home just for the night, I brought you home to stay. This is your home now, and you don’t have to work anywhere because I’m going to take care of you.”

His words nearly made me fall off the bed. “Are you fucking serious?”

“You won’t accept an apartment from me, so you’re moving in here. You’re not staying in that storage unit one more night.”

There was no way this was happening. “I can’t do that.”

“I’m not giving you a choice this time.”

“You can’t pay my debt. You already told me that.”

He grabbed my arms and pulled me toward him. “I’m going to do it anyway.”

When I met his gaze, I could see how determined he was, but I couldn’t let him do this. “I can’t fuck up your life too. I’m bad luck.”

He gave me a gentle kiss. “You’re the best luck I’ve ever had.”

“Better than your father taking you in?”

“Yes.”

I scowled at him. “You can’t mean that. You don’t have to say things like that to me.”

“But you are, because I don’t have to be afraid with you. Do you really want to leave?”

Of course I didn’t. But needed to. “No. I want to be right here with you, but I don’t understand what this is. What is happening between us?”

“How many times have I told you that you’re mine and I’m going to protect you?”

“But—”

“You deserve this. You deserve to be cared for. You’ve been carrying way too much of a burden on your own.” He pulled me into his arms, and I let myself relax against him. I wasn’t going anywhere.

“That’s what Ava says, but how else is she going to get what she needs?”

“How about you? Have you gotten what you needed?”

Thinking about myself had seemed like too big of a luxury. “Not until you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He kissed me again, harder this time, and I let myself sink into it.

I truly wanted to believe staying here with him was possible, but as good as it felt, as warm as he was, as strong as his arms were around me, something in the back of my mind told me I didn’t deserve this.