Chapter 31

JULY 5 – WEDNESDAY 9:59 PM

T heo

I didn't see a single car, cop or otherwise until I got close to Liam's house. With each mile that passed, I became angrier. I never lost my shit. It was like the next coming of Christ how often I'd been angry with Liam.

Veering onto his street, I slowed down, pulled through the open mansion gates, and stared at the vehicle I didn't recognize. Getting off the bike, I dug around in my pack and found the key to his house. He wasn't fucking ignoring me this time.

Stomping up the steps, I didn't bother to knock. The music blaring inside would've made it impossible for anyone to hear it anyway. Unlocking the door, I stepped in and looked around, trying to decide if Liam was in his bedroom or his gaming lounge. A whooping yell told me what I needed to know. The laughter got louder with each step, and by the time I reached the door of his game room, I was madder than I'd ever been in my life. Liam was sitting on the couch as a half-naked girl gave him a very exotic lap dance while another, in her underwear, danced around with an open champagne bottle. Nobody even saw me.

The rage thrummed like my heartbeat under my skin. I calmly walked over to the drawer where I knew Liam kept a gun and pulled it out. I fired three shots into the stereo, and the girls screamed and ducked while the champagne went flying. Turning the weapon on the television, I unloaded the rest of the clip, destroying it and effectively shutting everything down, including the porno that had been playing.

"Jesus fuck," Liam swore as he sat up from where he'd taken cover. He stared at me and then around the room to his smoking sound system.

With a flick of my finger, I dropped the empty clip onto the floor and swapped in the extra one I had grabbed. The sound of it sliding home was loud in the sudden silence.

"Do the two of you want to live," I asked calmly. My boots were loud as I walked across the floor and pointed the gun at first the redhead and then the brunette. Tears streamed down their faces, and I felt nothing. It didn't matter that I had no clue who they were or that they hadn't done anything to me. I could pull the trigger and not care. "Answer the fucking question."

"Yes." They chimed together.

"Excellent. Get your stuff, get the fuck out, and never come back. Next time, I won't ask. I'll just put one between your eyes."

Liam stood from the couch and walked over to the mini bar as the girls ran around the room, grabbing clothes and purses before dashing past me.

"Hey," I yelled, and they slid to a stop, staring at me. "I wouldn't call the cops if I was you, feel me?" They nodded, and I shooed them to keep going with the gun.

"Way to ruin my night," Liam said, pouring himself a drink.

I set the gun down before I used it on him. Usually, the sight of him shirtless would derail all logical thought, but not tonight. Marching up to him as he went to take a sip of his drink, I grabbed the glass from his hand and whipped it across the room. It smashed into the wall, shattering on impact and leaving a hole.

"What the hell is your problem," I snarled.

"My problem? I'm not the one barging into your home shooting it up."

"Is this about Ren? Is that why those two girls were here, to somehow get even with me?"

He held his hands up. "I was only doing what you said we could do. I mean, we did say that we could fuck girls, right? What's the problem?" My fist connected with his jaw, snapping his head to the side as he stumbled back from the unexpected blow. "What the fuck?"

"You and this attitude are my problem."

Liam's glare met mine. He rubbed at his jaw, and the dark look in his eyes should have given me pause, but I was too mad to care.

He shoved me, forcing me to take a step back. "Oh yeah? Maybe you're my entire problem."

I shook my head. "Fuck this. You want out?" I took a step back from him. "Fine, we're done. Unless it's about work, don't call me." I turned to get the hell out of there, but Liam grabbed my arm.

"Fuck you. No, I don't want out, and you don't get to walk away," Liam growled, jerking me to a halt.

"Let go," I ordered, getting in his face.

"No." His hand tightened. "That's not what I meant."

"I don't care. While you were here getting your dick wet, I was chased by cops and blacked-out SUVs. I tried to call you, and you ignored me out of some jealous spite." His hand loosened slightly, and his eyes quickly looked me over. I knew he was checking to see if I was injured. "You're my person, and the day I can no longer trust you is the day we're no longer whatever the fuck this is because I don't even know anymore. Now let go of me."

"No, not until you listen to me."

"Now you want to talk? If I'd known all I had to do was shoot up your house, I would've done it days ago, but I'm done talking. Let me go."

"No," he growled and yanked on my arm, pulling me closer, a crazed possessiveness dancing in his eyes.

The volcanic explosion that happened inside of me blacked everything else out. With a yell, I broke Liam's hold and shoved him so hard that he stumbled back and flipped over the couch out of sight.

"I've let you treat me like shit since I got back from Canada," I said as he pulled himself off the floor. "You've been rude, short with me, ignoring me, treating me like some fucking random you dragged home for the night, and I'm fucking done." He stood, his hands balling into fists. "I told you exactly what I wanted with you and Ren, and you fucking agreed. Then you start acting like someone I don't even recognize." I pointed at him. "I've let you take the space I thought you needed to think, but you've only gotten worse. I will let you do almost anything to me, but treating me like your doormat is not something I will allow. I'm out."

Like he was part cat, Liam jumped over the couch and tackled me around the waist. We rolled around on the floor, fighting for dominance. He'd gotten stronger, but I had pure rage running through me like it was high-octane jet fuel. He caught me across the jaw with his elbow, but he groaned as I nailed him with two sharp jabs to the ribs. We hit the end table, and everything on it was knocked off. Pushing off the couch, I managed to roll him over and land a solid shot to his jaw, but he didn't flinch.

Glaring at him, I moved to get up. He hit my arm just right, and my elbow buckled, making it easy for Liam to toss me on my back with my arms pinned over my head.

"Get the fuck off me," I snarled and bucked up with my hips trying to dislodge him.

"No, I'm not letting you walk out of here. I don't want us to be over."

Panting, I stopped struggling and glared at him. "I don't fucking get you. Why are you pushing me away every chance you get, and then you say you don't want us to be over? I'm getting fucking whiplash with how fast your moods are changing." His eyes searched mine as I waited for an answer. "Tell me or get the hell off me, and I'm out, for real."

Liam's hands tightened on my wrists. "Don't you get it? It's because I fucking love you."

I blinked at him as we both stilled. My heart sputtered and then soared. I'd been hoping that one day he'd feel about me the way I did for him, but after two years, I'd given up hope and figured the intense sexual connection was all we'd ever share. I searched his eyes and couldn't help worrying that he was only saying this to give me what I wanted to hear, a lure to snag my heart and reel me back in.

"That makes even less sense. You love me, so you push me away? You decide to fuck random girls after you've agreed to a relationship that includes Ren. You ignore me and cancel our time together. What do you want from me? Tell me what the hell it is that you want."

Liam rolled over and flopped down beside me on his back. I pushed myself up onto my elbow and checked to see if my lip was bleeding.

"I was just preparing for the inevitable," he said and looked at me. All the anger was gone, and I couldn't remember a time I'd seen Liam show me so much vulnerability. His eyes were begging me to understand, but I didn't know what he was trying to tell me.

"What are you talking about?"

"For you to leave."

"What? Do you even hear yourself? Why would I leave you?"

I didn't move away when he reached out and cupped my cheek before sliding his hand around to grip the back of my neck. "I see it. You're falling in love with her. The pull she has over you, and how she makes you laugh, smile, and challenges you, I…."

"You think that I'm not going to want you anymore?" He didn't say the words, but he didn't need to. Liam never showed emotion, but his eyes were filled with it now. "Liam, I don't understand where this is coming from. I've been nothing but upfront with exactly what I want, and none of it involves leaving you. You're the one who didn't want labels, that insisted we were having fun, and demanded that we should still incorporate other people." I rubbed my eyes. "Do you have any idea how hurtful it was to hear someone ask if we were together, and you shrug it off or laugh and say no, but here I am, still fucking with you."

"I know. I'm sorry," he said. "I've never been able to express myself, and I hate people knowing anything about me. My first instinct is always to deny or lie. I just didn't know what to say to them, but I didn't mean it, not once."

"Then what has spurred this confession? You've known for a very long time that I love you even before we got involved."

"Truth?"

"Always."

Pushing me back, Liam straddled my hips. I gripped the hard biceps that were as flexed as the rest of him. It was hard to remain angry with him touching me like this and his skin hot under my fingers.

"The feelings have always been there, but Ren coming along forced me to admit them to myself. I…I didn't know how to handle the realization that I love you, and I'm fucking scared to lose you. I don't do fear, but you leaving me is unimaginable. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache with sharp pains that take my breath away. But to lose you to someone that I'd have to watch you with every day would kill me, or I'd kill them. Both are possible scenarios. You know I'm naturally jealous and possessive over you. Seeing you look at Ren the way you look at me is making me crazy. I can't think straight and…." There was a desperation in his voice that I never expected from him.

Grabbing Liam's face, I pulled him down, kissed him hard, and stopped whatever else he was going to say. I'd waited two years to hear those three words while I pushed down my own feelings time and again.

Rolling us over, I took control, my tongue battling with his as he grabbed my ass. There was so much pent-up emotion poured into the kiss, and I thrust forward so he could feel how hard I was. Liam's groan was as enslaving to my heart as if he'd wrapped me up in chains to keep me from leaving.

Breaking the kiss, I forced myself up enough that I could stare down into his eyes, which were glazed over with the same lust that was traveling through my body. I wanted him, but we needed to get a few things straight before that could happen.

"Tell me. Has there been anyone else sharing your bed while you had me sitting on the sideline?"

He shook his head. "No, what you saw was as close as I got."

I licked my swollen bottom lip. "But you were planning on it, weren't you?"

Liam looked away. "Yes. I was planning on it."

"Did you really want to be with someone else?"

He turned his head to look at me once more. "No."

Shocking him, I grabbed his throat, and his caramel eyes flared with the possessiveness that was just part of who he was. "Fine, but we need new ground rules."

"Like what?" He rubbed himself against me, and I sucked in a deep breath to keep from just caving to whatever he wanted all over again.

"To start with, no more telling people we're friends with something on the side or that you don't have feelings for me. I'm more than that. Treat me like it. No more fucking randoms for either of us, girls or guys. You are mine, and that means you either fuck me or Ren or both of us together, but that's it from now on." His eyebrow twitched up. "And you will never ignore me or push me away like that again, or it will be the last time."

Theo's expression was pure shock. I'd never topped him, but I would only let him push me so far.

"Okay, I accept the new rules."

"And you'll actually try to get to know Ren so we can have more than this strange tension between the three of us?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure I'm ready to share a bed with Ren, to be honest, but I'll get to know her."

"Fine, that's all I ask." I pushed myself up into a sitting position, stood, and rolled out my shoulders before walking to the door.

"Hey, where the hell are you going?"

I looked behind me at Liam, who was resting on his forearms. Fuck he was sexy, and the hard-on I had proved just how much I wanted to stay, but establishing new boundaries was more important than fucking him.

"I'm leaving. You have some cleaning up to do, and you'd better start thinking of how you can grovel for forgiveness. I'm not giving you my cock again until you earn it." I smirked at him. "It's time you learned to beg."

"Fuck," he growled as I marched out the door.

I was going to need a cold fucking shower after that.