34. Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Sage

" Y our boyfriend is rude. I don't think the boys will like him." Lisette smiles … like the boys not liking Liam would be the best news ever, but it won't. It's not, and the thought of them knowing…

"If you tell August or Sire–"

Vidia's door opens, and the boys stroll in.

I glance at Lis and then back to the boys. "Hey–"

"Your sister's a whore!"

"OH MY GOD!" I cover my face with my hands and sink into the couch as Vidia laughs, but I might be sick.

"Stop fucking calling her that, Lisette," Sire bites out, and they go back and forth. I tell Lis I'm allowed to mingle , but as soon as the words leave my mouth, I tune them out because I can't think. I glance back at my brothers, and when I see the cuts on their faces, on top of knowing who put them there… my stomach turns.

I wanted to go see Liam's game today since my brothers were also playing, and it's safe to say that it went horribly. I didn't even recognize Liam in his gear since we got there late. When Vidia referred to him as Walker, I refused to believe she meant my Walker, but she did. This drama between him and my brothers is clearly worse than I thought since Vidia knew they apparently hated each other.

"Be grateful we stopped beating up your and her boyfriends a long time ago." Sire's words pull me out of my thoughts. You just did beat him up…

"Sage's last one was actually decent; that new guy you had over did not wash his hands after using the bathroom, and he was mean to you." August defends the only one of my exes they liked, but Lis scoffs from beside me.

"Wait until you meet her new one," she mumbles, and Sire picks his head up from Vidia's lap to look at me. His eyes bore into mine as if the words I'm dating the man you hate were written on my forehead, and I feel my tears building again.

"She's joking." Vidia glances at me before turning Sire's head back to face her, and I let out a breath of relief. "What was that on the field today?"

I keep my gaze on Sire, but he only lets out a sigh, and it's August who unintentionally makes my heart feel like it just shattered.

"Walker is such a fucking bitch, that's what happened."

Hazel tries to clean a cut on his eyebrow, and I shake my head at all of this.

"He always wants to fucking talk shit. I'm going to knock his damn teeth out the next time I see him," Sire adds on, and I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Don't you think this rivalry between you guys is getting old? It's been what? Six years?"

I steal a glance back over at Sire just as Vidia moves his hair from his face, and an ugly bruise is forming in his cheek.

"Seven." He corrects her, and my heart sinks.

I bite my lip to stop it from trembling and put on a smile for my brothers and the girls, but I just want to go home.

"I have to go." I grab my things, and I'm on autopilot as I walk out, but V stops me as I reach the door.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… I just forgot I need to film a video today, so I won't be able to post it on time." I put on a smile and my words aren't completely a lie. I didn't film my weekly girl talk today because I wanted to watch Liam and my brothers play… I wish I had just stayed home, and today never happened.

"Okay…" She opens the door for me and we step out together. "If you're worried about your brother finding out about Mr. Chocolate and peanut emoji, just know I'll make sure to tell Sire to leave you alone, and he'll tell Lis to fuck off."

I let out a soft laugh at the reminder of Liam's contact name. After he told me he was allergic to peanuts I added the emoji to his name, and the other week, it was clear he didn't like chocolate, so I just made the two of them his contact.

I feel my smile falling but reassure Vidia that I'm okay, and after she hugs me goodbye I head for the elevator. I turn my phone back on to call a ride and the second I do a few messages come in, and then Liam calls me again.

He's not going to stop calling, and I need to find a ride, so I mute him before calling a car. The entire drive home passes in a blur, and when I step out of the elevator, Liam turns to me. When he sees my face, it's clear he knows I know what happened.

"Dory, I am so sorry."

I let out a scoff as I scan his bruised face. "You keep saying that, Liam, and every time I think I want to forgive you, you mess up again."

He shakes his head as he closes the distance between us. "You saw that fight; he hit me first."

"Do you hear how childish that sounds? He wouldn't hit you for no good reason, Liam."

He shakes his head in disbelief, this time as he watches me. "You're not even going to place an ounce of blame on them? Can they truly do no wrong to you?"

"I never said that."

"No, but all you keep saying is how I'm wrong."

"Because you are!" I step away from him, tears blurring my vision. "This isn't fair, Liam. You wanted to sleep with me . You're the one who wanted the friends-with-benefits thing. You're the one who asked me to be your girlfriend. Why is it that you wanted this, and I'm the one who gets hurt?"

His eyes soften, but his face blurs as my throat tightens again. "The last thing I wanted was to hurt you, Dory."

"But you did. It was clearly still on your list, just the last thing." I move past him, and he quickly wraps an arm around my waist. "Let me go."

"Sage, I swear I never wanted this."

I try to push him away, but he doesn't let me.

"Sage, please ." Desperation seeps into his voice. "Tell me how to fix this, and I will."

"There is no fixing this." I force myself not to look at him as I try to push him off and reach my door. "We're done. We did the apologies and cute gestures last time, but we're not doing it again. You showed me the kind of person you were twice before, and this is the third time. I've learned my lesson. You're a liar. You can't open up to me, and your anger blinds you from what's right and wrong. I don't want to be with you."

"No, no, Sage, wait." He keeps his grip on me, trying to get me to stop and listen, but I'm done listening.

"Get off!"

His hands drop as my voice rings through the empty hall. "Please," he begs again.

"Leave," I tell him one last time as I reach my door, but he grabs my hand. When I turn to deny him, he drops to his knees.

"I am so sorry." He grabs my hand, and his touch must paralyze me because I can't pull away from him.

"I should've told you I knew your brothers. I should've told you we hated each other, and I was going to tell you sooner , but I was scared of losing you."

I shake my head softly as I look down at him… on his knees for me. "You already did." My voice is just above a whisper, and I try to pull my hand away, but his grip tightens before I notice tears forming in his eyes.

A single tear treks down his face, and a lump forms in my throat at how broken he looks, but he broke me first, so I don't let myself cry for him, but my vision begins to blur.

"I shouldn't have done what I did to them." He shakes his head. "It was wrong. I know that, but if you want me to build a time machine and go back in time to take it back, I will, Sage. I'll go back and be best fucking friends with them."

I don't say anything, although I don't think I'd be able to form any words if I tried. Instead, I try to turn to my door, but he grabs me with both hands.

"Tell me what you want, and it's yours, Sage." He blurts as he realizes that he's running out of time. "I'll mop the fucking ocean for you. I'll sweep the sand on every beach, Sage. Name anything in the world, and it's yours ."

I try to tell him I don't want anything from him, but my watch buzzes, and it's a text from August.

Ugly Twinnn

Hey! You left all the new clothes you bought at Sire's place but I'm taking it up to you. Heading in the elevator now!!

"Liam, stand up." I quickly glance back down the hall.

"I can make anything in the universe yours. If you want something on the moon, I will buy NASA and have them fly me there within the hour, Sage."

"Liam–"

My eyes land on the elevator, and he's almost on my floor.

"I want you to stand up. Now. "

He rises faster than light, and we escape into my apartment.

"You need to hide," I blurt.

"What?"

I jump as August knocks on my door.

My eyes snap open before I look at Liam frantically. "That's August. Go to my room right now."

He rushes off, but I remember August might go in there since he brought my shopping bags.

"Wait!" I whisper-shout. "Go in the closet in my makeup room."

He disappears without a word, and my heart is in my throat as I turn for the door. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. When I open the door and see August's smile, I genuinely feel like the last five minutes didn't happen as his arms come around me, and it adds to the twin theory. He can fix everything.

"Hey, ugly twin." I squeeze him tighter and stifle a laugh as he tries to pull away.

"You will stop calling me that," he demands, although he laughs.

Hazel walks in from behind him, and when I open my arms out to her, she doesn't look amused. "You saw me ten minutes ago."

I paint a smile on my face with my arms still open, and when August nudges her, she rolls her eyes and lets me hug her.

"What are you guys doing here?" I glance at my makeup room and force my nerves to settle.

"Sire and Lis are a damn headache," Hazel grumbles, and I bite back a laugh as she walks to my couch. "I really like Lis, but her and Sire together are like four toddlers."

August and I share a laugh as he takes my bags to the couch. When he turns to look at me, his shoulders slouch. "Were you crying?"

"No." I force a smile, but he sees right through me.

"What's wrong?" He closes the distance between us before wrapping his arms around me.

"I was just worried about the fight you guys had today." That's not a total lie.

"Don't worry about that, Sage. We're fine." He kisses the top of my head, but with the opening, I finally ask about Liam because I want to hear his side and know how much he hates him. "He's just an asshole."

"Yeah, but why do you guys not like each other so much?"

We settle on the couch as he tells me the story, and it's just as Liam said. The only difference is that I was right, and my brothers weren't cheating; Liam's teammates only thought they were.

"He and Sire bump heads more often than he and I do because Sire is petty and likes to hold grudges. I don't care anymore. He's an asshole; we should move on, but when he says slick shit, he gets punched for it. Like today."

"What'd he say today?" I ask although a part of me doesn't want to know.

August rolls his eyes at whatever it is. "It was something about sleeping with you or dating you. I don't know, but Sire punched him before he could finish his sentence." He laughs, but I feel my face heat, and it hurts me more that Liam rubbed that in their face… maybe I really was just a way to get at my brothers.

I muster up a smile and grab the bags he brought over. "I'll be right back." I head for my makeup room, and as I open the closet door, Liam stands from his seat on the floor.

"Is he-"

"What'd you say to Sire for him to punch you?"

He doesn't hesitate to tell the truth. "He said my girl was embarrassing, and I told him not to talk about you like that."

I shake my head at him, knowing he didn't say that to defend but to make him mad. "August is still out there, but you can just walk out and go home."

He looks confused now as he watches me. "He'd see me?"

"I know that, but there's nothing to hide since we're no longer together. Go home." My voice breaks, and I hate that it does. He walks over to me, but I walk backward. "I mean it."

"I'm not giving up on you." He stalks towards me.

"You threw it in my brother's face that we were together. You're really going to stand here and tell me there wasn't a single thought in your head that entailed-"

" No , Sage." He stops me before I can say it again, and my back hits the wall as he closes in on me. "You think too highly of your brothers if you believe I'd spend time thinking about them enough to plot sleeping with you. I actually tried to stay away from you because I didn't want this exact same problem, but then I fell in love with your damn dimples and perfect smile, Sage. I fell in love with you. All of you. I'm in love with you, and it has absolutely nothing to do with either of them."

His scent mixed with his words and the small space between us are all too much at once, and I can't bring myself to say anything.

"I love you," he says one more time. I shake my head as I look to the side, but he leans down and catches my eyes. "I do."

"You're a liar."

"So tell me what it is I'm feeling, Sage. Tell me how I feel about you because every time I so much as hear your name, my heart feels like it's doing backflips. Every time I see you cry, I feel like my skin is disintegrating, and the only reason I don't fucking die for hurting you is because I'm going to die trying to fix this. If that's not love, then tell me what it is because I've never loved anyone, and I fucking adore you."

He brings his forehead to mine, and I nearly hold my breath, willing myself not to admit that I fell for him too, and he hurt me anyway.

"You need to leave," is all I can choke out.

He cups my face, forcing me to look at him. "Tell me you don't love me, and I'll go."

I open my mouth, but he goes on.

"I can't promise I won't be back, but tell me you don't love me, and I'll let you have this last night of peace before I beg you for the next ten years to take me back." He looks between my eyes like they're his life support, and it forces a weight in my chest.

"Just go, Liam." My voice falls into a whisper, but he doesn't seem to have lost a sliver of hope.

"If you're mad I lied, then fine. If you're hurt because you think I just used you, then I'll prove you otherwise, but I think we both know you're just scared of your brothers." His words are bitter now, pulling me away from him.

"I'm not scared of them or anyone."

He looks down at me for a beat before walking out without a single word. I follow after him, but his quick pace carries him out of the closet faster than me.

"What are you doing?"

"If you're not scared of them, you won't care if your twin knows about us."

He walks out of my makeup room before I can even think to stop him. August and Hazel have their backs to us but turn at the sound of our footsteps. I watch August's smile drop before the confusion hits as he looks between us.

"What-" He cuts himself off as he slowly stands from the couch.

"Your sister and I are dating. We've been together for six months."

"We've been dating for a week. " I correct him. "We met a few months ago for my contest, but I broke up with him."

"No, she didn't." Liam tries to correct me.

"Yes, I-"

Liam turns to me now as he cuts me off. "No, you did not, Sage. We're not breaking up."

"We're not together, Liam. I said we're done . You don't get to decide when or if we get back together." Neither of us breaks eye contact, challenging the other.

"Wait, is this real?" August's voice pulls us apart. He's still looking at Liam as if he appeared from thin air, and I guess he sort of did. "What is happening? Why are you here?" He shakes his head. "How did you get in ?"

I cover my face in my hands, a headache forming from previously trying not to cry. "I didn't know you guys didn't like him, but I broke up with him today, and it's over."

When I look back up at August, he still looks confused. It takes him a second, but the pieces fall together in his head before he turns to Liam. "How dare you rope my twin sister into our issues?" August walks towards him, but I stand in front of Liam because I refuse to let them fight again.

"I didn't rope her into anything." Liam counters. "Look, I know you don't like me, but I love your sister, so tell her you don't care if we date."

"I do care." August's face scrunches as if he can't understand a single syllable Liam is forming. "You're not a good person."

"You don't even know me." Liam practically spits out. "Do you think I'm a bad person, Dory?"

I don't get to answer as August replies before I can in disbelief. "Who the hell is Dory? You don't even know her name. Get out of here! Did you break in ?!" August grows more frantic as he pulls me away from Liam.

I try to de-escalate, but neither of them lets me get a word.

"Do I look like a threat to her life?" Liam rolls his eyes as he tries to grab me, but August actually karate chops his arm and grills Liam from head to toe.

"Uh, yeah. You do, actually."

Hazel stifles a laugh from the couch, and I don't bother asking her to help. I step in front of the two of them before Liam hits him back. "Both of you stop." I turn to August first. "He's not a threat to my life, and he's not a bad person," I reassure him.

He looks like he can't understand me, but after I give him the Cliff notes of the last few months, he watches the two of us, and I watch all of the stages of grief fall on his face one at a time.

"You love him?"

I never said that, but when I don't deny it, understanding washes through his face.

"Do you want him to leave?"

"Dory-"

"Let her speak, Walker," August cuts him off, and Liam surprisingly doesn't say a word as I think of my options.

I know August said he no longer cares about what Liam did to them. Liam was also wrong; I'm not scared of my brothers. I just know what it looks like when you continuously forgive someone, and they keep apologizing with no changes. Three times, Liam had to ask for my forgiveness within less than a week of our dating.

"I don't believe you got with me because of my brothers, and if you did, I'll leave that to them to deal with, but if you want me back, Liam, you need to change. Apologies without action feel a lot like manipulation, so no more nice flowers or four-D movies. I don't want it. How about you learn to get your temper in order and learn to be more open with the woman you claim you love? Until then, I don't want to speak to you."

I see the realization settle in his eyes at the seriousness of my words. It's clear he knows he can't just say we're together, and that'll be it.

He nods slowly, and when I see a gloss cover his eyes, I need to look away.

"I meant what I said about not giving up on you, beloved." He closes the distance between us and presses the lightest kiss on my cheek. He takes one step away, and that single action nearly crushes my heart. "Try to eat something tonight, pretty girl."

And that's all he says before he walks out, taking a small piece of me with him.