“Liam,” I asked hesitantly, “why did you and Amy break up?”
He paused, his fingers fiddling with the clasp.
“Didn’t you say you liked me?” he asked calmly.
What… did that even mean? And when had I
ever said I liked him recently?
When I didn’t answer, he countered, “So you don’t like me anymore?”
I felt a cold sweat break out. “No,” I whispered.
He let out a short, humorless laugh that sent
chills down my spine. I still couldn’t look at him.
“Last night,” he continued, “on your birthday…
you were clinging to my sleeve, crying, telling
me you loved me.”
く
I was never drinking again.
He stroked my hair, his voice laced with a
dangerous edge. “Chloe, I gave you a chance.”
Then, “I won’t be so generous this time.”
My heart pounded. I reached for his arm,
wanting to apologize, but his next words
stopped me cold.
“Someone who loves you. Someone who’s good
to you.” He echoed my words from the car, his
breath warm against my ear. “Chloe, no one in
this world will ever love you more than I do.”
Liam… said love? My voice trembled. My palms
were slick with sweat. “Is that… the kind of
love… I want?”
He chuckled, his eyes flicking towards the
remaining unopened gift box on my desk.
“Open the other one.”
<
My hands fumbled with the wrapping, revealing
a blue velvet box. Inside lay the diamond ring
from Amy’s Instagram post. It was my size.
“Now,” he asked, his voice low, “is this the kind
of love you want?”
Before I could answer, he leaned down and
kissed me. His lips lingered, leaving a burning
warmth. He looked into my stunned eyes, a
smile playing on his lips. “We can’t be brother
and sister anymore. Want to try being lovers?”
He held my hand, his grip firm. He seemed to
enjoy my shock, his fingers gently threading
through my hair. “Why are you trembling?” he
asked, amusement coloring his voice.
Could I tell him I didn’t love him? No. I’d been
waiting for this, hadn’t I? But… but…
“What about Mom and Dad?” I whispered.
He shrugged, unconcerned. “We’ll tell them I
forced you.” He squeezed my hand reassuringly.
“Don’t worry. If Mom finds out we’re together,
she’ll be ecstatic. She won’t have to worry
about you being taken advantage of anymore.”
I should have known. We were both crazy.
Liam and I were together. It was something I
wouldn’t have even dared to dream of before.
He confessed that seeing me with Josh had
nearly driven him insane. All that talk about
giving me a chance, about letting me go it
had all been a lie. He’d wanted to lock me
away, keep me hidden where no one else could
touch me.
“That pathetic scarf…” he’d scoffed. “If you like
it so much, I’ll have a hundred made for you.”
Even now, long after the breakup, he still
resented the scarf Josh’s mother had knitted.
く
Looking back, there had been signs. His sudden
anger in the car when I’d mentioned a
boyfriend. His cold dismissal of Josh. His
constant disapproval of everything I did, the
strange things he’d said. Yet, he’d never
forgotten my birthday.
I also realized that Liam, the calm, collected ice
king, was a master of disguise. The possessive
streak he’d kept hidden had finally revealed
itself once I’d slipped from his grasp.
“What about Amy?” I asked.
“She’ll move on.”
