Page 14 of Broken Harmony (Heartbreak Melody #2)

“Ally, you have to leave for your photo shoot in thirty minutes,” Skyler shouts from somewhere in the bus. “Get a move on it!”

Rolling my eyes, I huff, spitting out a mouthful of toothpaste.

“Listen here, asshole,” I grumble, stepping into the hallway, toothbrush still in hand. “You're not my mom, okay?”

Skyler grins over at me from his place on the couch. “I could be your mommy, if you like.” He winks.

“You wish.” I smile back.

“What are you doing?” a gruff voice asks, making my nipples pebble against my black lace bra.

My eyes dart over to Liam, who’s standing by the door of the bus like a goddamn statue, like always.

I swear the guy doesn’t know the meaning of fun.

He’s always so serious and broody. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hot and makes my pussy tingle and all that jazz, but would it kill the man to crack a smile?

“Brushing my teeth.” I hold up the toothbrush, making the duh gesture. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

His eyes narrow, and I swear it’s taking everything in him not to lower them.

I’m only in my bra and panties right now, and I know he hates it.

“And you need to be naked to do that?” he asks, raising a brow as he crosses his arms over his broad, muscular chest. Yum. I wanna lick those pretty veins that pop.

“I’m not naked.” I give him a blank look as I run my hand in front of my body. “All the a’s, t’s, and p’s are tucked away.”

“I’m sorry, what?” His brows furrow in confusion. The guys chuckle.

“Ass.” Ryker grins.

“Tits,” Tyson adds.

“And pussy,” Skyler purrs the last one, wiggling his brows at his older brother.

He won’t ever admit it, but Liam is totally jealous of me and the guys. I see it in the way he watches us, the grumbling under his breath when the guys and I play fight.

When you’re on the road with your best friends all the time, you grow close. But we’ve never gotten that close. I’m just very comfortable around them. Like I’m one of the guys.

There’s zero sexual desire between the group of us, but Liam doesn’t seem to get that.

And I’ve been having some fun with it.

It’s been three months since Liam took the position as my personal bodyguard. At first, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. Letting someone new in after so many people in my life doing me dirty wasn’t easy.

But Liam has proved, time and time again, that he is indeed good at his job.

Fans don’t get a chance to get close enough to reach out and grab me anymore. When people wait outside venues for autographs, he’s right there next to me, making sure everyone behaves.

If I’m working, he’s glued to my side. But as soon as we’re back in the safety of the hotel or tour bus, it’s like he just disappears. I know he’s close by; he doesn’t seem to go far, but it’s like he’s trying to put as much space between us as he can.

I hate it. Sometimes, I think he doesn’t like me. I don’t know why, I’m a fucking delight, okay?

Then it’s times like this, when his eyes devour me, setting my skin on fire, that has me believing otherwise.

You’d have to be blind not to see the attraction between us; that much is obvious. It’s getting the man to admit it, that’s the challenge.

One that I’ve taken him up on.

Hence, why I’m standing in a bra and panties.

I wasn’t sure if he would be on the bus; he rarely is. But... just in case. You never know.

It paid off this time.

Liam’s jaw flexes, the broody look still firmly on his handsome face. “We leave in fifteen minutes. Be ready to go by then.” Liam pushes off the door and turns around, hand going to the handle to open it.

“Whatever you say, Daddy .” I bite my lip, trying not to laugh while the guys snicker.

Liam shoots me a glare over his shoulder, but fuck me, I see the heat in his eyes. Ohhh, Daddy Liam likes it. Huh, gonna file that little tidbit of information away for later.

Liam throws the door open, slamming it behind him.

“That man needs to get laid,” Skyler laughs, shaking his head.

My brows furrow as I cast a glare my best friend's way. “Fuck off,” I hiss.

Skyler laughs. “Sorry, Spitfire. Forgot you got the hots for him.”

“I do—” he raises his brow. “Oh fuck off,” I growl, ducking back into the bathroom, annoyed with their asses already.

“If you think Liam needs to get laid so badly, why doesn’t Ally take one for the team?” Ryker says when I step out of my bedroom dressed in jeans and a pink crop top.

“What the fuck?” I huff.

“Clearly, he wants you.” Tyson grins. “You can cut the sexual tension between the two of you with a knife.”

“He wants to fuck me because I’m an Omega. It’s what most Alphas want.” I wave him off, opening the little fridge to grab a bottle of water.

“We don’t,” Skyler points out.

“Okay, you don’t count." I roll my eyes. “You’re practically my brothers. Of course, you don’t want to fuck me. It would be like fucking your sister.”

“Thanks for that image.” Skyler wrinkles his nose, and I snort a laugh.

“The fact is, he just wants me for my body. Nothing more. So, no, I won’t be taking one for the team. Because when I’m with someone, I want it to be with someone I have feelings for. Not for a quick, cheap fuck.”

“I don’t know.” Ryker smirks. “You don’t look cheap to me.” He eyes me up. “I’d say you’d go for a good hundred k an hour at least.”

My lips part as I gape at him. “Oh, fuck you, thank you very much!” I shout, grabbing a pillow from the couch and beating him with it. “Try at least a mil per hour.”

“I don’t think your pussy is that good,” Ryker laughs hard as I keep beating him with the pillow.

Arms wrap around me, pulling me away from beating my best friend within an inch of his life with the fuzzy pink pillow.

“Enough of that,” Liam’s voice is low in my ear, sending a shiver through my body, and I can’t help but melt into his arms. “Kill him later. We’re going to be late.”

All three guys grin at me like fools. I glare at them, flipping them all off as Liam steps back and lets go of me.

I crave his touch so damn much. It’s rare he ever physically touches me, always a hand hovering out of reach. But when he does, it’s like fireworks going off inside me.

Sometimes I think I might be broken, and we really are scent matches.

Yet, any time I get a whiff of him... nothing.

Okay, lie, he still smells amazing, and it turns me on. But not in the scent match, life-changing kind of way.

“Shotgun,” I say, grinning as I rush over to the car, throwing the door open and getting into the passenger's seat.

“Why do you always do that?” Liam raises a brow, buckling himself into the driver's seat. “You don’t need to call the front seat. It’s always yours.”

“Because I need to make sure you know that. So you don’t try to open the back door for me again.”

“It was one time,” he groans, closing his eyes, head resting against the back of the seat. “You're never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Nope.” I grab my phone and connect it to the car's Bluetooth.

When Liam first started working for me, the first time he took me somewhere, he opened the back door and stood there expecting me to get in.

I laughed in his face and told him that’s not happening.

He wasn’t my driver; he was my bodyguard, and I’d sit in the front seat because it's my car. Thank you very much.

I walked past him and got in the front. He stood there for a good long moment before closing the door and getting into the driver’s seat.

He’s lucky I even let him drive this thing. It’s my baby.

But seeing this big, bad Alpha driving my little blue car never gets old.

Rolling the window down, I let the breeze dance over my face, smiling as the sun beats down on me while we drive to the photo shoot location.

“Oh, I love this song!” I grin, leaning over to turn up the volume. Soda Pop from the movie KPop Demon Hunters blares through the speakers, and I sing along.

I can feel Liam watching me out of the corner of his eye every now and then, but I don’t care. I get into it, singing loud and dancing.

When the song is done, I’m out of breath, a smile firmly on my face.

I don’t look at him, but glance in the rearview mirror. That's when I see it. It’s so damn small, but it’s there. The smallest of grins.

And fuck me, I want more.

The thought sobers me up, and I turn the music down, my attention turning to the scenery out the window now, watching the buildings as we drive by them.

Any time I think about Liam that way, I feel guilty.

How can I be here, living my best life, falling for another person, when the woman I’ve wanted for years is back home?

Yes, everyone who should be is behind bars, but that's not enough. They hurt people, hurt someone I care so fucking much about, and all they get is a few years in jail?

No, people like that don’t deserve to live. Sorry, but it’s how I feel. If you hurt another person in such a cruel way and keep going every day like it’s not a big deal, then you’re the scum of the earth.

“You okay?” Liam asks when we get to a red light.

“Yeah.” I smile, but don’t look his way. “Just thinking.”

“About?” he asks, sounding like he wants to know the answer, rather than just asking out of politeness.

“That I need to call my mom back later. Remind me, okay? Please.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, not sounding convinced. “Sure.”

When everything came out about Lulu, my relationship with my mom was rough. I felt hurt and betrayed that she could keep something so big from me.

After not talking to her for a few months, my dads showed up on my doorstep, pissed.

Being a brat, I told them I didn’t want to hear it, but they didn’t listen to me and forced me to hear them out.

They told me my mother was a wreck, wouldn’t eat, couldn't sleep, and was always crying, convinced I hated her and would never talk to her again. And it was killing her.

I felt like shit because I didn’t give her a chance to explain herself.

So, her mates explained for her.

They told me that she did what she did, thinking it was what was best for me.