Page 16 of Raise Me Up

Dark eyes hold me. I lower mine to the untouched burger in front of me. “No…that’s not it. Well, maybe a part of it. My parents are lying about trying to mend things with Hail. I can’t figure out why, other than the fact that they know we’re a packaged deal. I just…I didn’t think they cared about keeping me around, you know? But since I have a ‘doctorate’ now…”

Liam moves over to me and lifts his hand to brush his knuckles along my cheek. “However you choose to handle them, you’re not going to lose Hail. Or me.”

Speechless, I burn up on the inside as he sits down beside me, one knee resting against my thigh. His basketball shorts ride up to show off thick quads that make my throat tighten.

I pick up my burger and take a bite. My eyelids shudder as flavor blooms on my tongue. “So good, Liam.”

His lack of response has me glancing over.Did I do something wrong?

My pulse spikes at the heat reflected in his eyes. I shouldn’t get any ideas about what’s happening here. Ican’t. He doesn’t date. Not that I necessarilywanta relationship right now. I’m not sure what I want. I guess to be inside his head? To stay in his life?

We eat in comfortable silence. Funny, Hail used to fill that space with endless chatter or music.

Just as I’ve had the thought, an explosion of heavy music comes from Liam’s phone. He grabs it off the counter. Whatever name pops up on the screen has him frowning.

“The fuck…” he mutters, rising to his feet. “Be right back.”

I do my best to ignore the discomfort in my chest as he slips out the patio door. I don’t want to think about who could be calling him. He’s probably got hundreds of numbers saved in his phone.

When Liam returns, there’s tension in his jaw. “I’ve got a situation to deal with. You good to hang out?”

My heart sinks, but I nod. “If you’re okay with me being here.”

He pauses for a moment before replying, “More than you know, Stas.”

Snatching up his keys, he strides out the garage door.

six

Liam

Ihave a lot of connections in the music industry.

Most of them were necessary business relationships with powerful figures who could influence the trajectory of Atonement’s career.

There were plenty of others, though. One-night stands. A few repeat hook-ups with people I knew wouldn’t expect more from me. People who understood mypreferences.

I wasn’t expecting to hear from Beau Whitaker ever again. Somehow, thinking his name the other day at the gym must have manifested him back into my life.

For the third time since I hopped in my Pantera, I confirm it’s actually his name on my phone. That it was his voice I heard on the other end, heavy with sadness foreign to the troublemaking, sexy musician I once knew.

Fuck my need to fix things. I was having a perfectly good day with Stas. I don’t like leaving her when it’s been ages since we’ve hung out like that. Just the two of us.

But I also can’t leave Beau stranded at the airport.

Pressing the gas pedal down to the floorboard, I weave through traffic. Several middle fingers point in my direction.

Welcome back to Texas.

In record time, I park at the airport and head to the baggage claim area for the incoming flight from Vancouver.

Sensing curious eyes on me, I amp up my “fuck off” energy to keep them away. I might look murderous on the outside, but on the inside, I’m more than a little anxious about this reunion.

If I were certain Beau had someone else to pick him up, I wouldn’t have offered. But he’s flying into Dallas without his band when the last time I checked he lived in Phoenix.

Something’s definitely wrong.

A mob of tired-looking people floods down the hall toward the baggage area. I tense up, not sure what emotion will surge through me when I see him. Regret? Worry? Excitement?