Page 46 of Rejected Heart (The Westwoods #5)

LAYLA

"Oh, no. Oh, no. No, no, no.”

Liam linked his fingers with mine. “You’re fine, Layla.”

I scooted closer to him in the cart, my grip on his hand growing tighter. “I can’t watch. I can’t do it.”

“You’ve done this before.”

I wrapped my opposite arm around his bicep, nuzzled my cheek against his shoulder, and closed one eye. “It’s still scary. That’s why they call it a haunted house.”

“I promise that nothing bad is going to happen.”

The cart had made its way from outside the haunted house, where we hopped into our two-person cart, past the doors that led inside.

Darkness surrounded us. My heart pounded.

“I hate this ride. Why did we start with this one?”

With his fingers still linked with mine, Liam lifted his opposite hand to the side of my face and stroked lightly along my cheek before pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “I would never let anything hurt you. You’ll be safe.”

“I know. I know. But you know how much— Oh, God!”

The sound of a horn filled the air as headlights flashed in front of us. Great. Just great. That was just what I needed, a mock head-on crash.

Burying my face completely in his shoulder, squeezing both eyes as tight as I could, I felt Liam’s body vibrate with laughter.

As our cart picked up more speed and took the turns through the house faster, I tried to focus on the part of this that I loved the most. I didn’t watch what was happening, and I forced myself not to focus on the sounds around me.

Just Liam.

Just the feel and smell of him so close. The laughter and joy that he was experiencing.

Nothing else mattered if he was happy.

And it worked. Before I knew it, our cart came to a grinding halt outside the haunted house.

“Look at that. You survived.”

I tipped my chin up, blinking my eyes to adjust to the light, and murmured, “Narrowly.”

“Now I remember why I like riding the rides with you so much.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Because you can’t keep your hands off me.”

I pursed my lips and gave him a playful shove.

And four hours later, my cheeks hurt.

I’d done nothing but laugh—and scream—during our visit to Westwood’s.

My idea for Liam and me to do something fun following lunch had been smart. But his idea to take me back to the place where it all began was genius.

Brilliant.

I hadn’t thought he’d ever want to go back to where he worked, just to spend some time with me, but since we were going there to ride all the rides we could, I guess he didn’t give it a second thought.

In fact, he seemed thrilled to be taking me all through the park, skipping the lines, and laughing as I screamed my head off.

I was terrified.

I still wasn’t a fan of most rides.

But I loved being with Liam.

Getting to hold his hand as we walked through the park or to hide my face in his shoulder when we hopped on a terrifying ride was magical. We’d had the best time together reliving that school field trip all those years ago.

It was perfect, exactly what we needed, especially after the heaviness of our conversation at lunch.

If I allowed myself to think too much about that conversation, I knew I’d get emotional.

I’d realized not long after I’d returned to Landing following my mom’s accident just how tremendous the mistake was that I’d made.

But having lunch today with Liam had opened my eyes to things I hadn’t considered ever being a problem for us.

I was merely grateful that Liam was willing to give me a chance to prove to him that I was all in; I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do the same for him if he’d hurt me the way I hurt him.

But that was just one of the many reasons why I loved Liam so much. He’d shown me his capacity for kindness and compassion that very first day he’d spoken to me at Westwood’s during the school trip. And today, he’d proven that he hadn’t let that part of him be damaged by what I’d done.

We were walking toward the exit, my stomach in stitches as my cheeks ached. “This was such a great idea, Liam. I had so much fun.”

His arm was draped over my shoulders possessively, his hand squeezing my shoulder as he let out a laugh. “You could have had me fooled with how much screaming you did.”

“The rides are just as terrifying now as they were back then,” I noted. “But that doesn’t mean that this visit here today didn’t feel just as special as that one did.”

He stopped walking, looked down at me, and smiled. “We needed this today. I feel so much better. I haven’t laughed like that in years.”

I returned the smile, my arm wrapped around his lower back and holding on tightly. “Yeah. Same here.”

“So, what now? We have some time before dinner, and I’d like to make the most of every minute I have with you.”

It took me almost no time to decide what I wanted to do. “Will you take me to your place? I’d love to see where you live now.”

Something changed in his expression, but I couldn’t quite read it. “That’s what you want to do after all this fun?”

I nodded.

“Okay.”

With that, Liam led me out of the amusement park, but we didn’t leave the Westwood’s campus immediately. The next thing I knew, we were walking through the front entrance of The Westwood Hotel.

“What are we doing here?” I asked, thinking he might have remembered something he needed to take care of related to work or that he wanted to stop and see Ivy for a minute.

He offered no explanation. “You’ll see.”

When I glanced over at the front desk, I didn’t see Ivy, so that theory flew out the window. The staff members who were there didn’t hesitate to wave at Liam. He waved back, and that reminder of just the kind of guy Liam was with everyone warmed my heart.

I was so caught up in that thought that before I even registered what was happening, I was on the elevator with him. Liam wasn’t looking at me, his eyes focused on the numbers lighting up as the elevator climbed from one floor to the next.

Then it stopped, and the doors opened.

And the moment he tugged me out of the elevator, I got the sense of what was happening.

My lips curved into a smile as we walked silently down the hall. I knew when to slow my steps, because I’d been here about a month ago. Liam unlocked the door and urged me inside ahead of him .

The moment the door closed behind him, I spun around, threw my arms over his shoulders, and brushed my lips against his. “Are you just looking to recreate old memories today?”

Seemingly still in a playful mood, he returned, “What are you talking about?”

I arched a brow. “I’ve been here before. In this room. With you. Tell me you forgot about it.”

“I did not forget.”

“Okay, so I thought since we were just at the park reliving an old memory that you decided to take a detour on the way to your place to relive another memory.”

Understanding dawned in his expression, giving me the sense that he truly hadn’t grasped what I was getting at from the start. “Well, I’m certainly not going to turn that down, but I was giving you what you wanted. You said you wanted to see where I live.”

It took a moment for his words to register. That’s when everything stopped.

My body tensed, and my jaw fell open in disbelief.

Liam had always been a fun guy, and I wouldn’t have put it past him to play a harmless prank on me. But I got the distinct feeling with just one look at him that Liam wasn’t joking with me.

“You… you live here? In a hotel suite?”

Without waiting for a response, I pulled my arms from around his neck and took a step back to spin and scan the space.

How had I missed this when I was here before?

It didn’t take a genius to know I was so caught up in him and what was happening between us then that I never noticed so many of his personal items around the room.

Then again, it never would have dawned on me to suspect something like this. I mean, he was living in a hotel.

Sure, he was in one of the suites, which had a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and everything else he could need. It was luxurious. But it still wasn’t a home. The apartment I shared with Frankie was more of a home than this.

A hollow feeling settled in my stomach as I finally returned my attention to him. “You’re living here?”

“I am.”

“Are you… are you doing construction on your own home?” I stammered, scrambling to find a logical explanation for why he’d be here.

Clearly sensing my uneasiness, Liam let out an awkward laugh. “No. There is no other home.”

“Apartment?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

I blinked my eyes, hoping to wake myself from what obviously had to be a ridiculous dream. But no matter how many times I blinked, I was still met with Liam’s handsome face staring back at me in this hotel room.

I swallowed roughly. “How long have you been living here?”

Liam hesitated.

And it was that hesitation that told me I wasn’t going to like his answer.

I walked backward, putting some distance between us, but I wasn’t quite sure where I was going. My legs stopped moving just inside the bedroom. “How long?” I repeated.

“I’ve been living here since the night you rejected my proposal.”

Like I’d been socked in the gut, I doubled over, my hands bracing on my knees. “Oh, God.”

“Layla—”

“What have I done?”

“Layla, it’s okay.”

Liam’s gentle voice was like a balm on my aching, bleeding heart. And that was unfair. It should have been me comforting him.

He pressed one hand to the middle of my back, the other going to my elbow to urge me upright again. I went, but immediately wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face against his chest. “I’m so sorry, Captain.”

His hand stroked up and down my spine, soothing me.

Liam hadn’t been lying a month ago in the bar when he told me I destroyed him. That when I left, I’d made him stop dreaming about a future.

It was useless to try to wipe away the tears that had escaped and rolled down my cheeks. They were endless.

Liam lifted me in his arms and carried me to the bed.

The bed.

His bed for eight years was in a hotel.

No home. Liam had no real home for eight years.

“I’m so sorry. ”