Page 163 of Liam

“Please,” Roman moans, and they leave to carpool to work.

“What time is Liam coming?” Griffin asks once they’re gone.

“He’ll be here soon.” Even though he was fast asleep when I left him, I know it won’t be long until he realizes I’m not in his bed. He’ll get up, shower, and find me. He always does. “We don’t have class until later.”

“How is he doing with it?”

“How is who doing with what?” Liam asks, entering the kitchen. I didn’t even hear him come in. He immediately takes Zane from Griffin and coos over him.

“You,” Griffin answers. “How’s the training going?”

“Good. So far.” Liam shrugs. “It’s weird being back in a classroom after so many years.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Griffin says. “Speaking of classroom, I better get going.” He rubs my arm. “Thanks for coming over and helping out.”

“Of course.”

A moment later, it’s just me and Liam—and Dayna, but she doesn’t count. “What time is your first class?” Liam asks.

“Eleven. Same as you.”

I ended up deferring for a year, picking up odd jobs where I could.

Since the twins are no longer actively working on their YouTube channel, Liam decided to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a firefighter. He didn’t need the money; he just… wanted to prove he wasbraveenough. For no one else but himself.

So, we looked at what he needed to do to make that happen. A community college about a half hour north ran the program, and I could take classes there to gain credits and then transfer to a four-year school later. We worked on our schedules so they would align as much as possible, because, obviously, we don’t like being apart.

I haven’t decided exactly what I want to do, but as of now, I know I want to work with children. When I told Liam this—his smile was huge. He said I would be perfect for it and reminded me of all the time I’ve spent with his niece and nephew.

I’m not one to play favorites, but… there’s something about my relationship with Benny thatfeelsspecial. I brought it up in therapy once (I still go once a week), and Amanda mentioned that I was around the same age as Benny when evil appeared at my doorstep. She suggested that the “childlike” version of me is stuck at that age, and I want to protect his innocence now the way mine should have been protected then.

When I opened up to Liam about it—the childlike version of me—I asked if he thought something was wrong with me. Heassured me he didn’t. That there was a huge distinction betweenwronganddifferent, and it’s thatdifferentpart of me he loves the most. The part that sees the world with childlike wonder and awe. He says it’s the reason he lifted his head, opened his eyes to the world around him and not just the world he’d created in his mind.

I finish making Zane’s bottle and we sit on the floor in front of the couch while he cradles Zane in his arms and feeds it to him. I watch him a moment, my smile uncontained. “I don’t think you realize how insanely hot this is…”

Liam smirks, his eyes moving to mine. “I’m happy beingyourdaddy for now. But this,” he says, motioning to the baby, “will have to wait.”

I roll my eyes. “I know. I don’t want that either, but that doesn’t make it less hot.”

“You know whatishot?”

“What?”

“The idea of you playing again.” He pauses a breath. “I can’t wait to see your big booty ass in that uniform.”

I laugh once. “I still have to try out.”

It’s his turn to roll his eyes. “As if there’s ever a world where youwon’tget in.”

He’s probably right. It’s a small college, and from the research we’ve done, the team’s not all that great.

“You realize my entire family will be at every one of your games?”

I giggle. “They’ll probably be the only ones.”

“For now.” He shrugs, handing me baby Zane as soon as he starts to fuss. “Wait until word gets around thattheAdelaide Baker is playing.”

“You think way too highly of me.”

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