Page 66 of Liam

“Youhatedme then.”

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “But you’re insanely sexy, and I wanted to hate-fuck you as punishment for it.”

My body flames. “You can still punish me… as long as it’s sexual.”

“Maybe next time,” he whispers. “But this… this was much better.” He offers me his hand to get off the vanity. “Now, Iactuallyhave to shower.”

“So do I.”

He smiles to one side. “Even better.”

24

Addie

I’m in a daze as I walk up the Preston driveway the following day. One of those dream-like dazes that comes in the aftermath of experiencing something extraordinary. Something once in a lifetime. And I’m not saying that being with Liam Preston is some life-altering event, but I’m alsonotsaying it isn’t.

After we finished showering together and cut off the water, we heard Lincoln talking. To be honest, being as in-the-moment as we were, I think we both forgot that Lincoln was there for most of our… “intimate engagement.”Liam flooded me with apologies for having to leave me right away, but he had to deal with whatever shitstorm was brewing. I told him I understood, even though I didn’t. Notreally. He promised he’d tell me later and that he’d get Linc out of the cabin so I could get back to work. He also told me to let Roman know not to pick me up so we could spend the afternoon and evening together.

Liam got back to the cabin a few hours later, looking a lot worse than he did when he left, and—as promised—he gave me the details of the shitstorm.

The person he was on the phone to when I got out of the shower the first time was Knox, his boxing trainer—the man we’d just spent an hour and a half with. Liam had fired him on that call for no other reason than… he didn’t like the way Knox looked at me. Or the way he touched me.

Ididn’t think he looked or touched me any type of way, but then again, I was too focused on trying not to look like an absolute fool in front of Liam. I paid approximately zero attention to the forty-year-old man showing me how to move. When I told Liam that, he gave me very detailed examples, and… I don’t know. Maybe he had a right to be pissed.

Either way, Knox didn’t like what happened, so like most disgruntled humans in today’s society, he took to social media. Cue the shitstorm. Cue the Preston Twins PR rep that Lincoln was on the phone to when I got out of the shower the second time. Cue the hours it took for Liam to calm Lincoln down. Cue a phone call to some tech billionaire to wipe the Internet of negative press. And, finally, cue my curiosity forexactlyhow famous Liam and Lincoln actually are.

I knew their YouTube channel had millions of followers.

I knew they had fans.

I knew they made enough money to build and fit out a state-of-the-art gym.

But… maybe I don’t know enough? Because to me, they’re just two brothers who grew up in the same small town I did.

After Liam explained the Knox situation, we picked up some food and went back to the cabin to eat. He asked me to pick a movie to watch while we ate, but I wasn’t really a movie person, so I let him decide. He chose a documentary about how ancient Egyptians worshiped onions—something about how their layers mirrored the layers of the afterlife. I don’t know. I wasn’t paying much attention myself, too focused on how much attentionLiam was giving it. He seemed captivated by the documentary. Completelyengrossedby it.

“It’s a boy thing,” is all he said when I questioned him about it. Which didn’t really explain anything, but I guess I’ll take his word for it.

He drove me home after that, and once we were parked outside Roman’s apartment, we just… sat in his minivan. We didn’t do anything more physically. We didn’t make out. We didn’t even kiss, and yet… neither of us wanted the night to end. So we got out and went for a walk. He took my hand, linked our fingers, and I held on to his arm, and wetalked.

A lot.

He asked about my life back home. About my classes, and previous jobs, and I was an open book. Then he asked about other foster kids who have come and gone, and I told him about the kids, but out of respect, I leave out the details of their circumstances.

Then I asked him about his work, and it was, like… like watching him remove each layer of flesh in real time. I felt like the luckiest person on earth, because I got to see thebonesof Liam Preston. He was so open about it all that I had to sit back in wonder at the change in him since we first met. Or, metagain,Ishould say. He told me helovescreating content, coming up with ideas, and the creative side of it all. He doesn’t even mind the research and analytics. But heloatheseverything else. He never wanted to become so big that he needed all these extra people. He never wanted the pressure, or the constant fear of letting a single person down, or worse—being canceled over something he had no idea about. He’s grateful Linc is opposite to him in that way, so that he can handle all the things he hates, but still, in a way, he wishes he could go back in time and just be “two punk kids filming dumb shit” just for the fun of beingtwo punk kids filming dumb shit.

He also mentioned that he can only share videos after he edits them, because it means he gets to pick and choose how the world sees him. He’s never been confident enough to golive, just in case he does something he deems stupid that will spike his anxiety, keep him up at night with thoughts of throwing in the towel. It’s incredibly sad in a way—the amount of pressure he puts on himself, but at least he acknowledges it and, going by the way he spoke about it, those insecurities are something he hopes to overcome, and soon.

We walked and talked until the sun went down, doing more laps of the block than I could count. And when it was time to say goodnight, Liam walked me to my door, kissed my cheek, and waited until I was safely inside.

It wasperfect.

The best date I’d ever been on, even if it wasn’t a date at all.

Now, I’m standing in the doorway of Liam’s bedroom, smiling as I watch him sleep… like an absolute fucking creep of a sociopath.

He looks so cute and peaceful, I almost feel bad for disturbing him.

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