Page 97 of Liam

“Sold it this morning.” He jerks his head toward the phone in my hand. “I don’t have a phone, so you’re going to have to direct me.”

Besides me giving him directions, Liam and I don’t speak on the drive.

I don’t ask him how he’s been; he doesn’t ask what the actual fuck is wrong with me.

The junkyard is anhouraway.

Or so I thought.

The old sign is there, still attached to the entrance booth, but—“It’s gone.” The words fall from my lips in a whisper as I sit taller, looking out over the vast, empty lot. I try to recall when I was here last… how old I was… but for the life of me, I can’t remember.

There used to be a chain-link fence that divided the parking lot from the yard, but that’s gone now, too, and so Liam drives right into the middle of the empty lot.

Tears well in my eyes—sudden and unexpected—and I let them blur the world around me… as well as the memories that live inside me. Like Roman holding my hand as we walkedbetween cars, because he was always so afraid I’d trip and fall, get impaled by a random piece of metal. His hand was so big compared to mine. So rough. Sostrong.

I’m sure if we held hands now, it would still feel the same.

Without a word, Liam cuts the engine and hops out. I watch as he rounds the truck to the tailgate, lowers it, then sits. I wait a moment, trying to gather my thoughts, my emotions, then follow his lead. For a solid minute, neither of us speaks. We just stare at the vast emptiness ahead.

“I’m sorry it’s gone, Addie,” he finally says, and my chest immediately tightens. His tone alone reminds me of the younger version of him, sitting in that nurse’s office with a broken arm.I hope you feel better, Addie.

“I’msorry,” I tell him. “There was nothing on the listing indicating it had shut down, and now you drove all this way for nothing.”

“It’s not for nothing,” he murmurs.

I look down at my lap, my mind spinning. “I don’t know what I expected,” I tell him, just above a whisper. “Nothing here is the same as it used to be.”I’mnot the same as I used to be.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing, right?” he says. I peer over at him, and he shrugs. “You and I are talking now, and that wouldn’t have happened before.” He turns to me, a slight frown marring his lips. “I should’ve given you a chance to explain—about the boyfriend thing—before jumping to conclusions like I did.”

My heart stills, just for a moment.

Immediately after Liam and I spoke last, I came to the heartbreaking conclusion that I’d likely never see him again, let alone speak to him. So, the wholeboyfriendissue? It stopped being an issue. I hadn’t prepared an explanation, but now he’s here, and he’s asking, and it’s the least I can do. “You weren’t completely wrong,” I start. “Heisseeing other girls, but?—”

“And you’re okay with that?” he cuts in.

“I don’t really have a choice.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not something we’ve addressed.”

Liam doesn’t respond, and I can’t even imagine what’s going through his head.

“It’s complicated,” I add. And it’s also something I’ve never discussed with anyone.Ever.So I don’t know how I’m going to do it now…

“Look,” Liam says, half turning to me, “regardless of my role in any of this—you can’t let this guy treat you like shit, Addie.”

My eyes drift shut, instantly shrouding my world in darkness. Of course he’s thinking aboutme. Of course he’s wanting what’s rightfor me. Because that’s who Liam is at his core. He’s everything good and right in the world, and I’m…not.And the events that led me to right here, right now, are proof of it. “I have to.”

“Youhaveto?” The anger and frustration in his tone have my eyes snapping open.

“Yes,” I bite out.

He scoffs. “Why?”

“Because—” I can’t breathe through the ache. Through the pain of my past. Through theguiltof my actions. “Because hesavedme…”

And ruined himself in the process.

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