Page 92 of Claiming Ours
She lifted a single shoulder. “Not specifically. He just said he was leaving. Liam, if he doesn’t come back… if he leaves me, us….” Fresh tears filled her lower lids. “Why would he do that?”
“He wouldn’t,” I said, feeling that truth down to my bones. “Which is why I’m going to find out exactly what’s going on.”
She pushed back on my chest and sat up straight. “How?”
“We’re a remote Alaskan village, Little Bit. There are only so many places for him to be.” Standing, I urged her to lie down and covered her with the quilts. Placing a searing kiss to her forehead, I waited for her full attention to land on me. “You stay here. I’ll figure out what’s going on. But have some faith in the guy. I do.”
“Why was he so vague, then? Why didn’t he just tell me what was wrong so I could help? I wanted to help, but he just?—”
I pressed a finger to her lips. “We’ll get it sorted, Baylee. I promise. Stay here while I go hunt—” Her brows flew up her forehead. “Find?” She blew out a relieved breath and smiled. “While I go find Memphis and get it all sorted. I’ll be back soon.”
Maybe with his head on a stake or dragging him behind me, but I’d be back.
“I don’t want you to leave me too,” she said, panic creeping into her voice as she clung to me.
It took me a few seconds to process what this was, because Baylee was normally an independent, strong woman who was perfectly okay being by herself. Then I remembered how I’dflinched when she mentioned being alone with other men, how that triggered me because of my cheating ex-wife.
“Baylee, I will come back.” Her breath hitched. “I’m not leaving you. Memphis isn’t leaving you. I can only imagine how his sudden departure and now me leaving, too, triggers you. But this isn’t like with Dean.” Her body trembled against mine. “We will come back, okay, Little Bit?”
After a few seconds of holding her wide-eyed, hopeful stare, she nodded and slowly loosened her hold on my shirt.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s just… it hurts here.” She pressed a fist to her sternum. “And my mind is spinning through a thousand thoughts a second, each worse than the last, and?—”
“It’s called panic, baby. And it’s totally normal after what you’ve been through. I’m sure whatever made Memphis leave so quickly made him forget that it would trigger you, make you think you were being left all over again.”
She released a slow breath and nodded. “How are you so calm?”
I huffed and ran a hand down my face. “I’m so far from calm, Little Bit, that I’m legitimately afraid for Memphis’s face when I see him.” Her eyes widened in horror. “Just kidding. Kind of.” I winked and slowly stood from the bed. “Close your eyes and think about all the dirty-ass shit we did last night instead of those other negative scenarios running through your head. We can discuss your favorite when I get back.”
Saying those last words had that lingering bit of fear and worry slipping from her face. The second I turned to exit the bedroom, though, my reassuring smile slipped away. My boots slammed to the floorboards with every heavy step, the anger mounting while visions of beating Memphis bloody played on repeat.
The first place to look was her cabin. If he planned to bolt out of town, which I still didn’t truly believe, he would head there to grab his gear.
As I jogged down the main road, my eyes locked on a figure holding a duffel bag exiting Baylee’s place.
“That motherfucker,” I snarled, picking up the pace.
Memphis didn’t see me until it was too late, and I crashed into him. With a shout, his duffel smacked to the ground when we both collided with the wooden railing around Baylee’s porch. Blood pounded in my ears while anger heated my veins, making sweat drip down my temples and soak the back of my shirt.
His voice went in one ear and out the other as I yanked him to stand and pulled my fist back, seconds from demolishing his too-pretty face. But the fucker did something I didn’t expect and struck first, ramming his knee into my balls.
I grunted, the pain shooting up my spine and down both legs, making my knees weak enough for my hold on his leather jacket to loosen. He spun away but didn’t go far. Gripping the now-broken railing, he bent over, other hand pressed on top of a knee as he sucked down lungfuls of air.
As the pain receded, his words slowly filtered through.
“…for her,” he spat. When he looked up, I almost stopped breathing at the devastation on his face. It was similar to Baylee’s earlier. “You have to understand. I have to go now. Right the fuck now.”
I held up a hand, making him pause when he reached for his bag. Standing to full height, grimacing through the lingering ache that spread from my balls to every damn cell in my body, I leveled an emotionless glare his way.
“Tell me why, and then you can go, because you didn’t see her crying just now.”
Some of the color drained from his face, and his gaze slid toward my cabin.
“Why? I just need to do something, but she can’t know. I?—”
“I will not stand here and explain triggers and what hers are. Fuck, think about it, kid.”
Understanding dawned in his eyes, and he cursed, but when he met my gaze, there was determination there. “She can’t know.”
