I was sitting on the living room couch, reading my Econ textbook with Tim by my side. Amelia dropped him off at home half an hour ago. Now, the boy was reading a book for school, glancing at me now and then.

My thoughts drifted to Gia and her betrayal. I would never have thought she would take Paul's side. How could you defend someone who doesn't treat women right if you're a girl? I didn't get it.

It was obvious that many things in my life were fake, even friends. Ellie would never do that to me, and neither would Ava. I regretted not spending more time with her. Many of my stupid mistakes could be avoided had I surrounded myself with different people.

The front door creaked open. Liam was home.

When he stepped into the living room, I dropped the textbook onto my lap.

"Oh my God, Liam! What happened to you?"

Tim's eyes widened in alarm when he registered the bruise and the cut on his brother's face. I drew my arm around the boy's shoulders. He was little, and I didn't want him to worry.

"Hey," Liam said. "It's nothing, okay? Someone was disrespecting a girl; I witnessed it and got into a fight with the guy."

"At work?" I asked.

"No. It happened downtown. Don't worry, okay? I'm alright."

I wasn't sure Liam was telling the truth. He might have lied because of Tim.

The kid in question jumped off the couch and ran to his brother, hugging him with fervor.

"It's okay, buddy," Liam said, patting Tim's back. "I had to do it. Remember what I told you about defending those who cannot do it for themselves?"

"I do, Liam."

"Good boy. Now let me take a shower, and then we will talk."

Liam went to his room. Tim looked at me, frowning. "Will my brother be okay?"

"Of course, Timmy. I'm sure it's nothing. It's only a little bruise, but if you want, I can check on him and see if he needs anything."

Tim's eyes glimmered with hope. "Pretty please?"

"Go on reading. I'll be back."

Having left my textbook on the coffee table, I rose to my feet and went to talk to Liam. His bedroom was empty. I sat on his carefully made bed and clasped my hands on my knees.

Was he telling the truth? He wasn't a violent guy. In the little time we spent together, I had never seen him enraged.

"Oh...damn, Sky, I didn't expect to find you here."

Liam stood in the doorway in nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. It was the first time I'd seen him like that in broad daylight.

My eyes roamed his torso, my heated gaze traveling over the ridges of his muscles, stopping on the upper part of his chest. I could see a part of the tattoo now— a wing.

My eyes met Liam's. He smiled, raking his fingers through his damp hair.

"As much as I love it when you look at me like that, I need to get dressed, sweetheart."

"Oh." I blushed. "Do you want me to leave?"

Liam laughed. "God, no. Stay. Just don't blush so much."

I picked up a pillow and threw it at him.

Liam dodged it. "Easy, Sky.  I had enough for one day."

"Right," I said, watching him walk up to his closet and pull some clothes out of it. "What happened?"

"I've already told you." Liam dropped the towel, revealing his toned butt, and pulled a pair of tight black boxer briefs up his legs.

I shouldn't have been watching him, but my eyes were unable to stray from his body.

"Don't worry." Liam turned around and looked at me, clutching a shirt in his hands. "It doesn't hurt that much."

"I didn't take you for a guy who gets into fights," I mumbled, with my gaze zeroing in on Liam's sculpted chest.

"Me, either, but there's a first time for everything." Liam shrugged.

I saw him wince. Then, I spotted a large bruise forming on one of his sides. Getting up from the bed, I walked toward him.

"Can I?" I asked with my hand hovering over the bruise.

Liam swallowed hard. "Yeah."

Gently, I ran my fingertips along the side of Liam's body. "Does it hurt?"

"Do you want the truth or a lie would do?" asked Liam, his voice strained and his breaths irregular.

"Always the truth," I whispered, flattening my palm on his skin.

"It hurts, but when you touch me like that, every blow I took becomes worth it."

"What can I do to make it hurt less?" I heard myself say as my hand moved over the injury, careful not to apply pressure.

My heart thrashed against my ribcage. We were close, mere inches from each other. I could feel the heat emanating from Liam's body, and then his hand, weaving into my hair, massaging my scalp as I tilted my head up and sought his eyes with mine.

Liam drew an arm around my waist, dropping his t-shirt to the floor and gently pressing me to him.

With his eyes fixed on mine, he inched forward. His warm minty breath tickled my lips.

"You could keep touching me," he whispered, moving his hand from my hair to my cheek and cupping it with his palm. "Or you could kiss me. I'm dying for you to kiss me, sweetheart."

My heartbeat quickened. I wetted my lips, parting them an inch from Liam's. His grip on me tightened.

Tim's voice outside Liam's room broke the spell. "Liam, are you okay?"

"Fuck," Liam cussed under his breath, resting his forehead against my shoulder. "Yeah, buddy," he said, much louder. "Give me a minute."

"Okay," Tim chirped.

Liam wrapped me in his arms and pressed a kiss to my cheek. "We're not done, sweetheart," he whispered in my ear before taking a step back and bending down to pick up his shirt.

"I'd better go," I mumbled, rushing out of Liam's room with my cheeks on fire, thankful not to have Tim loitering in the hallway.

***

Tim didn't leave Liam's side all evening. When the two of them were playing in Tim's room, I went to the nearest pharmacy and bought an ointment for Liam's bruises.

The door to Tim's bedroom closed at ten. Nervous anticipation filled my insides. I didn't know if I should go to Liam's room. Was he even waiting for me?

Half an hour passed without any kind of signal from him. I could go to bed. I could also take the ointment and see if Liam was feeling alright.

I decided on the second option. The desire to see Liam and be with him was stronger than my fear to intrude.

Standing outside his bedroom, I listened in. Nothing.

My knuckles barely touched the door when it opened to reveal Liam.

"I was waiting for you," he whispered, taking my hand in his and leading me into his room.

The lights were off, except for the candle he had on the nightstand.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

The corners of Liam's mouth tipped up. "Okay, but if saying that it hurts will make you touch me again, then it hurts a lot."

"I know it hurts, liar." I smiled back at him. "I bought an ointment for your bruises. The girl at the pharmacy told me it had arnica and was really good."

Liam pulled me into his arms and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You didn't have to."

"How about you stop talking and let me put it on you?"

Liam nodded and whipped off his tee sitting on the bed.

I lowered myself onto the comforter beside him. Opening the tube, I squeezed a bit of the cream onto my palm.

"Show me that bruise," I said, making Liam remove his arm.

Gently, I touched his skin, rubbing the ointment into it in circular motions.

"Fuck," Liam muttered, closing his eyes.

The movements of my hand halted. "Does it hurt? Do you want me to stop?"

He lifted his hand to my face and ran his thumb along my jaw. "Don't stop. Keep going."

I loved touching him. The heat of Liam's smooth skin under my fingertips made me feel something in my stomach.

I didn't think when I moved my palm over his torso and rested it on his chest. Liam's fast heartbeat against my fingertips made me look at him.

His eyes closed and lips slightly parted, he looked relaxed and even more handsome. It was the first time I'd seen this peaceful expression on his face.

"You stopped," he whispered. Even his voice sounded different.

"Do you want me to go on?"

"I want your hands on me."

The confidence appeared from somewhere within me. Completely unlike me, I heard myself ask, "Only my hands?"

Liam's eyes flared and met mine. "I want everything, sweetheart. Everything you want to give me."

I inched toward him and placed my hand on the tattoo close to his neck. It resembled an angel's wings. Now that I could see it well, I saw the letters R and O.

"What does it mean?" I asked, tracing the ink with my fingertips.

"Remy and Olivia," Liam whispered. "My parents. The T on the small heart in the middle stands for Tim."

"Mollitiam." I read the word etched on Liam's skin under one of the wings. "What does it mean?"

"It's resilience in Latin," said Liam. "I got all of them when I moved to Paris.  Lucien, Jeff's friend, is an excellent tattoo artist."

"I see," I whispered. "They are beautiful, and so is the meaning behind them."

Liam hugged me, making me rest my cheek against his shoulder and kissed my forehead. "I wanted some reassurance, you know? A reminder that no matter what, Tim and I would make it. That's why I chose that word."

"Thank you." I smiled.

"For what?"

"For sharing it with me."

Liam's warm lips descended upon my cheek. "You make it easy for me to open up. I don't know why."

"It's mutual. I told you things nobody knows about me, not even Ellie."

Liam looked into my eyes. "Are there more of those things?"

I swallowed, nodding.

"I'm looking forward to knowing all of them."

Liam's lips kissed my cheek again, but this time, they moved down, placing wet kisses along my jaw, and then my neck.

"I'm not taking it any further, sweetheart," Liam said, slightly breathless. "I can't stand you running away from me again."

I tilted my head to the side to give him better access. "I'm not going to do it. I'm not going anywhere."

Gently, Liam untangled me from him. I watched him unmake his bed and open the comforter. Then, he took my hand in his and pulled me to him.

"Come here. Come to me."

I let him lay me down on the mattress. He hovered over me and removed a loose strand of hair from my forehead. "Im dying to kiss you like that first time. If you are uncomfortable with what I'm doing, stop me. Just say the word, and I will. Okay?"

I nodded. The anticipation made my breath quicken. Liam settled between my legs, keeping his weight on his forearms. His wet lips found the column of my neck, and he placed the first kiss there— the first of many.

"I'm addicted to your taste," he whispered, licking my skin. The combination of his lips, tongue, and teeth on the tender flesh pushed me toward the edge of my control.

I didn't stop to wonder what was going on with me. I circled Liam's neck with my arms. My lips found his cheek, and I kissed him, sliding one of my palms down his back.

Liam moved his hips, making me feel him, kissing my neck faster, licking and sucking at my skin.

My lips sought his jaw. Who was this girl who traced it with the tip of her tongue?

Who was this girl who arched her back, leaning into Liam?

The warmth inside me wasn't just warmth anymore— it was fire, scorching, and unbidden but strangely welcome at the same time. Anticipated.

Liam stopped his kisses and cupped my face with his hand, panting as his heated gaze met mine.

"Lie on your stomach, sweetheart."

I nodded slightly, doing as told. Liam lifted my top, his warm palm gliding along my spine. Then, his lips were there, wet and insistent.

"I'm dying to do the same to you when we are naked—no clothes between us, just you and I, skin on skin, but not yet. Fuck, not yet," Liam whispered between kisses, moving his mouth over my back toward the small of it. How could a simple touch of his lips on my skin make me feel this way?

A moan escaped my lips, making Liam groan, picking up the pace of his caresses.

Then, I was on my back again, and his mouth on my neck.

The new, more confident version of Sky raised her hips to his, finding him hard and ready.

I caressed Liam's back, unable to contain a triumphant smile when he groaned softly, thrusting upward, making me gasp.

Liam slowed down his kisses then, placing the last, open-mouthed one below my ear.

I pulled him to lie on top of me, raking my fingers through his hair, both of us still panting and trying to get our frantic heartbeats to slow down.

"How was it?" asked Liam, burying his face in the crook of my neck.

"Unbelievable," I whispered.

"I'm glad, sweetheart. Are you going to sleep with me?"

"I'm not going anywhere," I said, turning my head to kiss Liam's bruised cheek.

"Thank you," he mumbled, placing a kiss of his own on the base of my neck.

"I thought you would kiss me on the lips." I heard myself say, the words rushing out of my mouth before I fully registered their meaning.

Liam looked at me, his hazel-green eyes twinkling. "Oh, I will. And when I do, it will mean you're mine."