CHAPTER TEN LIAM'S POV

CHAPTER TEN LIAM'S POV


I Had a meeting downtown. A useless, cringe-worthy meeting with investors who had to nitpick every fiscal estimate, as if the difference it would make in the fact that they needed my services more than I needed theirs mattered.

I left my office a bit earlier than I needed to, aching for some air, something outside the walls of my world. I drove instead of calling for my driver, choosing to take the long route to get my head together.

Then I saw him.

Ethan.

I hadn't seen him in weeks, not since I'd told him to make a choice and he chose that woman over me. And now, as if fate was playing a cruel joke on me, there he was, coming towards me, completely unaware.

For an instant, I just stopped there, taking in the way his suit clung to him, the way his hair had lengthened, curling at the tips, the way he still walked as if he carried the burden of indecision on his shoulders.

And then his eyes came up, and we met eyes.

It didn't last. A one-second, electric touch that left a bitter after taste in my mouth. And then he looked away, intentionally.

His entire body stiffened and then he turned. Not a passing sidestep. No, planned avoidance, just as calculated as if I was something to be erased.

I knew that.

I clenched my fists, paralyzed as he picked up his pace. He wasn't just walking away; he was running.

But fate took a shocking twist.

Ethan didn't notice. He didn't even look at the road as he walked out into the sidewalk. My mind caught up slowly after my heart leapt. The sound of the horn, the screeching tires, the stomach-churning crash.

I started running, driven by my instinct. My chest constricted as I watched his body slam onto the pavement, his limbs limp, still. My knees nearly gave out, but I pushed myself ahead.

People were already beginning to gather, gasps and mutterings mounting like a nasty chorus. I knelt at his side, my hands in the air, hesitating. His face was turned away, his skin alabaster-white against the darkness of the blacktop. There was blood. Not much, but enough to make my belly roll.

Then, like the world crashing down on me, I noticed I was being looked at. Some shocked faces fluttered with recognition.

Liam Thompson, the CEO, leaning over a man lying on the ground. My heart pounded.

No. I couldn't be here like this.

I shoved myself up against the wall, stepping back at the same moment a stranger rushed in, feeling for his pulse, shouting for an ambulance.

I stepped out onto the sidewalk, shoving my hands deep into my pockets, concealing my turmoil behind a mask of indifference.

The ambulance arrived. They loaded him onto a stretcher, securing him down, and my nails were digging into my palms as I watched them wheel him away. The moment the doors shut, I turned, racing to my car.

Jumping in, I followed behind them.

I arrived at the hospital a short time after the ambulance. I did not go in immediately. I waited, standing back, walking around the entrance like a fool, trying to figure out if I had a right to see him.

He was engaged. He was supposed to be moving on. I was supposed to be moving on but when I saw that car hit him, when I felt the panic set in, I knew I wanted this one.

When they rolled him past the glass doors, however, something within me just shattered.

I followed them in, bypassing the waiting area, proceeding straight to the reception. I barely paid attention to what the nurse was telling me as I asked him, my voice calmer than I was.

“Where can I find him?” They provided me with his room number.

When I finally got there, he was still unconscious.

I breathed out a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding and sat down next to the bed. His face was even paler than usual, but he was peaceful in a way that made my heart ache. I wanted to touch him, to reassure myself he was still there, still alive.

I did nothing, though, just sitting there, watching him, listening to the slow beep of the monitor.

Then…. A small movement.

My eyes sprang to his face almost in time to see the flinch of his fingers. His lashes opened next, his breathing altering.

I stood up, taking a step closer, my heart pounding in my throat.

"Ethan?" My voice came out softer than I'd intended, rough on the edges.

Ethan’s POV

The moment I opened my eyes, I regretted it. The bright hospital lights seared into my eyes, and the throbbing pain in my head grew, as if nudging me toward the chaos that had led me to this place.

I winced, attempting to shift ever so slightly, only to realize my arm was wrapped in a cast. Right. The crash.

And the second thing I noticed?

Liam.

I slowly rolled my head, my heart thudding against my ribcage as I saw him sitting there. He was a wreck, his usually placid face creased with something I couldn't quite place. His fingers were crossed, resting against his lips, and his eyes were locked on me with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine.

"You're awake," he said, his voice thick, almost relieved.

I swallowed hard. "Yeah. Clearly."

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “You should be more careful next time.”

I almost laughed. “You don’t get to lecture me about care, Liam. Not when you didn’t care enough to stay.”

His face darkened, and he pushed himself up, raking a hand through his hair. “Ethan, that’s not…” He couldn't finish off.

A heavy, unspoken silence hung between us. I could hear the constant beep of the heart monitor, the muffled murmur of nurses in the distance, but I only wanted to know how Liam was looking at me like he was seeing me for the very first time and recognizing something too huge to be spoken.

I moistened my lips, trying to shatter the silence. "What are you even doing here?"

He exhaled and shook his head. "I don't know. I thought I could do this, Ethan. I thought I could just leave. I told myself if you weren't going to make a choice, then I had to make one for both of us."

He rubbed at his face with his forefinger. "But the second I saw that car hit you… I lost it. I fucking lost it, Ethan. And I knew I couldn't do this. I can't act like I don't love you and spend the rest of my life like this."

My breath caught. I stared at him, his confession echoing in my head. But even as my heart constricted with his words, reality intruded.

I turned away, looking at the ceiling. "Liam… I'm engaged."

His jaw muscle quivered. "I know."

"And yet, here you are."

"And yet, here I am." His voice was low and even, but beneath it was something raw. "Because when I found you lying there on the ground, I knew I'd been wrong. I shouldn't have given you that ultimatum. I shouldn't have left you. But I did, and I had to live with that, until today."

I looked at him again, for the first time since I'd woken up allowing myself to view him as I wanted. "I saw you, Liam." My voice was low and determined. "I saw you before the crash. I saw how you turned away."

Liam's eyes grew wide, and he stopped moving. "You…"

"I knew." I swallowed. "I knew you were still looking for me. You tried to act like you weren't, like you were over me, but you weren't. And maybe, on some level, I needed to see that."

His Adam's apple went up and down as he swallowed hard. "Ethan…"

I closed my eyes for a second, then opened them again. "I don't want the wedding to happen."

Liam drew in a harsh breath. "What?"

"I don't want to marry her. Because I love you too." My voice trembled, but I didn't retract. I couldn't. Not after I'd finally managed to get the words that had been destroying me for weeks out.

Liam seemed stunned. His mouth dropped open, as though he wasn't sure he'd heard me properly. Then, slowly, he leaned forward, elbows on knees, his gaze burning into mine.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “We’ll find a way.”

I let out a shaky breath. “But until then…”

“Until then, we’ll be careful.” A small, wry smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Secret lovers, huh?”

I huffed out a laugh, though my chest ached. “Yeah. Something like that.”

Liam took my unwounded hand in his and crushed it. "I'm not losing you again, Ethan. I mean it."

I pressed back. "Good."

Cause neither was I.