57

LIAM

Nora’s lips were soft and welcoming, parting from me as I slid my tongue through. I could feel the smile on her lips, and taste the whiskey that tainted them. My hands trailed down her body, resting at the curve of her waist.

She felt a little different today and that perfume was one I wasn't used to, but she was there. In my arms. And she was kissing me.

My hands pressed into her sides, swallowing the gasp that escaped her throat.

I bit down on her lip, gently, trying so hard to get the words I wanted to tell her past my lips, but I couldn't.

Instead, I told her, “You're killing me, Nora.”

The smile on her lips disappeared and so did her hands from where they were wrapped around my neck. I almost protested the sudden switch, but then I felt her shove against me.

“Who the fuck is Nora?”

My eyes flew wide open, panic pulsing through my veins as I zoned in on the woman standing before me.

Shit. Nora wasn't blonde, and she certainly wasn't dressed in my shirt.

This woman was frowning at me, arms crossed in annoyance as her brown eyes washed me over.

I ran a hand through my hair, half in frustration and half in disbelief. Did I just kiss Emily thinking she was Nora? This was fucked. It was one thing to have a huge crush that wasn't disappearing, but this? Hallucinating her to reality? This was a tragedy.

Emily still looked annoyed as hell. And I knew she wanted an answer more than anything else. I didn't owe her an explanation, but I was feeling a little too mortified to even look her in the eye right now.

She was one of the people who knew me well enough to understand that I didn't form emotional connections with women. After all, the last person I did that with was her and she practically fcked me over.

She raised a perfectly trimmed brow. “I need answers, Liam,”

“No, what you need is to leave,” I told her, pointing a finger at the front door.

Her gaze didn't once flit towards the door. Instead, she took a few steps forward, closing the space between us for the second time tonight. This time around, I took a couple steps backward, desperate to get her out of my living room.

She was the last thing I needed to complicate things for me. I already had my undying feelings for Nora to worry about. Why the hell wouldn't she leave?

“You've got another woman, don't you? Who's she? Is she better than I am in bed? Does she suck you off the way I—”

“That's enough, Emily,” fresh anger brewed within me. “I don't make it a point to know your business and you don't need to barge your way into my life,”

Deciding I had enough of this nonsense, I put some reasonable amount of space between us, bushing myself with pouring a fresh glass of whiskey.

Emily scoffed, but she didn't follow me.

It wasn't that I couldn't kick Emily out, but the reality of our history together prevented me. Once upon a time, she was my rock. Dare I say I even loved her? She was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

But then she left without so much as a goodbye and the next week, she was on all those entertainment blogs as the new young girlfriend of a sixty-year-old oil magnate.

And now she was back, meaning only one thing. I lifted my hand and swallowed the alcohol. Emily wanted something.

When I whirled back around, she had taken my shirt off, standing in nothing but her panties. She lifted a hand, running it between the valley of her breasts, a small smirk tilting one corner of her lips.

“I know you used to like this,” My eyes trailed down her all-too-familiar body, but unlike back in high school, it didn't excite me.

Now, she looked much like any other random woman standing naked in the middle of my living room.

I sighed, watching as her eyes traveled down and rested on my crotch. Her smirk disappeared. “Wow,” her brows furrowed, brown eyes flitting back to mine. “I don't get you excited anymore? I don't get it, you used to love it when I did that.”

I abandoned my whiskey and walked up to her confused frame, tentatively placing both my hands on her shoulders.

Strangely, I felt nothing for Emily. No anger or annoyance at her betrayal, only the need to keep her safe. She looked like a frail woman with nothing left in the world. And that was saying something because this woman was 5”9.

I was more concerned about her than anything else.

I maneuvered her to a couch, grabbing the shirt she had taken off when she was all settled in. She still had that bewildered look on her face.

Emily took the shirt from me, hurriedly put it over her head and down her body as though she was ashamed.

“You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost,” I joked, crouching in front of her.

She scoffed with a shake of her head. “I'm okay, just a little surprised is all,”

Emily lifted her head, her eyes meeting mine. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, but I could see the slight glimmer in her eyes. And I knew her well enough to know she was on the brink of bursting into tears.

I didn't want to hurt her.

“Tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help you through it.”

“I came back for you, Liam. I missed you and I came back.”

I frowned. “Emily, you don't just get to leave and come back whenever you please. I'm not some robot that you can be sure will be waiting around for your return,”

“I know, but you were mine.”

“And you were mine too, but look what happened,” I took in a deep breath, riding from my feet and taking the seat next to her.

Emily’s shoulders shook with a silent sob. She lifted her hands, covering her lips with them.

My heart ached for her, but not in the way I knew she wanted. What do we have? It was all gone. I'd let it roll down my back and I sure as hell wasn't going back to it. Emily was gorgeous and great to be with, but I didn't have what it took to be with her. Not anymore.

I reached out for her hands, but she flinched. I frowned. “Care to tell me what happened? Why did you leave?” she was silent, but because of the tension in her shoulders, I knew she could hear me. “I feel like I deserve that much. Especially since you're trying to bulldoze your way back into my life,”

When I didn't hear so much as a sound back, I thought she wouldn't answer. But she did. “It's so messed up, Liam. I'm not a bad person please, I just didn't know how to tell you to your face,”

Then a text would've been nice.

I exhaled. “Talk to me, Em,”

“My parents forced me to leave you,”