Aria

The rich aroma of coffee brewing stirred me from sleep the next morning. A couple of hours atop, beneath, and draped over Liam’s hard body kick-started my day with a smile on my face. It wasn’t until we drove back to central Los Angeles later that Sunday morning that I was reminded how soon this fantasy of ours would come to an end.

Last night I had wondered if maybe I’d wake up with some clarity in how to make this all work but the truth is, I have no idea. I can’t hurt Jackson in the way I would if I chose to be with Liam. Though the thought of walking away from Liam today, pretending that what I experienced with him wasn’t real and incredible, seems wrong, too.

I sense a similar tension in Liam. He’s been too quiet on the drive home, obviously lost in his thoughts the same way I’m lost in mine.

When he pulls to a stop outside my condo, there’s nothing I want to do more than stay in this car next to him. My heart suddenly feels like it’s ripping in two, and I’m scrambling to somehow put the pieces back together again. Knowing I must, I turn to face him, discovering his conflicted stare on me. “So…” I begin, not really knowing what to say, or how to leave him.

His eyes search mine then he gestures. “Come on.” He opens his door. “Let’s take a walk.” He’s out of the car a second later, moving quickly to my side and opening the door for me.

Once I join him outside, the warm sun squinting my eyes, he shuts the door behind me. Silently, he takes my hand and walks across the street toward the small park. The heavy silence between us continues as we stride along the pathway, passing by people and their dogs enjoying the beautiful day.

Liam finally gestures to one of the benches overlooking the expanse of the park with the branches of mature trees waving with the breeze. He sits first then I join him, staring off at a group of young women sitting under a tree, breaking into laughter. I draw in a big long breath, taking it all in. The sun. The silence. My park. The place I walk daily. Life seems exactly like it did when I left on Friday. Yet everything feels different.

Liam eventually breaks the silence. “I don’t want to give you up.”

I swallow the emotion rising in my throat and turn to face him, discovering his gentle expression. “I don’t know how to make this work,” I tell him honestly.

“Do you want this to work between us?”

How easy it would be to say yes. “It’s a complicated answer, and you know that.”

“Why, because of Jackson?” Liam’s voice blisters.

I nod, glancing down at his strong hand cradling mine. “Jackson is like family to me,” I explain, returning my attention to him. “To be with you would hurt him, and I can’t do that.”

Liam cocks his head. “The problem here is that you think I’ve done something to wrong him. Is that right?”

I shrug. “Jackson has never told me what went down between you two. But dating you when I know he hates you would be unfair of me, especially since I knew him first.”

Liam snorts, glancing away. “Unfair of you.” He shakes his head, obviously frustrated, then looks at me. “In this, you’re thinking of him, not of yourself.” He brushes his knuckles across my cheek. “How sweet you are, Aria.”

A moment passes between us. Liam watching me intently, obviously thoughtful. He draws in a very long, deep breath, shutting his eyes. When they reopen, his brows are drawn, lips pinched. “Jackson is not who you think he is. He does not deserve the kindness you bestow on him.”

I sigh, expecting Liam to go this route. “Please don’t do this. Bashing Jackson isn’t going to get you anywhere but my leaving.”

“This isn’t about bashing him,” Liam counters, releasing my hand to lean his elbows on his knees, hands twined in front of him. “Remember when I said that I like to win fairly?” He glances sideways at me and waits for my nod before adding, “It’s why I’ve never told you the truth about what happened between Jackson and me. I didn’t want to destroy him to win your loyalty.”

“Then why are you now?” It had to be asked.

“Because Jackson stands between you and me. He’s poisoned your mind with things that aren’t true. Maybe in fear of losing your friendship, which I can tell is very important to him.” Liam pauses to draw in a long breath, telling me this conversation is hard on him before adding gently, “You can’t make a choice without all the knowledge. And I won’t force you to decide, but I will arm you with the information.”

“Okay,” I say, “then arm me.”

“Has Jackson ever told you about Sophia?” he asks.

I don’t recognize the name and shake my head.

“I suppose that shouldn’t be much of a surprise.” Liam glances out at the young couple playing Frisbee before he looks back at me. “Sophia was my girlfriend in law school. We were together just shy of two years.”

“Was the relationship serious?” I hadn’t known he’d had a long-term girlfriend before but I guess that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. He is in his early thirties.

“We were very serious,” he explains. “I thought I’d marry her.”

My throat tightens at the darkness in his expression. I reach for his hand again and squeeze, somehow wishing I could erase the memory of Sophia from his mind. “All right, so what does Sophia have to do with you and Jackson?”

“I’m guessing since you didn’t know about Sophia that you also don’t know that Jackson and I were roommates in law school.”

I can’t stop the widening of my eyes. “No, he never told me about that.” Now I’m beginning to wonder why. Sure, Liam could be making this up. I’m even more sure that’s what Jackson likely wants me to think. But I can tell by Liam’s relaxed posture, the softness in his eyes, the haunted look on his face that he’s not lying to me now.

“I can’t believe he told you none of this,” Liam bites off, shaking his head in obvious frustration. “You know nothing, and I’m guessing what you do know—if anything at all—is probably total bullshit.” After another long deep breath, he adds, “Back in those days, I considered Jackson to be my closest friend.”

Something about all this begins to raise the hair on the back of my neck. “I take it this Sophia caused a fight between you?”

Liam gave an unamused smile. “I see where your mind is at. You think this is typical male bullshit, one guy fighting another over a woman, don’t you?”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.” Because that makes sense.

“Well, you’re wrong.” Liam turns his head to stare at a couple walking by, and his eyes gloss over, obviously, he’s lost in a memory. “We were happy, Sophia and I. In fact, I told Jackson I planned on proposing to her. I’m not sure how or even why it happened, but one night Jackson and I were talking about if a woman could be faithful. Jackson didn’t think she could.” Liam turns to me, gives a sad smile. “Women always cheat, Jackson told me. He thought any woman could be swayed with the right moves.”

I snort. “That sounds like the Jackson I know.”

Liam nods in agreement. “And like we know, Jackson has those moves and knows how to use them.”

Of course, I did. Jackson’s gorgeous, rich, and cocky as hell. Women lust after him, like I lusted after Liam. “I’ve seen those moves work on a few ladies, yes.” I shake my head, though, trying to understand. “But again, how does this relate to Sophia?”

“I’ll get to that, I promise,” Liam continues, voice soft. “The conversation that night became heated. Maybe it was the booze or testosterone. But what got started that night would change lives forever.”

I stare into Liam’s eyes and now I understand completely. “You challenged Jackson, didn’t you?”

“It’s sad how predictable we are.” Liam snorts.

It’s not hard to put two and two together. “I take it that Jackson won the bet.”

“That’s where things get interesting,” he explains. “I honestly hadn’t even thought about it after that night at the bar. One afternoon just before classes started, Jackson texted me to come home. It was an emergency, he said. I tried calling him but he never answered so I rushed home.” Liam hesitates, obviously to prepare himself for a hard admission. “When I entered the house, Jackson was fucking Sophia on our kitchen table.”

My hand comes to my mouth, and I’m speechless, trying to understand why Jackson would ever do that. Nevertheless, horrified all the same.

Liam nods at my shocked expression. “Yeah, that’s probably how I looked, too. In Jackson’s mind, he decided to show me up. Instead of choosing any woman with a boyfriend to win his bet, he picked the woman I loved.”

Tears fill my eyes but not for me. For Liam. I see the way it destroyed him, the pain he still feels from the heartbreak in his life. The betrayal, by both Jackson and Sophia, must have been fierce. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Liam.”

“Don’t be sorry for me,” he says with a soft smile, tucking my hair behind my ear. “It was a hard lesson but I learned from it.”

“What could that possibly teach you?” Except to hate Jackson and Sophia.

“To be very careful who I trusted.”

God, I want to cry at that very thought. “No one should have to learn that lesson. I can’t believe Jackson did that to you. Did he say anything to defend himself?”

“We didn’t exactly talk things over,” he states with a dry laugh. “We beat each other senseless. After that, I moved out. We didn’t talk again until we began doing business with each other. Then we simply stayed professional.”

I search his eyes, perplexed by his decision. “You never wanted to understand why Jackson did that to you? I mean, he had to have a reason, don’t you think?”

“I didn’t care what his reasons were.” Liam frowns. “The friendship was over.”

I glance away, looking at a couple under a big shade tree, cuddled in each other’s arms. It’s a sweet thing really that no matter how badly Liam had been burned in his past, he’d still waited and wanted me. Of course, one could think he only did this to get back at Jackson but I know that isn’t the truth. I can feel Liam’s affection, and Liam isn’t a spiteful man. Though the longer I look at the couple, the more I can’t believe Jackson would ever be so cruel. Why did he do this to Liam? More importantly, why didn’t he tell me? We were close, as close as brother and sister.

“I wanted you to know the truth,” Liam says, dragging me out of my thoughts. When I look at him, I find his gaze strong again, the painful memory obviously pushed away. “I wanted you to know of what stands between Jackson and me, and to understand what happened in our pasts so you could make a conscious decision going forward.” My heart feels squeezed in my chest when he rises and adds, “I will never make you choose between us, Aria. But you need to ask yourself a question.”

“What’s that?” I barely whisper.

He arches a single eyebrow. “Does Jackson deserve your unwavering loyalty?” My breath hitches, the world spinning slightly around me, when he leans forward and presses his lips against my forehead. “You know where you belong, Aria. And you know that I’ll be waiting for you.”

A chill in the air brushes over me when his lips leave my skin. He turns and strides down the pathway, leaving me alone with my confused heart, my jumbled thoughts, and a very big decision to make.