Chapter Sixteen
Liam
The bar running down the center of the sofa digs into Liam’s back. He rolls over and elbows his pillow into submission before flopping back down. He lets out an exasperated breath. He can’t believe he let Willow and the boy stay in his place. Is he insane? He lifts onto one elbow and stares at his shut bedroom door. He pictures Willow in his bed. When he thought about her in his bed before he’d always imagined himself in it with her, wrapped around her warm, naked flesh, moving inside her welcoming heat. He flops back down and rubs at his face with his fists, ignoring his cock twitching in his shorts.
And now, he was close to broke. All the money he’d been saving to live off of for the next few months was gone, because he couldn’t stop help himself from saving a damsel in distress. All a girl had to do was squeeze out of a few tears and he immediately became Captain Save-a-Ho. Shit.
He couldn’t let that little boy go to a shelter though. Sighing, Liam rolls over to his side and bunches his pillow underneath his head, trying to find a comfortable spot. He guesses his sleep is going to be a little short while Willow and Frank are staying at his place. Great. Just one more thing a woman has taken from him. He closes his eyes and tries to will himself into slumber.
Soft whispering wakes Liam up and he notices that the sun is slanting low and golden across the wooden floor. It’s still pretty early then. He sits up and looks toward the kitchen. A low light coming from the open refrigerator door highlights Willow and Frank as they try to move silently around the kitchen. She’s shushing Frank as he settles onto a stool at the counter and flinches when the cereal she’s pouring clinks into the bowl. Liam watches them for a minute, sees the way her hands hover protectively around Frank, smoothing over his hair and patting at his back. When she hands the boy a spoon and drops a kiss on his cheek, Liam feels his chest clench. Maybe he was right to ask them to stay.
“Morning,” Liam says across the low lit room.
Willow jumps at his voice, the spoon in her hand clattering to the floor. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to wake you up.” She grabs a clean spoon and hands it to Frank before stooping over to pick up the dropped one. Liam gets an eyeful of the backs of her thighs, smooth and creamy underneath the short t-shirt she wore to bed. His cock twitches again as he thinks about running his hands up the back of them and bending her over in front of him, pressing her tight little ass into his cock. He clears his throat. “It’s fine, wasn’t really sleeping.”
“We’ll get out of your way soon.”
Liam nods and drops back down to his pillow, crossing his arms under his head, listening to them move and speak in low voices. Frank punctuates the morning air with his little giggles and funny stories. There’s something satisfying about having someone in the house when you wake up in the morning. When a whiff of fresh coffee drifts past his nose, Liam decides there are definite advantages to having someone around in the morning. He gets up and meanders to the kitchen.
Willow hands him a cup of hot coffee, black, with sugar. He takes a sip. Perfect. She remembered how he likes it. He couldn’t decide to like Willow or not. The coffee was going a long way toward sweetening his disposition toward her. He takes another sip. Ah, yes.
Leaning against the counter, cradling his coffee cup, Liam watches as Willow bustles around the kitchen. She helps Frank down and washes his bowl and spoon, drying then and putting them away before popping bread into the toaster. She quickly wipes down the counter and butters the toast when it pops, sliding the crisp slices onto a plate and pushing then across the counter to Liam. She nibbles on the edge of a piece before putting it down. Little frown lines appear between her brows and Liam notices that she doesn’t look very well rested.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. No,” Willow sighs as if she’s completely confused. Liam notices that she had a tendency to be fickle, but ever since that day when Frank was lost. She’d completely changed, some part of him worried that she wasn’t into him and was only staying because she had no choice.
“So, which is it?” Liam gives her small smile and chomps down on his toast.
She doesn’t answer. Instead, she hustles Frank off toward the TV, quickly flipping through the channels until she finds a cartoon to distract him. Moving back to the kitchen, she grabs Liam by the elbow and leads him toward the bedroom. Liam raises an eyebrow. She gives him a little shove. “No.” She shakes her head as she reads his dirty mind.
“We need to talk, I guess.” Willow glances back at Frank and keeps her voice low. “We’ll be out of your hair today. This morning if we can.”
Liam glances around the room and notices her suitcase opened on the bed. She didn’t unpack and use the drawer Liam had offered her the night before. Liam’s chest feels uncomfortably tight.
“Going somewhere?” He pins her with a glare.
“I think it’s best if we leave. We don’t want to put you out any longer than necessary.”
Liam gives her one nod. “That’s what you think?”
“Yes. Thanks. For everything. I…I hope…I can pay you back someday. For helping us, for helping Frank. I don’t know…no one’s ever. Just…thank you.”
Liam takes a step away from. He’s staring down at Willow, his jaw clenched tightly. She’s really leaving. Just, going to take Frank and damn everything he’s done, just going to leave. And go to a shelter?
“Where are you going?” he asks tightly.
“Uh, I know some people…who might help. If I could just…if you’ll let me borrow your phone to make a couple of calls…” she trails off, her lips quivering.
She’s lying to him. If she had someone to help why didn’t she ask them before. Why did she waste Liam’s time and money with her dramatic bullshit if all she had to do was make a phone call and get someone else to help her? Why did she bring that little boy into Liam’s life and just…
He takes a step toward her, his face hard. He watches as she gulps and takes a step back, fear flitting briefly across her face.
“How. In the fuck. Are you. Going to afford a place. To live?” He bites off each word, harsh and cruel. “You can’t even afford to make a fucking phone call.”
“I…I…” Willow’s face has fallen and tears dampen her amethyst eyes, shivering on the edges of her lashes. Liam is tired of her tears.
He steps to his bedside table and pulls phone from the drawer, tossing it on the bed. “Make your fucking calls and get out. I’ll be back later. Be gone.”
He turns his back on her and slams out of the apartment. And pretends he doesn’t hear the sob she tries to hold in as he leaves.
Liam takes the stairs two at a time and pushes through the double doors at the bottom. When he steps onto the sidewalk he realizes he doesn’t have any idea where’s he’s going. He looks at his watch and realizes it’s too early for the bar, they’re not even open. With a sigh, he turns toward the diner. If he can’t have beer, he’ll have to make do with pie for the time being.
Stepping into the steamy diner air, Liam slides into onto one of the stools lining the counter and accepts a cup of hot coffee from the waitress. He gestures toward the pie case and holds up two fingers. Sipping on his coffee, he watches as the waitress slices two generous pieces of pie and slides them onto a plate. She sets the plate in front of him, hip cocked to the side, eyebrow raised, as he digs his fork into the flaky crust and shovels cherry into his mouth. Cherry. Suddenly, he’s not hungry. He drops the fork and pushes the plate away, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. Tossing a few bills onto the counter, he’s making his way out of the diner when someone leans out of a booth and stops him. It’s his little, round landlord. Liam shakes the man’s hand off his arm roughly.
“Hey, you,” the little man says, “you got that girlie in your place. You better watch for her, yes? She be nothing but big trouble for you.”
“I don’t think I need your advice, old man.”
The landlord chuckles. “You need or not, you listen me. She trouble. Always girls like her trouble. I know that type. Take you heart, then take you money. Better you leave her alone.”
“Just stick to landlording.” Liam turns and marches out of the diner. Damn it. The landlord is right. She’s trouble. He can’t even enjoy his fucking pie anymore because of her. And now he’s broke, because of her. Liam digs into his jacket pocket and pulls out the card Tony gave him the day before. He studies it carefully, considering his options. He has no options. This is his only one.
He’ll call Tony, get one good paying job, give half the money to Willow and then he’ll take the other half and disappear. She can go one way and he’ll go the other. He pulls a phone out of his pocket and thumbs open the screen, punching in Tony’s number. It rings three times before someone picks up.
“Hey. It’s Blacke. You still got a job for me?”