The Ending I Want(29)

“Jesus, man, I’ve said I’m sorry a million f*cking times. What do I have to do?”

“Nothing.” Liam slips off his stool and takes a menacing step toward him. “I don’t care if you’re sorry. Nothing you say will ever change what you did!” Liam roars.

A hush falls over the bar.

Jeremy’s nervous eyes flicker to me.

“Don’t look at her.” Liam steps in front of me. “Don’t ever f*cking look at her. Don’t even breathe the same air as her. If you do—you remember the last time I hit you? Well, that will look like a f*cking tickle compared to what I’ll do to you if you go anywhere near Taylor.”

Holy f*ck. Angry Liam is Hot Liam. But he’s also scary as hell.

I need to defuse this situation. I’m just not sure how.

“Liam?” I touch his arm, but he doesn’t seem to feel me.

He’s just glaring at Jeremy, his chest pumping up and down. Then, I see Eddie coming back, and I nearly fall off my stool in relief.

I watch Eddie as he sees Jeremy. His eyes go to Liam, and his steps seem to falter.

Then, I see him mouth, Oh, f*ck. And he’s speeding over to us.

He comes to a stop between Jeremy and Liam. “All okay here?” Eddie asks Liam.

“Everything’s just f*cking great. Jeremy was just leaving, weren’t you, Jeremy?” The way Liam says his name is with total distaste.

Jeremy sighs and takes a step back.

Cam appears back behind the bar, a harried look on his face. “Nancy will be out in a few,” Cam tells Jeremy.

“Tell her I’m waiting outside.” Jeremy tips his head in the direction of the door as he takes another step back. His eyes go to Liam. “For what it’s worth, man, I am sorry. More than you’ll ever know.”

“Tell it to someone who gives a shit,” Liam says in a tone that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Jeremy lifts his hands in defeat. Then, he turns and walks out the bar.

Jesus Christ, that was tense.

I hear Eddie blow out a breath that sounds an awful lot like relief, and I know exactly how he feels.

Angry Liam might be Hot Liam. But he’s also Scary Liam.

Liam turns to face Cam, his hands curling around the edge of the bar. “He’s seeing Nancy?” Liam says low.

“For a couple of months now,” Cam answers him carefully.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Liam’s tone is accusing.

Cam frowns. “Because I didn’t think it was newsworthy. And it’s not like I can ever mention Jeremy’s name in front of you without you turning into the Hulk.” He exhales a tired sound. “You used to be friends once.”

“And, now, we’re not.”

“Yeah, and none of us know why, except for you and Jeremy. And Jeremy won’t tell us a f*cking thing because he’s protecting you.”

“Protecting me?” Liam gives a bitter-sounding laugh. “That’s f*cking rich. He actually said that?”

“No, he didn’t say that. He never says anything, just like you. So, we have to jump to conclusions, and considering you were the one who punched him in the face at Kate’s funeral, I’d say he’s covering for you.”

“Because, of course, it would be something I did. Sounds about right.” Liam’s laugh is dry, but I can hear the hurt beneath it, and it cuts me. “Not perfect f*cking Jeremy Bentley. He would never do anything wrong. But me, the bastard son of a stripper? Yeah, I’d definitely do something wrong.” He steps away from the bar.

He’s the bastard son of a stripper? And who is Kate?

“I never said that. Jeremy isn’t perfect—far from it. None of us are. We’re all a bunch of f*ckups, except for you. You’re the one who made something of himself. And I’m so f*cking proud of everything you’ve achieved, man.” Cam tries to reason, but I can see Liam is already gone, not listening to anything he’s saying. “But if we just knew what went down between you and Jeremy, then maybe we could help.”

“You can’t help. No one ever could.” He stares hard at Cam before looking at me. “We’re leaving.” Liam grabs my arm and all but pulls me off the stool.

I have just enough time to grab my bag off the bar before I’m being dragged along.

I hear Cam and Eddie calling his name, asking him to come back, but he doesn’t stop. He just strides out of the bar, and I have to jog to keep up with him.

Thankfully, there’s no sign of Jeremy when we get outside.

Liam doesn’t stop walking. He continues on along the roadside, pulling me with him, and he lifts his hand for an approaching taxi.

“Will you just slow the hell down?” I yank my arm from his grip.

“No.” He grabs my arm again as the taxi pulls up beside us. He opens the door and manhandles me in. He barks his address at the driver. Then, he finally sits back in his seat.

I fold my arms over my chest. “I don’t appreciate being manhandled like that. And I didn’t even get to say good-bye to your friends. You were really rude to them, you know.”

“I’ll buy them a f*cking card to apologize.”

“You’re acting like a total dick. You don’t like that Jeremy guy, fine. Doesn’t mean you get to act like a prick toward me.”