Indebted (19 page)

Stepping back, I glance around the small room. Crowded around us are Chloe, looking disapproving as ever, and Tristan and Luke, who seem to be chatting among themselves. Luke is nodding his head with a smile, and my intuition says they are discussing Adam and what happened tonight. Being so new to this little circle, I don’t ask questions no matter how much I want to. I’ll wait until I get Lee alone, and then the inquisition will begin.

As I’m about to invite everyone to sit down, Chloe says, in a hateful tone, “Liam, I have some things I need to say to you and I don’t care who hears them.”

Lee looks slightly stunned, but covers it instantly. I can see him stiffen, the softness leaving his expression as he turns to look at her. The man I’m becoming so close to is nearly gone at this time. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him do this, but I’m surprised he feels the need to do it because of Chloe. In that moment, I know whatever she says to him has the potential to hurt him more than any punk on the street. My protectiveness kicks into high alert as I wait for what she is about to say.

Liam clears his throat and says, “Well, Chloe, obviously you’re not a fan of mine. If you want to say something for Aaron’s sake, then I’m willing to listen, but only out of respect for him.”

Haughtily, with her arms still folded over her chest, she approaches him. My nerves are on edge and Chloe is putting me in an unbelievably uncomfortable position. I have never seen her like this about anything. She’s always had the utmost respect for my decision-making abilities. This is completely new territory for me with her.

Glaring straight into his eyes, she lets loose. “I have known Aaron since the first grade. He is my best friend and virtually my brother. There is no need for you to be in his life. Aaron was doing fine before you came along, and now look at him! He’s lying to protect you already! If you think I’m buying the ‘I got bashed’ story, you have another thing coming! You’ve put him in danger and he is already paying for being associated with you. I want you to leave right now and never see him again. I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.”

Liam is vibrating with fury, and though I think maybe Tristan and I are the only ones who can see it, hurt too. He doesn’t say anything, but I have had enough.

I let go of all the emotions I’ve been holding back from her. “Chloe, that is enough! How dare you come in here and make demands of my boyfriend. Not only that, but make decisions about my life and who I see without even talking to me. Right now you are no better than my father.” I can see the immediate pain that statement causes her, and it hurts me too. I push on anyway, because she needs to hear where I stand on this issue.

That’s right! Until now, you’ve been a pussy, letting her dismiss your feelings and decisions. Tell her to back the fuck off!

“Chloe, you are my best friend. I don’t understand why you’re acting this way. I love you like the sister I never had. I’m not going to let you make me decide between the two of you. You need to understand—I choose to be with Liam. That’s not going to change, and you need to accept that. It is what it is, it’s that simple. Now, you need to either find a way to put aside your emotions on the matter, or avoid being around him. Because he will be here, and I won’t have you disrespecting someone I care about. Is that understood?”

She appears as if she wants to cry, but holds herself back. Finally, she speaks up, her voice shaking a little as she says, “I’m trying to protect you. I can see he does at least care about your well-being, but I won’t lose you over him, Aaron. I will try to make it work. As your friend, I won’t put you in the position of choosing sides. I still think this relationship is a bad idea, and I will be here for you when it fails. A broken heart I can help with. I can’t fix it if you’re dead. As I said, though, I will leave it alone. I’m going home. Sorry to disturb your little love nest. Text me if you need me.”

With those words, she turns and marches out the door. I’m floored. She said she would try, but it sounds like we have a long way to go before she is even going to be close to civil. Sighing, I let her go. Liam wraps his arm around me and leads me over to the sofa. I can see a little pride and worry on his face fighting for dominance, and I wait for him to say something to me.

Instead, he glances around the room. “Hey guys, I really appreciate all your help tonight. I can see you’re eager to get home and get some rest. Why don’t you both head out?”

Unanimously, they nod and leave without so much as a backward glance.

Liam addresses me in a serious tone. “Aaron, I’m really grateful to you for defending me, and more than a little turned on, I might add, but I don’t want to come between you and your friend.” Pausing, he runs the back of his finger along my good cheek, and then continues. “My presence in your life has already done so many negative things for you. I don’t want to add another one.”

“Liam, as I said earlier, I’m my own man. That means with you or anyone. I’m not going to have Chloe dictate who I can and can’t see. I understand her concerns and they are valid. Being with you is upping the danger level in my life quite a bit. The thing is, it’s worth it to me to be with you and see where we can take this relationship. If I play it safe with my heart and life, I may never find true happiness. I will always wonder if I passed up my chance at it if I don’t give this a try.” I angle my head slightly to kiss his palm, and he stares at me in what can only be described as wonder.

As if to confirm my guess, he says, “Do you know how amazing you are? I am so lucky to have met you, I’m considering sending your dad a gift.”

With that, we both start laughing. I don’t think my dad will enjoy anything Liam sends him, good or bad. Our humor abruptly stops as we both realize we’re alone. He leans forward, and careful of our battered lips, gently kisses me. Even though it stings a little, a tingling sensation and that wonderful buzz are running through me.

Too soon, Lee pulls back with a concerned look on his face again. “We need to get these meds in you. Have you eaten anything? It says you’re supposed to eat something with them.”

I glance over him with a critical eye. “I’ll make a deal with you, Mr. Mother Hen. I’ll take the pills, but only if I get to bandage up these cuts of yours. Oh, and yes, I did eat about an hour ago. I’ll drink some milk with them to be on the safe side.”

Chuckling and shaking his head a little, he states, “I think I’m going to have my hands full with you.” He cups my cock through my pants. “Mmm, that sounds like a really good thing too.”

My dick starts to come to life, and I have to stop this now before I’m sorry. Thanks to my injuries, any sort of release will be nearly impossible tonight.

Groaning, I warn him, “No distraction tactics right now. I need to take care of you, and you seem set on taking care of me, so let’s get to it.”

He grunts his disapproval of my idea, but he does as I say. We head to the kitchen for milk, then to the bathroom to start fixing him up. Liam opens up my prescription bottles while I dig out the first-aid kit from the cabinet. He hands me the pills and I pop them in my mouth.

After taking a big gulp of my drink, he decides to make a comment on my extensive first-aid kit. “Damn, man, you expecting an army of wounded to show up?”

Struggling to swallow through my laughter, a little milk still manages to dribble out of my mouth. Instead of laughing with me, he raptly watches the stream of liquid run down my chin and toward my neck. Without even hesitating, he takes the glass from me and sets it on the sink. I’m about to ask him what he’s doing when he leans forward and runs his tongue along the white trail.

Groaning, I lean my head back to give him better access. I haven’t had the chance to enjoy his talented tongue on my body in far too long. Lee’s mouth makes it up to my own, and we gently mesh them together. Grunting, he lightly draws me closer. I’m being swept away by the powerful lust now coursing through me. Out of nowhere, my brain takes over and reminds me why we are here—Liam needs to be taken care of, and that isn’t going to happen if we start making out.

He stops as I push against him, his gaze searching my face. “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”

“Liam, would you please stop worrying? I will tell you if something hurts, and you have to trust me to do that. The reason I stopped you again is we need to get these scrapes cleaned up. Now, if you’ll sit down on the edge of the bath, I’ll take care of you.”

Without argument, and with a little smile playing on his lips, he sits and lets me tend to him. Carefully, I clean the little cuts and scratches with antiseptic, and then move to the deepest cut on his cheek. It’s silly, but my heart hurts at seeing it marring one of his perfect dimples. While sanitizing it, I blow on it as the solution starts to work.

Liam starts chuckling as he admonishes me. “Aaron, I’m not going to break. I’ve taken much worse than a little sting.”

I feel a little ridiculous now. “I’m sorry. I, um, I’m not trying to treat you like a baby. I want to take away whatever pain I can, is all.”

He gives me an indulgent smile and nods for me to continue. I arrive at his knuckles and they are swollen, cracked, and raw. As I tend to them, my thoughts wander to how much force he had to have used to create this much damage. Adam, I assume, must look much worse, judging by this.

Nerves take over and I gnaw on my lip. Questions fill my mind, and the main one screaming at me is… did he kill him? If he did, I’m not sure how to handle that. The reasonable side of my brain understands it’s what he does, but the emotional part has a hard time reconciling that with Liam. I mean, there is no love lost between Adam and me. The bastard beat me to a pulp, knowing more than likely I couldn’t defend myself. I wanted him dead too, although a bigger side of me wants Liam to not have done anything else the police can apprehend him for.

Liam makes me jump as he says my name, and I realize I have paused in my ministrations. “Aaron? Are you going to answer me?”

“Huh? What’d you say? My concentration slipped.”

Liam is concerned. “Well, from the look on your face, it wasn’t on something good. I said, ‘What’s got you thinking so hard?’”

Sighing in resignation that we need to have this conversation, I answer, “I was, um, wondering what happened tonight. I mean, it’s obvious you found Adam, but I don’t know anything else. The lack of information is driving me crazy. I’m too nosy for my own good, but I have to ask anyway. Did you kill him?”

My heart is in my throat and my fingers are tearing at packaging from the kit as I continue to avoid eye contact with him. Liam grabs my hands and the contents fall to the floor.

In a serious tone, he says, “Aaron, look at me.”

I do as he asks, and I see concern and sincerity mixed with anxiety. Oh, this is bad.
He might not be able to tell you anything, and now you’ve gone and put him in an awkward position.

Before I can backpedal, he continues, “Would you stop worrying? I can see you’re concerned about asking me these things. If it’s something I can’t tell you, I will let you know I can’t and leave it at that. It’s something you will have to get used to with my line of work. This, however, is directly to do with you, so you deserve honest answers.” He pauses and squirms a little. “I did find Adam and we did have one hell of a fight. There’s no other way to say this…. Adam is dead. I struggled and tried to fight my urge to kill him. I didn’t win that battle.”

He goes quiet and appears to be very introspective. Stunned, I stand there frozen. My stomach clenches and my chest tightens as fear for Liam, and what this could mean for his future and safety, fill me. Leaning into him as I try to control my breathing, I rest my shaky hands on his shoulders.

This brings him out of his reverie. “No, Aaron. I said I struggled, and I would have killed him if it hadn’t been for Tristan—he stopped me.”

Well, now I’m confused as hell. “I thought you said Adam was dead. I don’t understand.”

“Tristan stopped me short of killing him, and then finished him for me. If he hadn’t been there, though, I would have done it myself, I’m certain of that. I owe you the truth.” He stops and stares at me, waiting for my reaction.

It takes a few minutes for me to process everything he has told me. “Let me clarify this. You were close to killing him, and would have if Tristan hadn’t stopped you and did the deed himself?” He grimaces and then nods, appearing even more wary. “Liam, I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I would have felt the same way if I could’ve done damage to him. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I wanted him dead for the pain and fear he instilled in me. My main concern has always been you getting caught for it. You’ve killed before, and I’m not going to ask for details of those events. I’m happy it wasn’t by your hand so the evidence won’t point directly to you.”

Liam’s body slouches with relief. “So, you’re not mad at me? I would have killed him.”

“I’m not your moral compass, Liam. I asked you to try, and you did. You were under extreme stress and you still kept your promise in mind. As strange as this is going to sound, I’m actually very proud of you.”

He gives me a deep, dimpled smile, almost as if the weight of the world has been lifted from his shoulders, and grabs me up in a tight hug. Pain shoots through me immediately, and I gasp.

Liam instantly lets go. “Fuck! I’m sorry. I was so thrilled I didn’t fuck up again, I wasn’t thinking.”

The pain recedes some and I catch my breath. “That did hurt like hell, but I’m pleased you were so elated you felt the need to give me that python hug there.”

“Well, I have an idea on how to make you feel better. Why don’t you go get undressed and I’ll run you a hot bath.” At my incredulous look, he continues, “Doctor’s orders say you need to have a soak, remember?”

“Sounds good. I’ll be right back.” Hurrying as fast as I can in my condition, I strip down and grab my sleep pants.

The whole time, my brain is conjuring up fantasies of Liam in the bathtub with me, and all the fun we can have in there. Unfortunately, my tub is built for one, so my bubble pops almost as it forms.
Besides, you can’t do anything right now anyway.
Yeah, I know, but it was fun to think about it for the moment. Walking into the steamy room, I see Liam getting some towels ready for me. I step up behind him and wrap my arms around him, nuzzling my face into his strong back.