I should be happy and thrilled with how he cares about me the way he does. And I am. But also I’m not. Selfish, I get it. People can blame the only child in me for wanting my cake and eating it too. The thing is, being an only child meant I had lots of leftovers, so I never had to share my cake, let alone decide between eating it and saving it.
But when Liam wakes up to the desert’s sunrise, it’s obvious what I have to do. I’ve thought about it for hours. For the sake of him and his future, I need to make a sacrifice because he won’t do it. My test earlier failed, proving to us both how much he wants to continue with McCoy. Somehow I pretended his words didn’t faze me when he pulled the trigger, stating his wish to stay with his team while blowing my heart to pieces.
His wish is my command.
Lucky for me, I know the way to get to Liam. Over the months, I’ve learned everything about him, from the way he preps for races to his preference for cuddling with me on rainy days while he reads a book. What I’ve learned most of all is how he has very few triggers. With people like him, all I need is one spark to bring his demon to the surface, challenging his life built on illusions and half-truths.
I’m about to blow this shit up like World War III.
“Morning.” He looks at me with groggy eyes and a lazy smile. The knife digs deeper inside of me, a clusterfuck of ripped-up tendons, veins, and arteries. A slow bleed invisible to the naked eye.
I sit up and take a few deep gulps of air to gain courage. “I’ve had a lot of fun. I really can’t thank you enough for helping me with the list.” I take a breath to steady my voice, the sharp inhale feeling like a thousand piercing needles against my lungs. “But with the end of the race season, we need to call it quits. Friends with benefits has been fun and all—great even—but you have to race, and I need to go back to school.”
I wish I could shut my eyes and erase the pain in his eyes. To take the words back and swallow them whole, pretending I don’t know about his deal.
“Fun? Fuck fun. What the hell are you even talking about?” The roughness of his voice scrapes against my eardrums. He sits up to meet my eyes, his blue ones hitting me with a reflection of the rising sun behind me.
“We both know feelings aren’t your thing. Not to mention we won’t see each other after next week. I’m going back home and you’re going somewhere.”
“Feelings aren’t my thing?” Liam says the words with disbelief.
I stare at my hands to avoid his hurt gaze. He makes me weak yet strong because I need to do this for him and his future. “I love you. I have for months but you’ve been too blind to see it, unable to acknowledge me and my feelings. To see me.” My eyes meet his. “I can’t do this to myself anymore. The season is almost over, the list is finished, so we’re done. I’m sorry I broke your rule, but we can’t be friends anymore. So, let’s cut our losses before things get complicated. Before things happen that we both can’t take back, no matter how much we may want to.” My voice chokes on the last words, my airflow constricted.
“Like this conversation?”
I suck in a breath. The woundedness in his voice makes me want to stop. But he can’t give up his career for me—for this weird blend of friendship, sex, and one-sided emotions. My heart thrums against my chest like it wants to tell me it still beats strong for Liam.
Sorry, heart, I apologize in advance for the explosion.
I stand, brushing my shaky palms across the leggings I put on to avoid the desert chill. My legs wobble before I gain control.
He gets up too, closing the distance between us, staring me down. “I don’t know why you’re ending our friendship. Just get over your feelings and let’s go back to normal.”
Tears prick at the corner of my eyes. “There’s no going back. I can’t expect you to understand, seeing as you’ve never been in a relationship with someone…let alone in love. You have no idea what it takes. Let’s be real—you can’t even get over your past, let alone look toward your future. We both know I’m not part of it.” My vile words disgust me.
His eyebrows scrunch together and his eyes become glassy. I hate myself. I hate myself so fucking much I want to scream at him and myself all at the same time. But I don’t. I take a few steps back, my toes curling under the sand, grounding me from floating off into a mental space filled with pain and contempt.
“I can’t believe you’re really going to end our friendship over something temporary.”