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“She watches the girl for you.”
With a tilt of my head, I studied him before answering. “You can’t even say her name.”
“What a load of bollocks! Yes, I can.”
“Then do it.” I crossed my arms and faced him fully. “Look me in the eye and say her name.”
Liam sighed and did that thing with his face where he pretended to glare but was really just stalling. “This is ridiculous.”
“It’s quite easy, actually. If you feel so guilty about betraying your friends’ final wishes that you can’t even say her name, then I’m glad you’re walking away.” My face was hot, my tone loud and harsh. “Go. Whatever you’re doing here, be done with it.”
His jaw clenched. “You used to be nicer to me, Valentine.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve changed the last month. I no longer care if you like me or not.” I held his gaze unflinchingly. “What are you doing here?”
“Dropping off the shit from his locker. Couldn’t handle looking at it, and it’s been in my trunk for a few days. Got sick of hearing it rattle around back there.”
My attention darted to the box on the island. “What’s in there?”
“Fuck if I know. I shoved it in there and taped it up. Last thing I want to do is go through someone’s private shit.”
I walked over to the box and started peeling back the folded edges.
“Oy!” he barked. “I want no part of this. You have some morbid curiosity, indulge it when I’m gone, yeah?”
There was a Post-it on the counter, and a pen. That’s what he’d been looking for in the drawers. On the note, he’d messily scrawled a message:Chris’s locker shit. Do whatever you want with it.
I shook my head slowly.
Liam was no different from the kids my mom saw in her office every single day. When I took a pause and pushed past my anger toward him, it was easier to filter through the way he was acting and see the messy, tangled roots.
He was a big man with big feelings that he wanted nothing to do with.
It wasn’t my job to usher him through that. But I felt guilt all the same. I peeked up at him through my lashes, and he was still studying the house with a tired look on his face.
That was the second thing I noticed, now that I wasn’t trying to decapitate him or accidentally give myself a concussion.
Liam looked like absolute hell. Like he’d barely slept in days.
I took my hands away from the box, and when he noticed the movement, his big frame relaxed.
My chest ached as I fought with my warring instincts about how to handle this man. It was the bags under his eyes. The complete exhaustion stamped across his rugged features.
“Mira would love to see you,” I said quietly. “I know she liked you.”
“Yeah, well, kids have shit taste sometimes.”
I simply stared at him for a moment, until he broke eye contact and looked at the floor.
“I am trying, Liam.” I raised my shoulders and let them fall helplessly. “I amtrying, because that’s what they wanted. It matters that this is what they wanted. Just ... come and see her sometimes. Hang out with her. Talk to her about her dad. I’m not asking you to split custody or move into the house. I’m asking you to just try.”
His jaw was so tight, his eyes unrelenting.
“It’s not that simple,” he said quietly. “You can’t do something like this by halves, and I have nothing to give her. Not any of the things she needs.”
“Itissimple,” I told him. “You’re the one complicating it. And if you’re too chickenshit to come hang out with a little girl who misses her dad, then I don’t know what to tell you.” I left the box where it was and stepped around the island. He braced for impact, even though I had no weapon this time. “I’ll tell you this, though. Don’t send me a penny. I don’t want your money.”
“Don’t be stubborn. I can help.”
