CHAPTER 21
CERYS
The temperature didn’t drop last night, the sticky humidity of late July makes lying naked next to Liam more acceptable. I snuggle into him and rest my head on his warm chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heart. Liam shifts and encompasses me in his arms, burying his face in my hair. The bed smells of him. Us. Sex.
“Good morning,” he whispers, soft lips moving against my forehead.
“You’re still here,” I murmur.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
I rest my palms on his chest and look up at his tired face. “I don’t know. I guess I half-expected you to run away again.”
“Why run? There’s no five year old to shock when she sees me coming out of her mum’s bedroom,” he says.
“Ella...” She’s never far from my thoughts and guilt twinges as I glance at the bedside clock. 11 a.m. “I should call Phoebe; I said I’d pick Ella up early.”
Liam’s clothes lie on the floor and images of my last night rest with them, how the frantic sex turned into his gentle kisses and leisurely exploration of my body and then to things I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing with Craig. Liam pushed us into a dizzying plane of pleasure I never knew existed, telling me again and again how I belonged to him. Finally ending in the early hours, Liam looked down at me with a sincerity and tenderness that made me cry as we finally exhausted the need we’d held.
Liam tore apart my heart and soul then put them together again with a piece of himself inside. He was right. After last night, I’m his.
“I should get a shower and go get Ella.”
“Now who’s running away?” he asks and laces his hands behind his head.
The tattoo running across his chest to his shoulder is newer than in the pictures on my old bedroom wall. His ink blends into one canvas of colour across his chest and continues down his arms, a strange collection of pictures and words. Of course, there’s a phoenix, soaring across his chest with the tail feathers heading toward his muscled abs. I drag a fingernail down the length of the bird and across the tight muscles.
How do I really feel about what I did last night? Slightly sore considering it’s a long time since I had anyone in my bed, and before then it was quick and not repeatedly.
“You can hang around when I go to pick her up. If you want to, I mean.”
“Of course I want to! I’m not disappearing and leaving you after last night.” He sits and kisses my arm. “Get your shower, I’ll make breakfast.”
“That’s sweet of you,” I say and giggle as he pokes me and pulls a sour face.
Refreshed by my shower but anxious to get dressed and collect Ella, I throw a pair of cotton shorts and tank top on, and grab my phone to call Phoebe.
“Phoebe, I’m sorry, I’m running late.”
“Don’t stress, she’s fine.” Phoebe pauses. “Late night with your rock star?”
I’m glad she’s not in the room to see me blush. “A little. I slept in.”
“I bet you did! Naughty...”
“Phoebe!”
“Seriously, as long as you had fun, I’m happy.”
“I’ll be about an hour. Is that okay?”
“Of course! She’s playing in the garden with Jordan, no trouble at all.”
Despite her reassuring words, I want to get to Ella as soon as I can. I don’t want Ella feeling abandoned; I’ve never left her alone overnight.
The relief Phoebe isn’t annoyed with me evaporates when I walk downstairs. Craig is sitting on the sofa. He greets me with a dark expression, one I’m too familiar with. I glance behind. Liam has his back to us in the kitchen. Shirtless. Crap.
“Why are you here?” I ask Craig.
“I came to see my daughter. Why’s he here?”
“None of your business,” I say.
“I think it is if you’ve got people like him in the house.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Cerys, everyone knows what the Blue Phoenix guys are like! One of them overdosed earlier this year!”
“Are you suggesting I’m letting a drug addict into the house? Don’t be ridiculous!” I say in a low voice.
“Fine, where is she? He said I had to wait for you before I went upstairs which is a bit f-ucking cheeky when this is partly my house.”
Liam walks in with two green mugs and sets one on the table in front of Craig. “Everything okay?” Liam asks.
My discomfort at Craig’s presence isn’t shared by Liam. Craig is a few inches shorter and stockier, and coiled like a spring ready to snap at Liam, but Liam barely looks at Craig. Their lack of engagement is a good thing. I wish to God, Liam would go upstairs and find a t-shirt, though.
“Ella’s not here,” I tell Craig, “I’m going to pick her up from a friend’s in about half an hour.”
“What?” he growls. “Whose house? How long has she...?” Realisation crosses his face. “Oh, I see, you’re dumping Ella at a friend’s, so you can be with him,” says Craig. He turns to Liam. “I guess my daughter hanging around you gets annoying, an extra part you don’t want.”
“You couldn’t be further from the truth! Liam likes Ella,” I retort.
With those words, I trigger off a chain reaction I never dreamt possible.
“I’ll leave you to it,” says Liam to me, continuing to act as if Craig isn’t in the room, and heads toward the stairs.
“I don’t want him around my daughter.”
“Hypocrite,” I snap.
“What the f-uck does that mean?”
“It’s two weeks since you saw her! Why are you here?”
“I’ve been busy, working hard to give you money for Ella!”
I sweep a gaze over his clothes. His smart jeans and designer trainers would’ve cost as much as a week’s groceries. “Right, sure. Too busy for your daughter?”
“I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“You should’ve called first. We need to organise days for you to see Ella. You can’t just turn up. We have plans today.”
“We?” he says narrowing his eyes.
“Yes, we. Me and Ella.”
“So the half-naked man in your house is a casual thing?”
“Seriously, Craig, my relationship with Liam is none of your business. Me and you ended almost six months ago.”
“I came across the city to see Ella; I’ll wait for you to bring her home.”
“You can visit Ella next weekend. This is too short notice.”
“What the f-uck?”
I dig my nails into my palms, surprised by my new ability to stand up to Craig. “Me and Ella have a different life now; you can’t expect us to drop everything when it suits you.”
Craig glances over my shoulder toward the direction Liam went. “If you try and keep her from me...”
“I’m not! I just want us to organise this properly if you’ve decided you want to see Ella more often!” I temper my tone. “Look, today is a bad day. Let’s catch up in the week and sort something out? It would help Ella too if she knows when to expect you.”
“So you’re saying ‘no’ to today?”
“Correct.”
Craig steps toward me. “Remember, this is partly my house, for my daughter. Not you. If you make things difficult for me, you’re out.”
His deep brown eyes are filled with anger, anger I know he’s close to the edge of. He’s not violent, but Craig’s moods are unpredictable. Christmas was a prime example of decisions he makes when gripped by whatever the fury does to his logic.
“I won’t. We’ll sort something out. Maybe if you came round tomorrow?” I say, using my well-practiced calming tone.
Will he leave or will this escalate? What possessed him to come and see us out of the blue? Liam moves around upstairs and the situation turns my stomach. The only good thing in all this is that Ella isn’t here.
Craig pulls his car keys from his pocket. “I’ll call you.”
Relieved he’s closed down and the unpredictable mood hidden, I smile with false gratitude. “Thank you, Craig. I’m so sorry about this, I wish you’d called.”
“Yeah,” he mutters with a final glance toward the stairs.
As I close the door behind Craig, I lean against it and take a shaky breath. This guy kicked me and Ella out in a fit of rage at Christmas. He holds the cards when it comes to financial support for Ella, and by default, for me. Please don’t let this go badly.
Dazed by the encounter, I don’t notice Liam approach and touch my arm. “Are you okay?”
“I need to get Ella,” I say absent-mindedly.
“Do you want me to come?”
“No!”
Liam’s face registers surprise. “Okay. Do you want me to leave?”
“No,” I say quietly.
“Cerys, you’re shaking.” He takes my hand and squeezes. “Don’t let the dickhead get to you. He’s behaving like a dog pissing on his territory.”
I pull a face. “That’s gross, Liam.”
“Here.” He holds his phone out. There’s a picture of me and Liam, hand in hand, leaving the club last night. My first exposure by the media.
“Where’s that from?”
“Our PR girl sent it across, the picture was on my phone when I checked this morning. We both knew this was coming.” He brushes hair from my face. “Do you think someone sent it to him and that’s why he came over?”
Who would do that? “Maybe, but that was bloody quick! Where’s the picture now?”
Liam shrugs. “A few places probably.”
My thumping heart pushes harder. “The press won’t come after me, will they?”
“Not sure. They don’t always get on my back as quick as they do Dylan’s or Jem’s, but there’s the whole Honey business. You’re the first girl since.”
Honey. “First girl,” I say to myself.
Liam turns my face to his. “And last.”
“This is really happening, isn’t it?” I ask him.
“Cerys, I wouldn’t have let you seduce me last night unless I thought I meant something to you.” His mouth tips at one corner and his teasing takes the edge off my anxiety.
“Very funny,” I say.
“You’re special to me and if that means I have to share you with the world, I will. I want everyone to know Liam Oliver has a new girl. Then when they realise how uninteresting we are, they’ll leave us alone.”
“What do you mean by uninteresting? Because I’m not a drop-dead gorgeous actress?” I pull my face away from his hand.
“No, because there’s no scandal, just me loving you.”
Liam’s words knock the breath from me as hard as his kisses last night. I pick my keys up from the table and grab my handbag.
“I’m going to collect Ella.”
I glance back at his confused expression as I leave the house. I’m unable to process whether he meant what he said or whether Liam Oliver falls in love too easily.