Pulling over to the side of the road, I rooted around in the glove box for some paper towels that were still in the car from a visit to Krystals or McDonald’s. Yeah, I loved my junk food.
Undoing the button and zipper on my jeans, I peeled them away and cringed. My cock was still semi-erect and sticky as hell. I took a deep breath and started to clean myself up and just hoped that neither, Donovan or Reece would notice anything.
Fastened back up in my jeans, I was just about to pull away when my cell started ringing.
Without glancing at the display, I answered, “Yeah.”
“Jack, where are you?”
“I’m on my way to Donovan’s. Why?”
“Can you meet me? In the car park at Old Mill.”
What the hell. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“I’ll see you there.”
That had to be the strangest call I’d ever received from Liam, and why did he want to meet me at that spooky place?
After I checked to make sure there wasn’t anything on the road, I turned my car around and headed towards Old Mill. I felt panicked and couldn’t explain the feeling that something wasn’t right.
Why meet at Old Mill and not at the house. Old Mill had been closed for years, ever since the fire that had caused part of the building to collapse.
It was a creepy place even in daylight, but at night local kids would dare each other to go inside to claim a souvenir. I’d been one of the kids and had scared the shit out of Donovan and Reece. Fond memories.
As I drove into the car park, I saw Liam’s car parked up ahead so I pulled in beside him and climbed out of mine and into his.
He was sitting back with his head resting against the headrest and his eyes shut. He looked tired.
“Liam, are you okay?”
He sighed and turned his head to look at me.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Liam was apologizing to me. That didn’t make much sense.
“Why are you apologizing? As far as I’m aware you haven’t done anything... Have you?”
He rubbed at his temple before dragging his hand down his face. “I brought Thalia here for you.”
I stared at him, not sure I’d heard him right.
“I’ve been in love with Mia since I was fifteen.” Liam paused, staring out of the window. “She loves me as well...I know she does. She’s still pissed because I was a bastard to her, which I’m not getting into. With your wedding not far off, I brought Thalia home, hoping you’d like her and get distracted with her, calling this whole thing off. I’ve tried to talk to Mia, but she keeps walking off every time, and if I ring, she doesn’t answer her phone.”
He left me speechless. I’d known my brother had a thing for Mia and could never understand why he never acted on it, but perhaps he had at one time. He’d brought Thalia here for me?
“Jack? Say something.”
What to say? “Well, your plan with Thalia worked, because I can’t get her out of my head. You wanted me to fall for her and cancel the wedding so you’d get the girl, right?”
“Yeah. Except, the girl is supposed to cooperate.”
I started to laugh. “Just what the hell did you do to Mia? At one time I thought you’d both get together before everything went to shit.”
He blushed. My brother actually blushed like a girl. “Let’s just say I acted like a first class jerk right after. Ah, well, you know.”
Glaring at him, I looked at the roof of the car. I could be a jerk, but even I hadn’t done what I thought he was admitting to doing. “There’s only us here, spit it out, because I can tell you, I’m thinking all sorts.”
“Fuck, you really are going to make me spell it out aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I am.”
“When we were eighteen I took Mia out to the lake, and we...had sex...for the first time. Oh God. I freaked. I realized that I wasn’t just infatuated with her. I realized I loved her and freaked the fuck out. I couldn’t get her home quick enough, and then I left for college having never spoken to her.”
Liam hit the steering wheel with the flat of his hand in a rush of breath, and continued, “I fucked up. I know that, but now, before it’s too late, I need to get her back and I thought if you got distracted with Thalia everything would work out, but the stubborn woman won’t even talk to me.”
“I’d say when you fuck up, you do it big time. The thing is I need Mia to call the wedding off in order for Dad not to withhold my tuition. I don’t think he would, not when I’m so close to finishing, but I can’t risk it, at least not until I can come up with another way of getting the money. There is also Mia. What are her reasons for agreeing to marry me in the first place? Is it to get back at you? At least it makes more sense to me now. I’ve asked a few times, but she answered with a question of her own, like she always does when she doesn’t want to answer. A bit like you.”
“Yeah. That’s my Mia.” Sitting further up in his seat, he looked at me. “I need to get back. For now can we carry on as though we’ve not had this conversation and I’ll try and find out what’s going on from her end.”
“Isn’t that going to be difficult if she won’t talk to you?”
“I have a plan,” he said grinning.
I frowned. “Why does that make me nervous? You aren’t going to do anything stupid are you?”