“Hey, if the temper tantrum fits ...”
“Knock it off!” Katya snapped. Liam finally looked down at her.
“No,” he shook his head. “I thought I could do this, I really did. I wanted another chance, and if the only way was to take shit from Wulf and get treated like garbage, I was willing to do it. But I think it's gone far enough.”
Katya burst out laughing. Both men looked at her like she was a little crazy, but she couldn't help it.
“I'm sorry,” she struggled to catch her breath. “Far enough. You said … it's gone far enough. It's been … a week. An entire week. And you couldn't hack it.”
“I didn't say I -” he tried to argue.
“You two screwed with me for almost two months. Laughing and having a grand old time. I do the same thing to you, but to your face, with you fully aware of what's going on, and you can't handle a week. How can you not see how that's funny?” she was still chuckling.
“This isn't a joke, Katya.”
Everyone fell silent and she wiped at her eyes.
“I know that, Liam. I didn't find it funny when you did it to me, either.”
“Then how can you keep doing it to me?” he asked. He seemed to have forgotten that Wulf was standing behind her. For a moment, she struggled with how to answer. Then she decided to be honest.
“Because you deserve it,” she answered simply. He hunched down so he was looking her in the face.
“What I did to you was fucked up,” he said, staring her very directly in the eyes. “And wrong on so many levels. And I really am willing to do whatever it takes to be forgiven, but I'm not jumping through all these hoops if it's only for yours and Wulf's entertainment, before you two ride off into some sunset.”
“So let me see if I have this straight, if I'm reading between the lines right,” she took a deep breath. “You're willing to do whatever it takes for me to forgive you, so long as I only like you and pay attention to you and never forgive Wulf.”
Liam frowned and seemed to struggle for a moment. Not for the first time, Katya thought he should take poker-face lessons from Wulf. Liam's emotions were always printed across his features. It was clear that he'd meant everything he'd said exactly as she'd interpreted it, and was just now realizing how bad it sounded.
How did we go from kissing and cookie dough, to yelling at each other in a garage? What is it about kissing me that makes men want to yell and use dessert as a weapon?
“No, not just that, I just wanted ...” he searched for words.
“You're just a spoiled brat,” she spit out. “It's fun to mess with other people, but when they do it to you, you want to stomp and pout and cry about it.”
His confusion turned to anger.
“You know what, I'm sick of this,” he snapped. “You act like you're so innocent in all this – like Wulf and I are the fucking devil.”
“Care to explain to me how I'm wrong?” she offered, throwing up her arms and glancing over her shoulder. Wulf was being smart – he had his mouth shut, though he was watching Liam through narrowed eyes.
“You went looking for a good time, angel cake. You didn't want to be with me, fine, whatever, but you used me. You always seem to conveniently forget that,” Liam told her. She gasped.
“What!?”
“Yeah, yeah, I'm an asshole because I lied to you, but you know what? You're an asshole because you didn't care about what you were doing. Fucking laughing on the roof, sex in the shower, bringing me food. I was good enough for a fun time – good enough to learn from so you could share it all with him, but not good enough to be with you. You were fine doing all that, stringing me along and teasing me, yet I'm the devil. You should look in a mirror,” he informed her.
Technically, everything he was saying was true. Katya had struggled with those thoughts, herself. But having him yelling it at her, after everything he'd done, after the kind of weekend she'd had – she was not mentally prepared for it. Rationality left the building and blood red colored her vision.
“She's right, we all need to take a step back, and you need to calm down and watch how you speak to her,” Wulf finally tried to talk some sense into everyone.
“Screw you,” she growled, ignoring him entirely and directing all her anger at Liam. “At least I was always honest with you. You knew every step of the way how I felt about you and how I felt about him. If it upset you, you should've said something. I'm an asshole because I couldn't read your mind!? Grow a pair, Liam, jesus.”
“Grow a pair!?” he yelled, then stepped up close to her, getting in her face. “Get fucked, angel cake.”
“Hey!” Wulf snapped, stepping around Katya and planting his hand on Liam's chest, shoving him back. “Calm the fuck down and remember where you are and who you're talking to.”
“Screw you, too. This is all a fucking game to her – neither of us are going to win, you realize that, right? She's using us for her own entertainment, the way she used me, and maybe you're okay with that, but I'm not. Not this time,” Liam said.
It was one thing for Katya to think of it as a game – something she could play and use to torture them. It was another thing to hear that he was still thinking of it as his game – that she was a prize to be won.
“Not this time?” Katya was shouting over Wulf's shoulder – he was holding out an arm to keep her behind him. “As opposed to the last time, when you lied to me every single moment we spent together?”
“Yeah, yeah, keep milking it. Maybe the next group of guys you fuck will -”
He never got to finish his sentence because a right hook from Wulf shut him up. Katya was stunned. She'd never seen a fight before, not in real life. Her jaw dropped as Liam stumbled to the side, slamming into her dad's work bench.
“I told you to watch what you fucking say to her,” Wulf said in a calm voice. He stood still, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. But his shoulders were drawn back, his muscles stretching taut under his shirt.
“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Liam exclaimed, spitting on the floor and rubbing at his jaw. Katya finally regained brain function and she cleared her throat.
“Okay, things just got really out of hand. All of us need to apologize or maybe we need to take a couple minutes and -”
She shrieked when Liam launched himself off the workbench and dove into Wulf. He led with his right shoulder, like a linebacker, and tackled the other man into the car that sat behind them. They slammed into the fender, Liam briefly lifting Wulf off his feet.
Though he was a couple inches shorter, Wulf was actually the bigger of the two – broader shouldered, and with more muscle mass. He was back on the ground in an instant, driving his elbow into the side of Liam's head.
What have I done? Again, this is all my fault. Everything is always my fault.