He sighs out loud again and even cleans up my plate in silence.
But I refuse to give up. “What could possibly keep you trapped here?”
He throws all the cutlery into the sink and leans over the kitchen counter, shoulders rising and falling with every heavy breath, giant muscles clenched.
“You have no idea what it’s like not to know where you belong and who you are,” he says after a while.
I don’t know what to do with that, and I don’t understand what he means. Does it have to do with his memories?
“What do you actually remember?” I ask.
He glances at me over his shoulder. The menacing look in his eyes still manages to make my heart skip a beat. “You.”
Liam
* * *
Age 16
* * *
I sit at a table to the side of the dance floor, watching her. I haven’t moved from this spot in an hour. Not since she decided to drift away from the table and go talk with the grown-ups instead.
She clutches the glass of champagne her mother gave her like it’s a big deal, and I guess it is. No one ever lets us drink unless it’s a special occasion. My brother and I don’t listen to that rule, but Jasmine does. She’s not a rule-breaker, unlike us.
Sighing, I take another sip of my Coke and stare as she smiles and tries to follow along with our parents’ business talk. Always so eager to impress but never noticed.
“What are you doing?” my brother, Luca, sits down beside me and grabs a bunch of nuts from the bowl on the table.
“Nothing,” I reply.
“Staring at the unobtainable again?”
I grab some nuts and chuck them at his face. “Mind your own business.”
He laughs. “It’s way too fun to mess with yours.”
“Don’t you have a girl to chase?” I raise a brow at him and then eyeball Jill, who’s talking a little too happily with another guy our parents invited to the party.
The look on Luca’s face grows violently dark. “I’ll deal with that fucker later.” He shoves his hand into his pocket, where I know he keeps his knife.
I grab his arm and squeeze. “Not here.”
“Why do you care?” he growls, jerking free of my grip. “Mind your own business, remember?”
Fine. Use my own words against me.
He knows I’m right.
I sit back in my chair and keep watching the scene.
I’m not interested in dancing or mingling at all. The only thing I’m interested in is catching her attention. But she won’t ever notice me, and it’s infuriating.
“Your dick won’t magically float into her pussy, you know,” Luca says.
I throw him a look. “I swear to God, if you don’t shut your fucking mouth, I’m gonna steal your knife and cut off your balls.”
He laughs again. “I’d love to see you try.”