Blaze & Bind (Surrender to Them 10)

The look on Gerard’s face suggested otherwise.

Liam and I spent some time getting caught up after Gerard left. We decided to have some food delivered since neither of us had eaten. I was surprised that he had become a firefighter. Of all the guys in our high school, he was the last one I would have expected to put his life on the line to help other people. He was a jock that sometimes seemed like a bit of an airhead back then, but he was hot-as-sin. It looked like every girl in our school had a crush on him, even if they didn’t have a chance of ever catching his eye. I wasn’t entirely in love with his new look, especially the long hair, but he was still incredibly attractive—even more with a lot more muscle on his frame. There was something that seemed more down-to-earth about him than I remembered, and he was easy to talk to, especially when his eyes were locked on mine—like he was drinking in every word I said. The conversation shifted to relationships, and he told me about the girl he dated before he moved in with Liam and Billy. I could tell there was some pain left over from the break-up, but he hid it well.

“So what about you? Did you fall in love with anyone after high school?” He tilted his head to the side.

“Love? I don’t know…” I shrugged and sighed. “There was a guy that I liked, but—things didn’t work out.”

I don’t know if Gerard has mentioned our brief relationship, but I don’t really want to get into a discussion about it with Liam.

“At least you’ve got plenty of time left.” He leaned forward and started to stand. “I need another beer. Do you want one?”

“Sure, why not.” I nodded and handed him my empty bottle.

I guess I’m going to get the drinking part of my college years out of my system while I’m living here.

“That guy you dated?” He walked back into the room and opened my beer before sitting it down. “He was an idiot.”

“Why do you say that?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Because he was lucky as hell.” Liam chuckled as he sat down. “You’ve become a beautiful young woman.”

“I’m not sure if that’s an upgrade from hot, or…” My words trailed off, but I couldn’t hide the slight smile on the edge of my lips.

“They’re both pretty fucking accurate.” He leaned back against the chair and stared at his beer. “Sorry, I guess I’ve had too many of these already.”

“No, it’s fine.” I reached for my beer and took a sip. “I’m just not used to hearing it.”

Especially from someone, I used to have such a massive crush on.

“If you don’t tell me to stop, you’re probably going to hear it a lot now that you’re living here.” Liam tilted his head to the side. “And it’ll be the truth every time.”

“I’m—not going to ask you to stop.” I felt my cheeks blush.

I probably should, but he’s so damn sexy—so many times I wanted Liam to notice me, even if I knew I didn’t have a chance with a guy like him.

“What if I move over there…” Liam shifted from his chair to the couch beside me.

“Well, this—is where you sleep.” I swallowed nervously.

“It is.” He slid closer. “But that’s not what I’m thinking about right now.”

Before I even had a chance to process what he said, his lips were on mine. Liam was kissing me—and it wasn’t a gentle kiss either. His lips crushed mine, and he started to ravage my mouth with more passion than I had ever felt before—except one night—one night that was quickly fading from my thoughts as Liam’s kiss lit me on fire. He had one hand on the back of my neck and the other on my shoulder as his tongue swirled against mine. I felt like I was melting into his kiss as our lips were seared together, but I was actually melting into the couch—falling backward until my head was against the cushion. Liam followed me down, and I felt his body pressed against me as his lips broke the seal that our kiss had formed and moved down to my neck. It felt so good—so good that I didn’t even think about what we were doing. I was lost in the moment. His hand shifted from my shoulder and squeezed my breast before he started moving it lo

wer. The alarm bells finally went off in my head, and I pushed him back.

“Wait—hold on.” I gasped as his hand got to the button on my jeans.

“Why?” His fingers grabbed the button, and he started to twist it. “I see the desire in your eyes—you want me to keep going.”

“I do—but I don’t—I…”

I don’t know if I would have stopped Liam or not. Luckily, I didn’t have to make that decision on my own. There was a noise at the front door, and both of us immediately realized that Gerard was back. Liam pulled away and shifted back to the chair he was previously sitting in while I sat up on the couch. My hair was tousled, but I quickly ran my hand through it and shook my head to make it look as normal as possible. When the front door opened, we were back in our original seats with innocent smiles on our face. My thoughts were spinning. I couldn’t believe Liam had kissed me—I couldn’t believe how much I liked it. Even Gerard didn’t move that fast. He took me on a couple of dates before he made his move. I didn’t resist Gerard though when he finally did—there was nobody at the door to give me a second to catch my breath. I was just left with an empty bed after he got what he wanted.

“Liam, can I talk to you for a second?” Gerard walked into the living room without even looking at me and headed straight to his bedroom.

“Yeah…” Liam gave me a worried glance as he started to stand.

Oh god—he doesn’t know, does he? No, there’s no way…