I quickly dress and hopped into one of my dad’s cars. I know I’m not supposed to drive by myself, but I can’t stay here and wait.
Within minutes, I’m right in front of their giant mansion. I don’t know if Luca is here, but that’s the least of my problems right now.
Jumping out, I lock the car before going to the side entrance in the yard. I can easily avoid the one camera on that side and climb over the gate.
When I’m over, I pat down my clothes, go to the side of the house, pick up some pebbles from the path, and throw them at Liam’s window.
After a while, he opens it up and stares down. The second he sees me, a smile appears on his face.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” he asks. “How did you get in?”
“The side gate,” I respond. “Jumped over.” I blink away the raindrops. “I think we need to talk.”
He frowns and licks his lips. “Hold on, I’ll come down.”
He shuts the window again and moves away. The light turns off. After a while, the back door opens, and he walks out into the yard.
“C’mon,” he says, holding out his hand. “I’ll take you to a safe spot.”
“Safe?” I mutter.
“Yeah, if my parents find out you’re here, there will be hell to pay.”
Something about that statement brings goose bumps to my body.
“Besides, I don’t like standing out in the pouring rain.”
That’s true.
“Up here,” he says, pointing at a wooden house in the big tree in the garden.
I was always forbidden from entering when we were little kids. But I guess everyone grows up someday.
I gulp down the nerves as I follow Liam upstairs, and we enter the tiny tree house. It can only fit two or three people at once, and our feet stick out from the door. But it’ll do as a temporary hideout.
From here, we can see the busy streets of the city in the distance, car lights flickering everywhere. Sirens blare in the distance, a comforting sound in the darkness of the night in the big city. The only light all the way up here comes from the small lamp hanging from the back door porch, and it’s quite cozy in here. But definitely cold. I shiver in place.
“Are you cold?” Liam asks. “Here.”
He grabs a soft blanket lying on the floor of the tree house and wraps it around me. “It’s not much, but it’s all we have. If I knew you were coming, I would’ve come prepared.”
I chuckle. “It’s fine. Thank you.”
The blanket smells like him. Familiar. Warm. Gentle.
“So, you wanted to talk?” he asks.
I look at him, and the honest kindheartedness reflected in his eyes is something else to witness. Especially compared to the darkness in Luca’s. They’re complete opposites in every way.
“Yeah.” I clutch the blanket tightly. “Luca told me something important so I thought I’d go straight to the source.”
“Luca?”
“Yeah, he … came to my house.” I gulp back the memories floating to the surface. I don’t intend to tell anyone, let alone Liam, about what happened in my room. I’m already mortified enough as it is.
Liam’s face darkens. “He told you about the marriage thing, didn’t he?” His whole body tenses up. “Yeah, I’ve known for a while now, but I shouldn’t have told him.”
“Why not?” I look up into his eyes, but all he does is look away.
“My parents don’t want him to know yet. They fear it’ll make him lash out.”
“I see …”
“Didn’t your parents let you know?” he asks, suddenly looking my way.
I shake my head. “No one ever tells me anything until after the fact.”
He snorts. “Imagine finding out you’re marrying on your wedding day.”
I laugh, but it’s not at all funny. “Exactly.”
“Not that we’re getting married. Yet.” He looks at my hand like there’s already a ring on it.
“Are you … happy about that?” I ask, my heart fluttering in my chest.
He rubs his lips and looks out into the distance again. There’s also a distance between us that I don’t know how to describe, but it doesn’t feel right.
“It’s so quick. I thought I’d have more time,” he says. “I thought …”
“What?” I lean in so I can look into his eyes.
“Nothing,” he says, smiling. “It’s fine. I know my responsibilities.”
“You feel like you’re missing out,” I fill in for him.
“Right,” he replies. “That’s just it. I wanted so much more. I wanted to travel. See the world. Experience things. But now that our parents have decided, it means we’ll be steamrolled into the business so we can take it over one day.”
“But it doesn’t make sense to me why they would pick me,” I reply. “Jasmine has always shown more interest in the business side of things. All I wanted to do was—”
“Escape,” Liam interjects with a smile on his face, and it makes me blush.
We both laugh a little and look away for a second. But after a few seconds, his hand threads through mine, and it feels so good that it feels like my heart was lit on fire.
“I guess we have no choice then,” I say.
I don’t want to appear like I’m okay with our parents forcing this on us, but at the same time, this has always been my dream. I always wanted to marry Liam.
But when I look at him now, his eyes show nothing but solemnness, and it twists at my insides.
“They just pick whoever they prefer. No choice for us whatsoever,” he mutters.
I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with all of this.
I knew it was coming for a long time … but I never imagined our parents would pick him and me. That I’d be the one to marry Liam. Even though he wants nothing more than to run away.
And he’s right. Running away would solve all our problems. We wouldn’t have to be forced to marry, and Liam would be able to see the world. And maybe, just maybe, if I went with him, he’d finally fall for me. For real. Not in a forced way.
“We could run away,” I say.
He snorts. “What, for real?”
“Why not?” I shrug.
“Our parents would never let that happen,” he replies. “Like you said, we have no choice.”
I place my head on his shoulder, sighing. “Would you have wanted one?”
“Of course. Everybody does.”
“Who would you have picked?”
I close my eyes, knowing I’m not ready for the answer.
Because deep down, I know what he really wants.
Who he’d really choose.
And it isn’t me.
“Hey,” Liam says, and he turns to me.
I lean up again and blink away a single tear from my eye. He grabs my face and makes me look at him.
“Just because we had different ideas or wants doesn’t mean it can’t still work out,” he says.
“You want Jas—”
He places a finger on my lips.
He closes the gap between us. His face is so close, and my heart begins to race.
“Let me try something,” he murmurs, still clutching my face.
And as he closes his eyes, he comes closer, and closer, and closer, and softly plants his lips on mine.
I’ve waited for this moment since forever.
Wishing upon a star to make it happen.
Liam’s kissing me. A feeling that should leave a lasting imprint on me.
His mouth is warm and sultry against mine.
But the longer he kisses me, the more I realize … I feel nothing.
After a while, he leans back, my lips still red and buzzing from the kiss.
I should be jumping up and down with excitement. Instead, I just sit there, dazed. Completely and utterly confused.
What just happened?
“Did that … do anything for you?” he murmurs.
I lick my lips, afraid to answer.
I don’t want this to be the truth.
“Wait, let me try,” I say in a moment of impulsiveness, and I smash my lips on his, clutching his face.
I’ve never kissed a guy so aggressively, but the harder I kiss him, the more it feels vapid.
And the more I begin to see Luca in front of me, kissing me instead.
I tear my lips away from Liam, frowning, angry with myself.
“Why doesn’t it work?”
Liam sighs. “I’m sorry. I tried. I just feel …”
“Nothing,” I fill in for him.
It hurts.
It hurts because it’s exactly what I feel when I kiss him, when I expected so much more.
And I can’t help but wonder … would it have been like this if Luca hadn’t stolen my first kiss?
“What the fuck?!”
Luca’s distraught voice makes me turn around and look down. He’s right there, on the grass, staring up at us with a kind of rage in his eyes that I’ve never witnessed before.
Oh, God.
