Sadie shook her head at him, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Sadie, I lied to you,” Liam claimed, his dark eyes intense and penetrating.
“About what?” Sadie looked around, completely clueless.
“I never told you that I was the same William Cohen from Antelope Grove,” Liam responded, looking at her gingerly. “I never told you that I knew you.”
“You didn’t exactlylieto me about that.”
“I lied by omission,” he insisted.
“It’s fine,” she said with a sigh. “That bothered me initially, but the more I thought about it—what else were you expected to do?”
“I should havetoldyou. I shouldn’t have actively hidden it from you. That was a shitty thing to do.”
Sadie considered him. He looked so earnest and upset about this, and she could understand why, but after what had happened in the past, what did she expect? He had no idea how she’d react. “I guess I understand why you wouldn’t want to announce who you were. I’m the villain in this story,” she said dramatically, wincing at how whiny she sounded.
“What? No,” Liam argued. “You’re not the villain—Tyler is.”
“I treated you so badly in high school, Liam. I’m sorry that I didn’t pay attention to you. I’m sorry I wasted… years …dating fucking Tyler. Only to not even recognize you when I saw you twelve years later. I’m sorry I just stood there that day in the gym.”
“You didn’t just stand there,” Liam responded quietly, reaching down to grab her hand and rub her palm softly.
“I did,” she argued, a thickness rising up her throat causing her to choke a bit on her words. “I just watched while Tyler went to town on you.”
“You were in shock. You ran to get the teacher eventually.”
“Not quick enough,” she said. “And I should have never been with Tyler in the first place. And … I lied to you, too. I have thought about you in the years since high school—a lot.”
“When did you think of me?” Liam asked curiously.
“When Tyler would do something terrible—he was actually pretty terrible a lot—and I would remember the worst thing I ever saw him do. To you,” she admitted softly, her eyes welling up with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“Sadie, it’s okay,” Liam said, coming up close to her and pulling her into him. She took in a deep breath of cold air, closing her eyes and leaning into him. “All that matters is we’re together now, okay?”
She nodded her head slightly in response, the waves and tremors slowly subsiding until she was eventually left feeling replete and at ease in his arms.
“I’m sorry I treated you so badly for so long,” he said into her hair. “I was angry and stupid, but especially after we were … together, I should have told you. I’m so sorry.”
Sadie pulled back and looked up at him, studying his face as another thought occurred to her. “You know I’m not that teenage girl anymore, right? I hope you’ve figured that out by now. I guess I just want to be sure that you don’t want me because I’m …her,” she finished uncertainly.
“I don’t want her,” he responded, his eyes pleading with her. “I didn’t even know her. I wantyou, twenty-eight-year-old Sadie Sullivan who likes bad TV and weird desserts.”
He reached out, pulling her lips toward his and tugging her toward him roughly. Sadie felt her legs weaken under her as she leaned on the brick wall lining one side of the alley and groaned into his mouth.
“Let’s stick around for a bit, say happy birthday to Annie, and then go back to my place?” she suggested.
Liam looked down at her, his lips forming into a firm look. “Let’s try to get all of that done within the half hour?”
“Deal,” Sadie agreed with a laugh, and pulled him out of the alley toward the warmth of the Square.
12
Liam
FollowingSadieintoherdark apartment, Liam felt reminiscent of Thanksgiving and their first night together. It was hard to believe it had been less than two months since this whirlwind relationship had started. It felt like an eternity had passed.
He’d been so uncertain about what he expected to happen that night. He’d known what he wanted, but he’d known it was wrong for so many reasons, the least of which was that he was her boss, and the biggest problem was that they had a history she didn’t know anything about.