Chapter 41
This trip might just be worth it.
Well, if we throw away the bride and groom, I might as well call this a vacation.
Liam squeezes my hand. “Worth the trip already?”
I don’t answer right away.
There’s something about the way the light bounces off the water that makes my chest feel tight.
I glance at Liam, finding him already watching me. His usual smirk is gone, replaced with something softer-some- thing unreadable. It makes my stomach flip.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmur.
His thumb brushes over my knuckles, slow and absentminded, like he doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. “Yeah,” he says, voice quieter now. “It is.”
The air between us shifts, the playful energy from earlier replaced with something warmer, heavier. The kind of mo- ment that makes it too easy to forget this is all pretend.
Desperate for a distraction, I clear my throat and tug him toward the sun loungers. “Come on, let’s sit for a bit. My feet are killing me.”
Liam chuckles, letting me pull him along. “You do have a talent for dragging me places.”
I roll my eyes but don’t let go of his hand. If I did, I might actually feel the absence of it.
We’re sitting together, Liam’s hand warm in mine, when we finally get company.
I bite back a groan the moment I see who it is.
Stone. And he’s already hammered.
It’s not even 7 PM.
He stumbles in, an overly giggly woman clinging to his side. Her fingers toy with the buttons of his shirt, but his at- tention isn’t on her anymore. The second he spots Liam and me-our hands linked, our bodies angled toward each other-he stops dead in his tracks.
His drunken haze clears just enough for him to scowl.
“Didn’t expect to see you here, Calloway,” he says, voice thick with alcohol. His eyes flick to me for a split second, but it’s barely a glance-like I’m nothing more than background noise.
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But Liam?
Liam gets his full attention.
“Didn’t know you were going on this trip till last week,” Stone continues, ignoring me completely. “Figured you’d be off training or something. You know, actually doing something worthwhile.”
I bristle. My grip on Liam’s hand tightens, but before I can say anything, Liam beats me to it.
“I am doing something worthwhile.” His thumb brushes over my knuckles in a small, deliberate motion. “Spending time with my girl.”
Stone snorts. “Your girl?” He finally gives me a proper look, and the way his gaze drags over me is anything but flat- tering. “Didn’t think you were the type to settle, Calloway.”
Liam’s jaw clenches.
“That’s funny,” he says smoothly, but there’s a sharpness beneath his words. “Didn’t think you were the type to talk. out of your ass, but here we are.”
Stone’s date lets out an awkward giggle, shifting beside him like she suddenly wants to be anywhere else.
Liam leans back, calm and unbothered. “If you’ve got a problem, Stone, say it. But don’t waste my time throwing weak insults at my girlfriend just because you can’t handle your liquor.”
Stone’s scowl deepens, but he doesn’t say anything. Probably because, for the first time in his life, he doesn’t have a comeback.
Liam gives my hand one last squeeze before turning back to me like Stone isn’t even worth another second of his
time.
And somehow, that’s what pisses him off the most.
Stone tilts his head, eyes gleaming with drunken cruelty. “Don’t you feel even a little ashamed, Emmy?” His voice is soft, almost mocking. Then he chuckles, shaking his head. “Well, I guess you wouldn’t. Not when you went from be- ing one hockey player’s whore to another’s fling.”
My stomach twists.
“The biggest upgrade you’re capable of, yeah?” His smirk widens, sharp and ugly. “Fucking hockey slut.”
I don’t even get the chance to react before Liam moves.
One second, he’s sitting beside me, his grip on my hand steady. The next, he’s on his feet, towering over Stone, his entire body coiled with barely contained fury.
“Say that again,” Liam says, voice deceptively calm.
Stone laughs, clearly not grasping the dangerous shift in the air. “What? Touch a nerve, Calloway?”
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Chapter 41
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Liam doesn’t blink. Doesn’t move. But there’s something in his stare that makes the amusement drain from Stone’s
face.
“You can insult me all you want,” Liam says, voice low, controlled. “But you don’t get to talk about her like that. Ev-
er.”
Stone scoffs, trying to play it off. “Come on, man, you know how these girls are-”
Liam’s fist collides with the table, hard enough to rattle the glasses on top of it. “Watch. Your. Mouth.”
Silence.
Stone sways slightly, as if trying to decide whether pushing his luck is worth it.
Liam doesn’t give him the chance.
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