Pushing the hair from my forehead, he placed a soft kiss there. “I went through my ups and downs when I was dealing with the accident. I fell off a few times…”
I nodded, understanding what he said. “But why would he take my mom?”
“I don’t know, baby. That’s something you’ll never know,” he admitted. That was the worst part, really, not knowing a damn thing.
“Why not me?”
“He knew you were strong, Autumn. He knew you could take whatever life threw at you.”
“I wasn’t always,” I said, adding a sad laugh to soften the blow. “I grew up in a trailer park, Liam. I was made fun of my whole life. My parents were addicts. I worked two jobs after school to provide for Kaleb. I just wanted us to both leave and go to college…to have a chance. We were both leaving. That was the point of everything I went through.”
“That makes you the strongest person I know,” he said. His words soothed me, but I sat in silence, thinking, trying to solve the missing puzzle. “But you don’t have to be anymore, you know?”
I laughed once without humor. “I don’t know how else to be.”
“Be happy,” he said.
I stared him straight in the eyes. His gray eyes were watching me, gleaming with sadness. “I am. More than ever.”
Lifting my hand, he kissed my knuckles tenderly. “I’ll help you get some answers if that’s what you need, Autumn. I’ll never give up.”
I chewed on my lip, nervous. “I can’t call the local authorities.”
He leaned up, propping up on his elbows. “Why?”
I shook my head, terrified to admit this, but relieved to have someone know. “I think I’m sort of…I’m a missing person.”
The color drained from his face. “What are you running from, Autumn? Tell me right now!”
I sat straight up, confused by his sudden outburst. He matched my movements, watching me intently.
“My dad…” I shook my head, confused.
“What did he do? The letter. Is that true?” His pupils were dilated, and his nostrils flared.
“He didn’t know about the insurance money or that I was going to school. I didn’t do anything bad. I just wanted to get away from him,” I explained.
He took my hands in his. “No, baby, no. I didn’t think you did. But Autumn, I need to know. What were you running from?”
“He was abusive to all of us. That’s it.”
“That’s it?” His voice was almost a shout. I flinched, hating that I had to burden someone else with my problems.
“He only hit me once,” I said, looking down. “I bought a gun and kept in my room. He didn’t bother me after I pulled it on him. But Kaleb, he was abused in every sense of the word.” My heart dropped admitting it out loud. “My mom wouldn’t leave, and I was trying to save money…I just thought being there with a roof over our heads and food was better than nothing…”
He stopped me midsentence. “Autumn, you did nothing wrong. You were a kid. Remember that. No matter what,” he said, and I nodded.
“Can we stop talking about it?” I asked, crashing back into my waiting pillow.
“Of course. This conversation is always up to you, baby. I’ll never bring it up again if you don’t want to talk about it.”
He lay beside me again. Throwing his arm under my shoulders, I lay my head on his chest. Listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat reminded me someone was here on this planet loving me, cheering me on, and ready to catch me when I failed.
“Keep this between us?”
“I would never tell your secrets, Autumn.”
“I believe you. Can we lay like this for a while?”
“As long as you want,” he said, and he kissed my forehead before crashing again.
I was wrong. He didn’t pity me or look at me as if I were broken. He would be here for me if I let him. Everything else was background noise. I would get to the bottom of the wreck and I survive college.
Twenty-Eight
My fingers were interlaced with his before he let go. I took a drink of the stale-tasting beer, not sure I would ever grow accustomed to liking it. The small fire pit crackled as the cool air rushed by in a hurry. Without a million people in this place, it was nice. Almost peaceful.
Liam walked back, grinning a shit-eating grin as he lay the blanket across my lap before sitting with me.
“Dare I ask?”
“I just heard a rumor,” he teased.
“And here I thought those days died in high school.” I eyed him suspiciously, though I didn’t have a pit of dread; afraid he may know something. He knew my entire life story. Well, most of it, but we all had our secrets. Even this gorgeous gray-eyed boy staring at me with hooded eyes.
“Thanksgiving break is next week.”
“It is…”
“And someone’s birthday is the weekend before,” he said.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. There were more secrets. “What? How?”
“Gabby saw it on Facebook,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. He pulled me close to him, kissing the top of my head. I rolled my eyes. I had forgotten about my social media pages I hadn’t logged into in years.
“Please don’t embarrass me. I’m not really a birthday person.”
“Talk to your friend. But really, who doesn’t like birthdays?” He looked at me, confused, before realizing he had struck a nerve.
“It’s the craziest thing, right? I can’t get enough attention,” I said sarcastically, and he dropped the subject all together.
“I’m not really into all of it anymore either,” he admitted.
I clinked my bottle against his. “To being fucked up together.”
“Would it make you feel better if I took you out before? Just the two of us?” he asked, and I hated myself for it, but I melted a little.
“You’d better, and please keep me in the loop about the plans.”
“Sure thing.” His answer was met with his lips crashing into mine. Slow at first, he quickly picked up
