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the car carrying my whole life, drives away. I turn and look into the window of the pizza parlor.
Everyone's laughing and having fun. I lean against the wall and slide down, resting my head in my
hands.
Here, Nick Ashford asked me to give this to you. Katelyn holds up a folded note, waving it back
and forth. Are you and Liam fighting?
No, why would you ask that? I ask while setting my books in my locker.
I don t know. Why else would Nick Ashford write you a love letter?
I stand up and look at her. She s smirking, her eye brow raised. I have no idea. I reach for the
note. She moves it fast, keeping it out of my reach.
What s this? Mason grabs it out of her hand. Katelyn has an oh shit look on her face when
Mason opens it up. He stands still, his jaw clenching. He turns and looks at me. I slink back against
my locker.
Do you have a hard-on for Nick Ashford?
No, not at all, I reply, defending myself.
Wait until Liam sees this, Mason says.
Sees, what? Liam bends down to kiss me before turning to Mason. What s this? he asks
when Mason hands him the piece of paper. Liam looks from the paper to me and back again. What's
this, Josie?
I don t know. Katelyn brought it to me. I don t even know what it says.
Liam looks at Katelyn who shrugs. He gave it to me in history class.
It says, Liam starts. Dear Josephine, Do you realize how beautiful you are? I see you in the
halls and wish I had the courage to talk to you, but I don t. I wouldn t know what to say. I would like
to get to know you better. Call me. Yours, Nicholas Ashford.
Mason and Liam start laughing and it pisses me off. I walk away from them knowing that Nick
just bought himself an ass beating. Katelyn should ve just handed me the note instead of waving it
around.
Before I can turn into my class, a strong hand pushes me through the double doors leading
outside. I know its Liam even though he s behind me. He directs me to the football field, his favorite
place to hold a conversation, except we aren t talking.
He pushes me up against the concrete wall, my legs wrapping around his hips instantly. His
mouth attacks mine, our hands everywhere. Do you want to call Ashford? he asks as he moves from
my mouth down my neck.
I shake my head and it s the truth. I have no desire to know or talk to Nick Ashford other than
being his classmate.
He s jealous of me, baby. He wants everything I have. Please don t give it to him.
I won t, I promise.
I press my fingers into my temples, willing away the pressure as the door opens. Nick stands
there looking at me. Something has to change. He holds out his hand to help me up, our fingers
twisting together as we walk to the car. He seems so much more relaxed when Noah isn t around and I
don t like that. I want my son around all the time.
When we get into the house he pushes me up against the wall and kisses me, his tongue eager and
rough, as it tangles with mine. He sheds his shirt, pulling at mine. I push him away, but he thinks it s
only to gain the space I need to take off my shirt.
We need to talk, I say without making eye contact.
He lets go of me and leads us into the living room. We both sit. I turn and face him, bringing my
knee up underneath me.
You can t fight with Liam anymore. It s not fair to Noah. I know I screwed things up when I
made the decision to tell Noah about Liam, but what s done is done. I can t change it. We have to
accept that Liam is part of our lives now and just move forward.
Nick brings my hand to his lips and kisses it. You re right. I ve been an ass and you re also right
about moving forward; that s why we re moving.
I look at Nick, dumbfounded. I know my ears must be deceiving me. He has a steady practice
here and I m in the process of expanding my shop. There s no way in hell I m moving.
Excuse me, what did you say? My voice catches in my throat. I can barely breathe.
I m taking a sabbatical and we re going to Africa for a year for Doctors Without Borders. I can
tell by the look on his face that he s serious and he thinks we're going with him. He made this
monumental decision without even consulting me. My choice in telling Noah about Liam is peanuts
compared to this.
No, I whisper. I shake my head. I m not going anywhere.
It will be good for us. Noah will learn a lot.
I rip my hand out of his and stand. Noah and I aren t going, Nick. You don t get to make a
decision like this for us without talking to me first. Liam
I don t give a shit about Liam, Josie. Get that through your head. I m taking my family and
we re going.
No, we re not. You can go, but we're staying here.
Nick stands, moving in front of me. What are you saying?
I look at the man I ve loved for the past six years. If you want to go, Nick, then go, but Noah and
I are staying here. Noah has school and his activities and I m not going to take him away from Liam
while they're building a relationship. And I have my shop. I can t just leave, I won t. This& it s not
open for discussion.
So that s it. You re picking Westbury over me?
I shake my head. No, Nick, I m picking Noah.
CHAPTER 29
LIAM
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