Page 46 of What They'll Say About Us

"I thought I made myself clear the other day, Tessa. I don't want to talk to you."

"You don't have to talk; you just have to listen."

"Why would I want to listen to you?"

"Because a police detective will probably be the next person knocking on this door, and they won't go away without a conversation."

He swore. "I knew you were going to cause trouble the second I heard you were back."

"Let me in, Liam."

Finally, he stepped back.

I walked past him before he could change his mind, taking a quick look around his apartment. It appeared to be a one-bedroom with a small kitchen and bath off the living room. The room was very masculine, with dark wood, a dark-brown leather couch and recliner, a huge TV, and a baseball bat and glove sitting in one corner. He'd been on the baseball team his first few years in college before he'd hurt his shoulder and had to quit, but he'd always loved going to watch the Cubs. "You still play baseball?" I asked.

"Softball. And we're not making conversation. Say what you have to say."

I knew he wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible, so I decided to take a seat on the couch. It put me at a disadvantage with him towering over me, but I wanted to make it clear I wasn't leaving any time soon. Finally, he perched on the edge of his recliner.

"Talk," he ordered again.

"I spoke to Sloane."

"Okay. Why should I care?"

"Did you know that Sloane saw Paige and Professor Hale in his car one night, that they were arguing, that it felt intimate?" I drew in a breath, wishing Liam would jump in with information and make this a real conversation, but he was simply waiting for me to continue. "Did she tell you anything about Professor Hale? Were they sleeping together?"

"She didn't say anything about him. But she spoke cryptically about making a huge mistake and feeling trapped."

"And you didn't ask her what the mistake was?"

He shrugged. "Not really. She didn't want to talk about it, and I didn't really want to know more."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this back then?"

"Because you were acting crazy, too. That damn play had turned you both insane. You couldn't stand the fact that you'd lost that part to Paige. And you were happy to share your unhappiness and opinion with everyone around you, especially me. I got tired of hearing you bitch about it. Every time I tried to talk to you, we ended up in a fight. I didn't know where the girl I fell for had gone. You were obsessed. And so was Paige. I knew both of you had another side, but I couldn't see that side anymore."

I stared back at him, feeling both hurt and ashamed. There was some truth to what he was saying. "I'd spent four years trying to get the lead role in the spring production, and I was so close. And then it was ripped away from me. I couldn't handle my disappointment. I felt blinded by anger. I was a failure, the latest one in my family who wasn't going to amount to anything."

My words eased the hard tension around his gaze. "I'm surprised you'd admit that."

"Well, I'm not twenty-one years old anymore. I've had to grow up and deal with failure and make something else of my life. I regret the way I behaved back then."

"So, what now?"

"I keep trying to find out what happened to Paige."

"Well, I can't help you with that." He got to his feet. "I need to go to work."

I slowly stood up. "Liam…" My voice trailed away as I wasn't sure what to say.

"Don't say you're sorry, Tessa," he warned. "Because I don't think you gave me a second thought until you came back here."

"That's not true. I cared about you, Liam."

"You cared about yourself more."

"You make me sound like an awful person."