Malice

“Better a trailer park tragedy than a pretentious princess who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but herself,” I retort on a chuckle. “But at least I knew where I stood with your fucking master, Laurel. You let him use you and he still chose someone else to—”

She lets out a shriek, and I’m fairly sure she’s going to attack, which I welcome gladly. I tense, readying for her to fly at me so that I can play the self-defense card when I’m hauled into Aldrige’s office, but a big hand suddenly lands on my shoulder and yanks me back.

“I think that’s about enough.”

I peer up to find Liam standing at my side. His dark brows are arched, and his lips twitch with amusement. His grip is firm, though, and he’s angled his body so that he’s partially blocking me from Laurel.

“Move,” I mouth, but his eyes hood and he shakes his head.

“Not a chance,” he whispers.

“Get the hell out of here, Halloway,” Laurel shouts from behind him. “This isn’t any of your business.”

“I’m making it my business,” he replies easily, his gaze still on me. His fingers flex into my shoulder when I try to shrug him off. “You’re acting like a royal bitch, L.”

“I’m acting like a bitch? Mallory is…”

“Not your problem. Go find someone else to harass.” With that, he turns me around and guides me away from Laurel, who’s still sputtering in indignation as her friends hiss insults at me.

“What are you doing?” I snap as he walks me further and further away from them.

“What do you think? Getting you out of there before the wolves tore you apart,” he answers through gritted teeth.

“I was doing just fine,” I insist. “I’m not afraid of them.”

“You were stirring up shit you’re not prepared to deal with.”

Who the hell does he think he is now? My therapist? Still, I can’t deny the truth behind his words as I snort.

“Please, I’m not some delicate flower. I can handle Laurel and her dumb-fuck posse…”

Just as we reach the front of my building, he jerks me to a stop and spins me around so that we’re face to face. “You’ve got to watch yourself, all right?” he says, bending his head closer to mine. “People aren’t going to be pulling their punches with you anymore.”

“They’ve been pulling their punches?” I scoff. That’s hard to believe.

He holds my gaze, and the look in his chocolate brown eyes sends a chill ru

“Oh,” I say on a harsh breath. “Oh.”

We stand there for several seconds before he scrubs his hand over his face. He must be frustrated, because when the sleeve of his white shirt rides up, he doesn’t even bother to fix it. “Just watch yourself, okay? I won’t always be around to save your stubborn ass.”

Fidgeting with the end of my untucked blouse, I nod. “Thanks, Liam,” I say softly “And for class. Did you get in trouble?”

His shoulders roll back but he doesn’t answer.

Just like when I asked how he got my home address.

“You should get inside,” he says instead, leaning his head toward the front doors of my building, and I have to admit I’m a little disappointed he’s being so tight-lipped about his punishment.

He turns, as if to walk away, but a question that’s been burning my brain suddenly bursts through my lips.

“Liam, did you … did you leave me something the night of the fire?”

He pauses. “What are you talking about?”

“Never mind.” It doesn’t appear it was him, which leaves me stumped as to who could’ve sent me the picture and note.

He watches me for several moments, like he wants to ask more questions, then he murmurs, “I’ll be at the pool later.”

“Oh.”

Lamest. Response. Ever.

“Yeah. Oh.” He offers me a half-grin and then turns to walk away, calling over his shoulder, “That was an invitation, by the way, Ellis.”

That night, I sneak to the rec center, and sure enough, Liam’s there.

I drop my stuff down on one of the bleachers, then make my way to the edge of the pool, next to the lane he’s swimming in. He stops his lap and starts toward me.

“Hey,” I say with a little wave.

He grins, resting his arms on the edge of the pool. “You all right?”

“No, not really,” I admit. “But I think this will help.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

An excellent question. I pull off my sweatpants and t-shirt and toss them toward my stuff as I move to an empty lane.

Instead of diving in, I slip into the water slowly, and it feels like I’m slipping back in time. To before the assembly from hell, and even before Saint and I were … whatever the hell we were.

Liam and I swim in silence, but it’s warm and familiar. Comforting.

Just what I need.

As I cut through the water, for the first time all day, I feel calm.

With Liam swimming next to me, I even feel safe.

Eventually, we both take a break and meet in the middle of the pool, hanging onto the ropes to keep us afloat while we rest.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Porter?” he asks, taking me by surprise.

“What do you mean? You were at the assembly,” I answer, praying he doesn’t notice the snag in my voice. “He hates me because he thinks I’m the reason his brother’s dead.”

He studies me for several moments. “Is that really everything?”

No. Not by a long shot, but I have to keep that secret to myself. I refuse to let it ever see the light of day, so I nod. “Wouldn’t you be pissed if you thought someone you were forced to see every day had a hand in your brother’s death?”

Lifting a tattooed arm, he skims his fingers through his wet black hair and makes a face. “Well, sure, but I wouldn’t put myself in the position to see them every day.” Ah hell, here we go. “And the way he completely left you to that shit in class today … that takes some real hardcore loathing for a teacher to do that.”

“What can I say?” I shrug and flutter my lashes. “You either love me or hate me, and most people around here really, really hate me.”

“That’s not your fault,” he points out. “That’s all on Laurel and Saint. If they hadn’t screwed you over from day one, you would’ve been fine.” When I scrunch my nose, the side of his mouth quirks upward. “You’ve seen how guys at this shithole act around you. Just imagine how it would’ve been if those two hadn’t fucked everything up.”

“It’s fu

He bends his face closer to mine. “Stop putting yourself down. That’s not a sexy trait.”

I groan, but my heart beats a little faster. “I swear to God, Liam—”

He holds up a hand to silence me. “I’m not trying to get into your panties, Mal, though I’m not going to say I haven’t…” He trails off, leaving me victim to my imagination, and he chuckles when my eyes go wide. His gaze sparkles when he adds, “I’m just saying—”

“Yes, yes, I get it,” I cut him off quickly. “Confidence is sexy, blah, blah, blah. Can we please swim now?”

His expression is a mixture of amusement and exasperation, but he nods, his dark hair flinging tiny droplets of water in my direction. “Yes, we can swim now.”

“Thank you,” I say before taking off to the start of my lane. As I get back into my workout, I try not to think about Liam’s words, but they’re ringing in my head.