Free Rock Me (New Adult Romance) by Olivia Marks Page B

“Why
did you have to run?”
    He
shrugged his shoulders and began gathering up the papers. “It’s nothing. I’ve
just been inside too long, that’s all.”
    I
slid up to him and put my hand on his strong forearm. He was so tall and brawny
but the look in his eyes was little-boy-lost.
    “Liam,”
I begged.
    “Listen
Shay,” he said finally, his deep voice cracking slightly. “There are some
things about me that I don’t talk about with anyone. Not my band mates, not my
best buds, no one. I do that not because I want to shut people out but because
I want to work towards a future, not give fuel to my past, you know? Some
things are just so painful they don’t lend to discussing, they lend to
forgetting.”
    “So
if you’ve forgotten these things, then why are you shut up in this room?” I
said softly. I stared up into his face; his eyes were red from lack of sleep.
“What was it that triggered this, Liam? I respect you’re hurting and believe
me, I don’t want you to hurt more. But I also want to understand you because I
hope if I do, even a little, I can help you.”
    Liam
took a deep breath and pushed back his scraggly hair. “I don’t much like being
pushed around,” he said finally, so low that I had to lean in to hear him. “I’m
a tough guy. Damn, I pump iron every day when I got the time. But I have a sort
of reaction to guys getting physical with me. Don’t happen that much anymore
but when it does…” He exhaled. “Used to be I’d drink. Now I got my stuff
straight, I write through it. Takes a while, but it works.”
    We
stood there together a moment, my hand still on his arm, both of us digesting
what he’d just said. Questions swirled in my head: why did being pushed force
him into hiding? How much did he used to drink? But Liam’s face stopped me from
asking. He looked spent.
    “Why
don’t we sit a moment?” I said gently. We went to the chaise lounge. I went to
sit next to him but he pulled me onto his lap. He snuck his arm around me, I
rested my head on his shoulders and we breathed together for some minutes,
enjoying just being close.
    When
I felt more settled I lifted my head. “I know this is hard, but I still wish
you’d have told me sooner. I really just want to help, Liam.”
    His
gold-flecked eyes studied mine. “I know you do. And boy do I appreciate that.
But you gotta know that I didn’t want to drag you into my muck. You’re here to
have a rocking summer, not to hear some dude get all tortured.”
    My
heart broke a little to think he was trying to spare me his pain. But I was just
as sad that he didn’t get how into him I was, and that included the
not-so-great bits.
    “I
don’t think you understand,” I said. I reached for his rough, calloused hands.
“Like you said after the photo shoot, I’m not just in this for the flash. I
want to get to know the real Liam Carter, even if it takes time, and even if
it’s not all good. That’s the kind of girl I am.”
    Liam
played with my fingers, his other arm still firmly around my waist. “You’re one
amazing girl, Shayla, that’s who you are. And I am one damn lucky guy. If you
promise not to run, I’ll promise to do my best to be more real with you. Might
take some time, but you have my word.”
    I
smiled slowly. “You want to shake on that?” I whispered, my heart skipping with
joy.
    “How
about we kiss on it instead?” His eyes regained a bit of that old gleam as he
leaned forward and planted a blazing kiss on my lips.
    I
breathed him in as we pressed our lips together again and again. I’d been so
certain that I’d never taste him again that my head was all but reeling with
the feeling. He began to kiss me harder, stroking his tongue against mine and
biting me on the lip. I was literally breathless as he brought his mouth down
on mine again and again, devouring me with kisses.
    He
then moved his assault to my sensitive neck where he began lightly biting and
sucking. I knew he was going to leave marks