I grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “If I refused, he reminded me that his parents had a spare key to my house. That he could come into my bedroom anytime he wanted to. And...”
He smoothed a hand over my hair. “What else?”
“He-he threatened Tyler. The first time, Brian asked me to go in the pool with him, and the way he looked at me, I knew what he wanted, so I said no. He smiled and said that was fine, he could take Ty instead. I didn’t know if he’d do anything to him, but I couldn’t take that chance. Then Tyler wanted to go, so I had to insist I wanted to go with Brian—just the two of us. It made me sick to say that and to go with him and…” I choked back a cry. “But I couldn’t let him be with Tyler when he was like that. I didn’t want Ty anywhere near him.”
“Firefly,” he whispered, his voice breaking, his arm tightening around me.
“Things got even worse after that because all he had to do was threaten Ty, and I’d do whatever he said. And our moms thought it was so cute that I had a crush on him, and he was such a nice boy for being so kind and patient with the silly little girl across the street.”
Liam slid his hand around my neck and pressed a long kiss against my temple. “I’m so sorry. Did anyone help you? Was he eventually stopped?”
“When I was eleven, there was one day it was really bad, and I knew it would just keep getting worse, so I worked up the nerve to tell my parents again.” Tears filled my eyes, and I dried them on Liam’s shirt.
His thumb drew circles on the back of my neck. “What happened?”
“He had a girlfriend then. He told me I was better than her at getting him off. Said when she gave him a hand job, he wished it was me instead.”
Liam muttered curses under his breath. “I want to rip him apart.”
I didn’t think he was exaggerating. Every muscle in his body was vibrating, and I knew he’d hate this next part even more.
“When I told my parents, they accused me of being jealous.”
“What the fuck?” he growled.
“They talked to his parents. Basically said I was too young to understand the feelings and closeness between us, and as the older one, he needed to be more careful. The fact that I made up such a preposterous story was proof I was too immature for the relationship that we had.”
“Jenna. Firefly. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“We still went on vacations and celebrated holidays with his family, but they did watch a little more after that. My parents loved having everyone together, loved that his family was so close. Loved that they were there to help so my parents could continue to work and go out when they wanted. They didn’t want my feelings to ruin that. My parents went to a lot of networking events and dinners that went late into the night, so his parents would stay with me and Tyler, and he’d be there too. I hated sleeping with him in the house, but they made me go to bed, soI’d just stay up, listening for him. Waiting for him.” I shivered, unable to stop the memory of the last time he came in. That was a whole different story, though, one I wasn’t getting into now.
Liam’s arms tightened around me, but he didn’t say anything.
“Even though he didn’t really do anything much at that point, he’d give me these looks like he was thinking about it, or hug me to say hello, but it was never just a hug. He’d sit a little too close, or brush against me as he passed. I was still always worried about what could happen, and no one cared. I felt so powerless. I never felt safe.”
The growl that came from Liam was almost animalistic.
I leaned up to see his face. To reassure him I was okay. He slid his hand up to my head and gently pulled me back down to his chest, softly rubbing my scalp and running his fingers through my hair.
“That feels nice.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
“I’m sorry I freaked out when we hugged before. I know it’s nothing like that, and I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anybody. My body just reacts sometimes.”
“Thank you for your trust, but you never need to apologize for how you feel.” Liam pressed a long kiss to my temple, holding me tight. “You said he didn’tdo much after your parents talked to his. Does that mean there was more? If there’s more you want to tell me, you can. Get it off your chest so you don’t have to worry about telling me again.”
Nope. Not happening. Some of the worst things happened after that. Things that were more my fault. I shook my head.
“No, there wasn’t more? Or no, you don’t want to tell me?”
“Don’t want to tell you now,” I said in a pitifully small voice.
“That’s okay, Firefly. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here.” He blew out a heavy breath into my hair. “Now, how about some apple pie a la mode?”
“That sounds great.” I tried to match his lighter tone. “And then I want a rematch. No more questions, though.”
“You got it. But I’m ready for you now.” He forced out a fake chuckle, and I appreciated his effort even though it fell flat.