Page 28 of Knot a Bad Idea

“Yours is the same for me,” I murmur. “It’s been like that since I met you.”

His chest rumbles in a satisfied purr. “We ground each other, then. I’m glad I can do that for you.”

I sigh against his chest as he continues to work my muscles.

“I don’t have much of a family,” he admits after a moment of silence. “I have Donovan and Hunter, and that’s it. I’d like to have you, as well.”

I freeze. The contract?—

“The contract was Donovan’s way of claiming you without actually doing it,” Liam continues. “I shouldn’t have signed it. Neither should Hunter. We should have done this the proper way.”

I stare into the trees, tears springing to my eyes. “I’m not sure I could have done it the proper way. I’m not sure if I can, now, even,” I whisper.

Liam stops massaging me and wraps his arms around me instead, pulling me closer to him.

“I would have waited for you to be ready. I think I was waiting this whole time.”

I swallow.

Liam is too good for me.

“I’m not sure I can be a good girlfriend,” I whisper, fully aware of how ridiculous I sound. We’re doing everything partners would do, except without the real label.

But Liam isn’t deterred. He just presses a kiss to my cheek then my neck.

“I’ll still wait then,” he promises. “Even after the contract is done.”

My heart aches. I don’t know what to say to him.

I want all three of them, yet still some part of me is terrified.

“You deserve better than me, Liam,” I whisper, my chest aching as I say it.

He chuckles behind me. “Thereisno one better than you.”

I want to believe him. I’m desperate to believe him.

There’s a chance that maybe I’m not ruined and that I can have this for real.

“I don’t talk about family lightly,” he adds. “I never have.”

A breeze carries through the park, making the grass softly move. The ducks are calm in the lake, lazily floating along the water.

I inhale Liam’s Alpha scent, using it to soothe me as I wait for him to continue.

“My biological family…” I catch the hand that rests on his thigh shaking, and I grab it and intertwine our fingers together. “…we don’t talk. Or I don’t talk to them, at least.”

I shake my head. “It’s their loss, then.”

He chuckles bitterly. “Sure.”

I can’t imagine not having my mother in my life. And with Liam’s confession, it makes me realize how much I miss her.

“Hunter said you lived with him for a bit in high school,” I say.

He sighs. “Yeah, I did. My parents kicked me out around that time.”

My jaw drops. “What on earth for?” I turn my head to look at him. Liam’s gaze is distant, looking far past the trees and somewhere else entirely.