Liam followed me to my bedroom and closed the door behind him. Sitting on my bed, he stared at me as if he was waiting for me to say something. Not wanting to sit too close to him, I sat on the edge of the bed.

“You know you have this all wrong. Elijah and I are just friends,” I said, trying to break the ice. I had no idea why those words came out of my mouth first. He didn’t ask me a question, but seeing Liam made me feel guilty for the way I felt when Elijah kissed me.

“Did you find a new place? When you meet my parents during Christmas vacation, I don’t want to tell them that your roommate is a guy. My parents are traditional. They won’t approve.”

“You want me to meet your parents?” I asked, surprised. “But you said when we meet each other’s parents it would mean we were taking the next step. Is that what you want?”

“Yes, I do. I thought you could visit my parents with me during your break.”

“How long would we be gone for? I need to visit my mom, too.”

Liam started to relax. I flinched when he moved closer to me. “Come here.” He patted the space on the bed beside him. “I missed you.”

I couldn’t reply. I was still upset with the way he ran out the door when I told him I wasn’t going to find another place to stay. Since I wasn’t moving, he pulled me into him. Like always, I gave in and let him embrace me. “How about we look at the apartments I talked about last time?” he asked sweetly, kissing my neck and running his hand up my sweater.

His hand tenderly glided up my back, unhooking my bra while the other hand cupped one of my br**sts. His lips outlined my jaw and his tongue entered my mouth. As he hungrily kissed me, he started to pull up my sweater and that’s when I pushed his hands away.

Every time he was here, it felt like sex was the only thing on his mind. He knew I wanted to wait until we were in a steady relationship, especially since I was a virgin, but he always tried. Being away from him gave me a chance to think about what I wanted and needed. The fact that I was so comfortable around my new friends, I was beginning to see him in a new light. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be around him anymore.

Breaking out of his hold, anger boiled inside me. Ever since we started dating, I’ve always given in to his demands. Breaking my plans with Emma, changing my clothes to look the way he wanted, even growing out my hair for him. I was hanging out with his group of friends, even though I didn’t really like them, and I had to stop talking about my dad because it would upset him. Enough was enough. Piercing my eyes at him, I gritted my teeth. “I’m not looking for another place to live.”

He narrowed his eyes on me. “I told you I’d pay for it.”

“I don’t want you to pay for it.” I moved as far away from him as I could.

“You’re going to have to get used to that when we live together after I graduate.”

“What if I don’t want to live with you? You never asked me what I wanted.”

“Of course you do. Why wouldn’t you?”

What did he just say? I let out a sharp breath.

“Are you going to live here with Elijah the rest of your life?”

I was just about to say yes to aggravate him, but then thought better of it. “What do you have against him? You don’t even know him. He’s…he’s….” I stopped.

“I don’t like the way he looks at you. I don’t like the way he thinks you’re his.”

“He does not. You can read minds now? How do you know what he thinks?”

“I’m a guy. I know.”

“You know nothing,” I stammered.

Liam stood up looking pissed off. “What did you just say to me?”

I don’t know why, but for the first time, he frightened me. It was the evil, dangerous look in his eyes and his domineering tone, but I didn’t care. I had enough.

“You heard me.” I matched his tone. “You have no clue what’s going on between us. Everything is about you. What you want. What you need.”

“That’s not true. I can’t believe you’re acting so ungrateful right now. I drove three f**king hours to see you.” His tone went up again, taking a few steps towards me.

“It’s true. You just don’t see it. I don’t think this is going to work out between us. Every time we see each other, we’re fighting.”

Liam looked at me as if I said the strangest thing. Then his eyes grew angry. “We keep on fighting because of him. You need to move out. I’m not going to ask again.”

I couldn’t believe his demand. That pissed me off even more. “What we need is time apart. It—”

Liam didn’t let me finish. His whole face flushed and his brows lifted. “What you need is to move out.”

“You’re not listening to me,” I hollered. “You never do.” Liam was coming toward me. I didn’t want to find out what he would say or do. He had never shown me that he could be the violent type, but I didn’t want to stay to find out. I ran out of my bedroom and out the front door.

I had nothing with me. I didn’t even know if Elijah was still home or if Seth and Lexy were still there. All I knew was that I wanted to be far away from Liam. I heard my name and then a car door slam, but I kept running, never looking back. The cold fall breeze whipped my face, but it felt good. My heart thumped and my lungs were working in overdrive. I hadn’t run this fast in a long time.