Three Kisses ✔️

Chapter Thirty

I was frozen in place as his words sunk in. Was I caught? Does he know more than he's letting on? Did Lisa tell people about our game?

I was feeling so many things as I sat there, trying to decide what to do next.

I felt so scared to lose Liam, there was a real possibility that he would hate me forever for keeping the game from him. And I felt more betrayed than ever by Lisa. One of my all time best friends sold me out.

My palms started to sweat the longer I went without answering his question but I still didn't say a word. He's mad at me right now, and not in the right state of mind to hear about the game. I should shrug it off for now and tell him about it when the time is right. But what if he knows everything already and this is the one chance he's giving me to come clean?

I'm so screwed.

"There's a lot of kissing games, I know a bunch." I finally said, my voice shaky and higher than usual. It was obvious that I was avoiding the question, but maybe he was too out of it to notice.

Before Liam could say anything in response, someone walked into the room and cleared their throat to get our attention.

"We haven't been able to track the drugs back to anyone yet but we might have a clue. I just need to check in with someone to make sure it is what I think it is." Garrett vaguely said when we were both facing him.

Liam nodded but didn't say anything and Garrett took that as his cue to leave.

We sat in silence for a long time, tension swirling around us so thick I thought I'd suffocate. I didn't want to say anything to upset him, but I also didn't want to leave. I like being around Liam, even if it's in a situation like this. I wanted to be there for him but with every passing second it got more and more difficult.

Eventually the quiet got too uncomfortable and I had to say something.

"Maybe I should leave."

I didn't want to but it might be best if I did. The only way I'd consider staying is if Liam wanted me to, because right now it felt like he wanted me far away from here.

"Yeah that's probably best. I need to take care of gang stuff before Jenny gets home." He agreed, looking anywhere but at me.

I got up from my spot beside him on the couch without another word, and then paused because I didn't know if I should just leave or give him a kiss on the cheek or something.

By the way he was sitting, the tensest I'd ever seen him, I could tell he probably didn't want me to show any affection, so I just left.

Once outside I took in a deep breath of fresh air, and I felt a little lighter. The mood was so heavy in Liam's house considering what just happened, heavy enough to suffocate someone. As much as I wanted to be there for him, I felt a little relieved to be leaving.

• • • • • • •

I skipped the rest of the school day. By the time I would've gotten back to school I'd only have last period so I just got the cab to take me home.

I wouldn't be able to focus in class anyway, I had so much going on inside my brain. The gang stuff has been a constant weight on my shoulders, and now Liam's mom is dead and he might know about the three kisses. Everything could blow up at any second.

I watched the alarm clock on my bedside table until school was over so I could call Steph and talk everything through with her. Well, as much as I could without telling her about the gang stuff.

"Hey what happened? You just left during lunch and never came back." Steph said once she answered her phone.

I sighed, "Liam's mom died, I had to be there for him."