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again.”
    “Sounds fancy.” 
    “It’s not really. I came here to escape them. They’re pretty rigid.”
    “Hmm… any siblings?”
    “Older brother and sister back home,” he said.
    “So you’re the only one who’s been Stateside?”
    “I didn’t say that, but the only one to stay, yes.”
    “Plan on going back?”
    “Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends on you.” He glanced at me. “What’s with the twenty questions?”
    “I just realized I’m locked in a speeding vehicle with you and know virtually nothing about you.”
    “You know all the important parts.” 
    I swooned. How could he be so damn charming? His words were meant to unravel me, draw me in and get me caught in his web. 
    “Tell me the worst thing that’s ever happened to you.”
    “Hmm, well…” He was silent for a long beat, as if really searching. “I guess I’ve led a pretty privileged life. No abuse, no addictions, no painful revelations to be had.”
    “That’s what I thought.”
    “Well, don't get carried away. Just because there are no big revelations doesn't mean I haven’t struggled.”
    I crossed my arms. “Struggled how? I know you didn’t pay for this car on a bartender’s salary, so I’ll assume it was given to you. Let me guess—graduation present?”
    He huffed. “Quick to judge, love. That’s not a good thing.”
    “So I’m right?” I squealed as though I’d caught him in a lie. 
    “You’re not far off. Listen, I haven’t suffered in some of the ways I’m sure you’ve suffered, but that doesn't mean I can’t understand it, can’t empathize with it. I’m here for you, Charlie, always.” His hand slipped to my thigh, and he gave it a friendly squeeze. “So what’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you?”
    My mind told me to stay quiet, but against my better judgment, I spoke up. “My first boyfriend betrayed me. When I refused to sleep with him, he told the entire school I was a slut. And then when he finally did break me down enough that I gave him my virginity, he broke up with me and passed around at school a picture of me without my clothes on.”
    “Jesus Christ!” Liam hit the brakes and pulled over onto the shoulder. Slamming the car in park, he turned and put his hands around my shoulders. “Fuck, that’s awful. What’s his name? I’m going to make him swallow his teeth.” 
    I shook my head, a smile cracking my lips. I was so touched and turned on by how protective he was of me. Liam made me feel safe, something I didn’t think would ever happen again. For the first time in a long time, I felt like myself again. “Believe me, Vince already did that, and Daddy threatened him with his shotgun. Literally.” 
    “Goddamn, love. I had no idea. First your mum, then you had to live through that?”
    “It wasn’t so bad,” I said, making light of it. I was uncomfortable with the spotlight he’d put me in. 
    “Bullshit, it’s fucking atrocious and he should be in jail for it.” He grit his teeth violently. 
    I could tell that he was trying to hold it together to avoid upsetting me.
     “I haven’t seen him since he graduated, and I heard he’s working at the sewage plant in Cambridge, so looks like I got the last laugh.”
    “Don’t make light of that, Charlie. Don’t ever make light of what you went through.”
    “No, it actually feels good to get it off my chest. Like it doesn’t have power over me anymore. I was haunted by the word slut for so many years. I never dated anyone after that. Even if they didn't know me or hadn’t heard the story, I thought for sure they could see it dripping off me. I couldn’t even wear skirts for the longest time. They were too revealing, made me feel like all those kids were right when they’d called me the school slut. It’s all about little steps, right?” 
    “Absolutely, baby. Little steps.” He pulled my head in for a kiss on my cheek, something Dad or Vince normally did. It made me feel cherished,