Chapter 120

Liam’s POV

I forced my body very still, refusing to allow it to give in to the overtly sexy and obviously very drunk woman in front of me. For years, I’d thought about this moment, of holding Aria and having her beneath me in our shared bed once more.

But not like this. She was clearly drunk beyond the point of being able to consent. She had no idea what she was doing, or how much she was tempting me.

When she was sober, she trusted me with her life, and the lives of our sons. I would rather die than betray any of that trust now, just to get my rocks off.

Being with Aria again would be a fantasy come to life, but when I had her, I wanted her to be with me fully in mind and body. That couldn’t happen when she was already drowning in alcohol.

“Yeah. You’ve had too much. I’m going to get you to bed so you can rest,” I said, resolute.

“You’re no fun,” she grumbled, her words slurring together.

Taking her by the arm, I tried to lead her toward the house, but her legs were too shaky beneath her and stumbled on the first step.

Not wanting her to hurt herself, I dipped down, put one arm behind her legs, and scooped her up against my chest in a bridal carry.

“Oh, maybe you are fun after all,” she said with a laugh.

By now, some of our co-workers have begun to catch on to her antics. Many of them had been drinking too, but no one was as bad off as she was.

“She just needs to sleep this off,” I told them. “I’ll set her up in the guest room.” That was a lie I wished I didn’t have to make, but Aria wanted to keep her living here a secret. Though I was fairly certain Joe and William already let the cat out of the bag.

No one really questioned me, though Isabella looked concerned. I’d half-hoped she would take over, but instead, she turned her full attention to the kids. At least I didn’t have to worry about them, I supposed, while I took care of their mother. Logan had already made himself scare.

I carried Aria inside of the house and then up the stairs. Her room was locked, so I fumbled a bit, trying to fish one of the keys out of my pocket. As soon as the door opened, I carried Aria inside and then gently laid her down on her bed.

By now her eyes were mostly closed and while she continued to talk, it was mostly incoherent mumbling. She was clearly about to pass out soon. I made a mental note that before I left her alone for the night, I would put a glass of water and some aspirin onto her bedside.

She was certain to wake up with a splitting headache.

With her safely deposited on her bed, I unwound my arms from around her in the interest of leaving. Before I could do so, her hands snatched the front of my shirt.

“Liam,” she said, her voice whiny and breathy with sleep. “Stay with me.”

“That’s not a good idea, Aria, and you know that.”

“Stay.”

I tried to untangle her fingers from the front of my shirt, but the harder I tried, the harder she seemed to hold on. Her fingers were slippery like eels. I couldn’t seem to detach her no matter what I did.

“Liam…” she said in a lengthy exhale. It came out a hell of a lot like a moan.

I froze. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, trying to center myself – trying to calm the growing desire within me.

If I laid down, just for a few minutes, just until she fell asleep, then perhaps I could finally sneak away. But in doing so, I was playing a dangerous game. Being this close to Aria was awakening something in me that had been dormant since we parted ways six years ago.

In the six years since she left me, I’d tried to find passion with other women, but in the moment, I’d been unable to think of anyone but Aria. She was the only one I wanted. To have her here, so pliant, and so willing…

And so out of her mind drunk.

I immediately shut down on any stray thoughts. Aria just needed to sleep this off. In the morning, she would wake up with her headache and be mortified over the things that almost happened here.

A night of pleasure would not be worth a lifetime of fallout. I’d rather sleep on the couch the rest of my life than risk hurting her, physically or emotionally.

“Just… stay…” she said, her voice softening. She was already mostly asleep.

In that case, maybe she wouldn’t even notice if I laid down beside her. I tried to remove her fingers again, but they were still clutched tightly to my shirt. I couldn’t shake her off without hurting her.

With a sigh, I said, “Alright. But only for tonight.”

She smiled in her near-sleep, which made my heart race.

Urging her over slightly, I laid beside her on the bed. Because of her hold on my shirt, I had to sleep facing her. She curled towards me, with her arms resting on the bed between us.

In the past, too often we’d fall onto physical intimacy over meaningful communication. Almost every argument and tense discussion was avoiding by falling into bed together.

It was great in the moment, but very little was ever resolved. Instead, our problems had festered and grew into huge, unmanageable things.

Sex with Aria had always been fantastic, but our trust had needed work.

This time, having been given a second chance at a life with her, I was resolved to do things correctly. This meant that I would rebuild the trust between us without relying on sex.

I waited for Aria to drift off, thinking that would loosen her hold on me. Yet as I waited, my own eyes grew heavy. Before long, they grew too heavy to open anymore and sleep pulled me under.

Aria’s POV

As I slowly awoke, the first thing I noticed was how warm everything felt. Usually my bed had a kind of empty coldness in it, no matter how many blankets I used in the night. Something always felt like it was missing.

It didn’t have that same feeling this morning. Instead, I felt as if I was sleeping beside some kind of space heater. Sighing, I drifted closer to the warmth, wrapping my arms and legs around it.

That was weird. It felt like a person.

I stilled.

A person?

Snapping my eyes opened, I looked up, right into the sleeping face of Liam. Panic flashed through me. What had we done?

I tried to think of the night before, but it was all a big blur. How much champagne had I drank?

My head throbbed, and my chest squeezed too tightly.

I’d been upset about Liam, about how what Sophia said might be true. I’d drank to forget.

But I never meant to end up in bed with him!