LOGINLiam's POVKen's hands had found a rhythm that my body had completely surrendered to without asking my brain for permission first. Every stroke while he massaged me was slow and deliberate, working through the tension in my back like he had all the time in the world and absolutely no intention of rushing any of it.And then he hit a particular spot somewhere between my shoulder blade and my spine and everything I had been holding together came loose at once.My hands went for the bedspread before I even registered the movement — grabbing it, twisting it and squeezing it with everything I had like it was the only thing between me and whatever was happening to my nervous system right now. And then the sound came out before I could catch it."Ahhhn."It was soft and involuntary. You know, completely humiliatingly real.My palm flew to my mouth the second a
Liam's POVKen had insisted on taking me to his place. His reasoning was simple and hard to argue with…which was the point that if I showed up at my home looking the way I was looking right now, was not something my mum needed to see without any kind of explanation ready, and neither of us had the energy to build one tonight.His flat was something else entirely. The whole place had that quiet, settled kind of luxury that did not need to announce itself. With clean lines, good lighting…it was simply the kind of space that just felt expensive without trying too hard to look that way. And he had it entirely to himself. No parents moving around in the background, no footsteps overhead, no voices coming through walls. Just space and silence and the low hum of a building that cost more per month than my mum made in three months.Although I did not say anything about any of that to him as it was a silent admirati
Ken's POV"Ken, it seems like you are losing it." Eric's voice came from behind me, still carrying that specific wounded energy of someone who had just been dropped to the floor and was trying to rebuild his authority from down there. "This dude is nothing like us and you are choosing sides with him?" He paused. "You have forgotten so soon that we are friends?"I turned around slowly and really looked at him. Then my eyes were caught at the blood under his nose, at the way he was standing like two of his ribs were having a private conversation about whether they were still intact, and also at the expression on his face that was trying very hard to look like confidence and landing somewhere closer to desperation."Don't flatter yourself." I said it quietly, which was worse than if I had said it loud and I knew it. "We are not friends as far as I am concerned. Because you disgust me." I held his eyes without blinking. "Your level of bullying someone and pulling a knife on them in a corr
Liam's POVAll of us turned toward the door at the same time because the voice that had come through was too thick with anger to place immediately… Just the kind of voice that anger strips down to something raw and unrecognizable even when you know it well.Then I saw him… I mean, Ken. He was moving down the corridor toward us with long, fast strides that ate up the distance between the door and where we were without slowing down once. His jaw was set and his eyes had already taken in the full picture of everything in this corridor before he had even reached the halfway point.My eyes dropped without thinking and that was when I noticed what he had in his hands.A pair of shoes that are brand new, still with the clean, unworn look of something that had never touched a floor before tonight. He was carrying them at his side like he had picked them up somewhere and not yet put them down.I stared at them for a second longer than I meant to.Then I looked back up at him and something in
Liam's POVBefore I could even process what was happening, they went for my jacket first… pulling it off my shoulders while Eric and Josh made sure I stayed pinned flat against the floor. The corridor tiles were cold against my knees and every time I tried to shift my weight even slightly, the grip on both arms tightened like a warning.I felt so helpless and hopeless and all I could do was to go on to plead. "Stop, stop, stop…" But I already knew that the moment the words left my mouth they just dissolved into the air like they had never existed. Nobody in this corridor was listening to me and nobody was going to because I doubt if anyone could actually hear me from here with regards to how enclosed this place was."We will put your nudes online." Steph held her phone up, screen already glowing and angled directly at my face. "Better still, a livestream." She said it the way someone announces exciting plans in that easy, bright and genuinely looking forward to it. Eric kept me flat w
Liam's POVSteph turned the picture around so it was facing me. "Your sugar daddy?" She said, and every single one of them laughed like it was the funniest thing they had heard all day.I knew the photo the moment I saw it. The edges were worn soft from years of being carried and the colours slightly faded but the face was still clear. That is my dad and also, the only picture I still had of him anywhere."Oh my gosh." Steph's voice climbed, milking every second of it. "Are you actually sleeping with old men for cash? Because you are so broke that you cannot afford the lowest decent life for yourself.""Keep my father out of this." It came out sharp and fast before anything else could."Oh!" She held the picture up higher, studying it with this exaggerated expression like it was something she had found on the floor. I noticed at once that she had zero remorse anywhere on her face, not even a performance of it. "You keep a picture of your dead daddy in your wallet instead of actual cas
Ken's POV"It's actually none of your business."Liam said politely or let's say, with the tone of someone trying to be polite even though there was absolutely nothing polite about those words when you really listened to them. It was the kind of response that hit harder because it was calm. No shou
Liam's POVThe side of ‘adrenaline rush’ that helps with ideas in a tight corner like this came up with one real quick. Knowing at least I was meant to give my mum a response or whatever she wanted to confirm, which would seem to her like it was the truth.Honestly, at that moment…my brain ran thro
Liam's POVAt this point, it felt like I was losing control of myself and couldn't even help the thoughts going through my head.Ken wasn't helping matters either. He even brought his lips closer to mine. ‘What's with this vibe? Is he going to kiss me?’Because the way Ken had his eyes fixed on my
Author's POVKen stood under the shower with his head slightly tilted back, water kept running from the top of his head and trailing down every line of his body like it had somewhere important to be. His dark hair was soaked through and curling slightly at the ends from the heat, dripping in thin s







