Horse Stone (Book 1 of Ilyrian Series)

Chapter 137

I breathed a small sigh of relief when the last bell rang for school to end, and I stood and started to make my way to the door with no one close to me because I was in the same class as Izzy and only her.

Oh, thank Gods, I silently said, with a small sigh of relief and started to walk to Nina's class so that I would be able to pick her up and take her to the meeting spot where we were supposed to be waiting for our father.

"Hadley!" someone exclaimed from behind me, and I turned around and looked that way to see that it was Liam. He smiled and started to walk over to me, tucking his head closer to his chest, and a look of worry flashed through his eyes when he noticed that I was the only one there with no one with you. "Where are you going without one of your sisters with you? I thought they always made sure that they were near you to make sure that you didn't panic or something like that."

I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line, and my heart ached and became filled with pain because that was true. "I am in the same class as Izzy," I said and licked my lips before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet, "and we are still having some... disagreements."

"Disagreements?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. He cocked his head and studied me, with a small frown on his face. "What do you mean by that? What disagreement are you having with her?"

I hesitated and gestured for him to follow me so that I could go ahead and start going to my sister again, and Liam nodded and waited for me to lead him to my younger sister. "She has a crush on you, too," I said and started to walk to Nina again, and he followed me before he moved to my side, "and she has basically claimed you as hers."

Liam bit back a small shocked laugh and raised and eyebrow in question. Shock and amused flashed through his eyes while he looked at me, looking amused. "What?" he asked and cocked his head to the side while he studied me. "She claimed me?"

"Yes," I said and nodded in confirmation. "She wants you to be with her and like her like you like me." My cheeks turned red, and I looked at my shoes before I looked at him, pressing my lips into a thin line and biting the inside of my lip while I did so.

"Did that happen with him, too?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question, and I nodded in confirmation because I knew that he was talking about Ethan and my relationship. "So she liked him first, but he was attracted to you, and you two became a couple before she had a chance to make her move. Correct?"

"Correct," I said and nodded in confirmation. I grabbed my bag and licked my lips, hesitating ever so slightly because I had no idea what would happen if I said this out loud. "And a part of me wonders what would have happened if I had not fallen for his charms and let her have him instead."

Liam pressed his lips into a thin line and slowly nodded, furrowing his brows. "Then she could have been in a worse position than you are in," he said, and his cheeks instantly turned red. He cleared his throat and liked his lips, and he rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly. "I mean, I-I," he cleared his throat and shifted his bag from one side to the other trying but failing to come up with a different way to phrase his sentence. "I-"

I bit back a small chuckle and shook my head. "Don't worry about it, Liam," I said, interrupting him, and shifted my bag from one side to the other, amused. "I know what you mean, and I do not know about that..." I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line. "She might not have had to go through what I had gone through."

He slowly nodded and furrowed his brows while he cocked his head and studied me. "Do you think that he wouldn't have done everything to her that he had done to you?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

I hesitated before I shook my head, biting the inside of my lip. "I don't think so," I said before I cleared my throat and licked my lips. "However, I think that he would have tried to do something else than that."