by Mason, P. R.
At his touch, the vision of Liam dying at an old age in a hospital bed came to me. Happiness filled me. I'd done it. I'd saved him. But my happiness must have invaded my expression and encouraged Liam.
"I'll forget about you and Keagan and we'll start over," he said.
"No." I shook my head and pulled out of his hold. "We can't go back because I've realized I love you like a brother. It's Keagan I'm in love with."
"Tara?" Keagan leaped up off the ground. He turned me to him and searched my face with his eyes. "Do you mean it?"
I gave a smile and a shrug. "Yes. That's what I've been trying to tell you but couldn't say with all this other stuff going on."
"So you lied to me last night when you said you weren't into him," Liam said.
"Yes. But not intentionally. I did it because I was lying to myself about my feelings. Hurting you was the last thing I wanted. But I can't help loving Keagan."
A red fury returned to Liam and crept up his neck and into his cheeks. Liam snatched his helmet from the ground. "I'll never forgive you for this."
The way he looked at me, as if I were the dirtiest piece of trash in the landfill, made me want to hunch over with pain, but I forced myself to straighten. Better he live hating me than die loving me.
"I'll never forgive either of you." With that he turned and marched back across the field.
"He'll be fine," I said, trying to convince myself as well as Keagan. Liam would live to an old age and I had to be satisfied with that.
"I need you more than he does." Keagan's arms came around my midsection to embrace me from the back.
As his arms wound around me, I saw again his death in the park. The same scene as before played itself out in my head, complete with the old man clutching his chest and the woman's startled cry. But this time I realized something new: the woman was me.
I twisted in his arms as he leaned down to brush his mouth against mine with a kiss. An electric spark sizzled from my lips to my toes. I was out on a limb without a safety net. But that was finally okay. Life wasn't meant to be safe.
"I need you." Keagan nuzzled my neck.
"Yeah." With deliberation I made my tone teasing. "And don't you forget it."
"Oh I won't." He gave my neck a nip— something between a bite and a kiss. "And I won't let you forget I love you."
As emotion filled my heart and sensations coursed through my body, I choked out, "Love is all I can ask."
# # #
Author's Note from P.R. Mason
**Author's note: Thank you for reading The Banshee and the Linebacker. If you enjoyed it, I hope you will post a review at Amazon.com. And if you would like to know more about me, please visit my website at http://www.prmason.net
More from P.R. Mason
If you enjoyed the paranormal world of Double Dick Academy you'll enjoy these books by P.R. Mason:
Entanglements (full-length urban fantasy/paranormal romance)-- She was driven by love. He was bound by duty. Together they were swept through a vortex to a world of danger.
Fated Hearts (a paranormal romance novella) -- Will his love mean her end?
Licensing Information
Amazon Edition, Licensing Notes
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All quotes are intended as fair use and not intended to abridge copyright.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or to actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
To Lois: You help me keep going when I want to quit. Thank you for being my friend.
