You Were Always Mine

Old Flame

The music at Lux thumped heavy, bass vibrating through the floor and up through the soles of Athena's heels as she gulped her third drink alone at the bar.

Alone. That word had started tasting bitter lately.

She swirled the ice in her glass, watching the amber liquid catch the club's lights, and let her mind drift back to the last time Oscar had touched her.

It's been almost two months now. Even before then, since learning he'd be getting married to Vivian, s*x had been off the table.

The last time they'd been together had been so long ago but she couldn't possibly forget that night.

She'd gone to his room that night in the most new lingerie, the kind of lingerie she knew drove men senseless, and climbed into his lap before he'd even set his tablet aside.

His hands had found her waist automatically, the way they always did, muscle memory more than desire.

She'd leaned in to kiss him but his eyes had been open.

That was the first sign, though she hadn't registered it as one at the time.

He usually closed his eyes when she kissed him, the same way any man did.

But that night, his gaze had drifted somewhere over her shoulder, distant, like he was looking straight through her at something else entirely.

"Oscar." She'd pressed her mouth against his jaw, waiting for the low sound he usually made.

Nothing.

"Oscar, look at me."

His eyes had finally focused, but not on her face.

It went somewhere lower, at her hair maybe, or the shape of her cheekbone, like he was searching for something that wasn't there.

Then he'd pulled back entirely, hands falling from her waist like he'd only just realized where they were.

"I have work." He'd said it flatly, already reaching for his tablet again, not even looking at her as she slid off his lap.

She'd told herself it was stress. Maybe the engagement announcement. Even the foreplay at his house after getting married to Vivian had been cut short when he left her hanging.

It was later she realised he'd used her to make his wife jealous.

His wife. He had even said the words right in front of her too…

Sitting here now, drink sweating in her hand, she let herself admit what she'd been avoiding for weeks.

It wasn't stress.

It was her. Vivian Pearl had managed to pull Oscar back with that charm of hers.

Athena's jaw tightened.

She'd spent weeks convincing herself that the ring on Vivian's finger changed nothing, that Oscar's coldness toward his wife was permanent.

She had made sure of it.

She'd built her entire plan around that coldness.

Now she wasn't so sure it existed anymore.

She thought of the numerous times that Oscar had ignored her completely like she didn't even exist.

She couldn't even visit his office anymore because somehow, she wasn't allowed into his office anymore.

He's been ignoring her calls and texts too.

She downed the rest of her drink in one long swallow, signaling the bartender for another.

She needed a plan.

Something bigger, something that would remind Oscar exactly who he'd chosen, who understood him before Vivian Pearl ever came crawling back into his life with her stupid empire and her stupid laugh.

"Well, I'll be damned."

The voice beside her stopped her cold.

She knew that voice. She'd know it anywhere.

Athena turned slowly on her stool, and the glass nearly slipped from her fingers.

"...Liam?"

He stood there in a leather jacket, dark hair pushed back from his forehead, that same infuriating grin stretched across his face like the last five years hadn't happened at all.

"In the flesh."

"You're…" She blinked hard, certain the alcohol had finally caught up with her.

"You're actually here."

"Last I checked."

He slid onto the stool beside her without waiting for an invitation, signaling the bartender with two fingers.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I thought you were still overseas."

"Been back a few months."

He accepted his drink with a small nod of thanks, studying her with an ease that felt entirely too familiar, too much like the old days.

"You disappeared off the face of the earth, by the way. No calls. No texts. Nothing."

She pulled her hair behind her ears without meaning to.

"You weren't exactly easy to reach either."

"Fair."

He shrugged, though something behind his gaze reminded way too much of something she'd never admit.

"How've you been, Athena?"

She let out a short, humorless laugh, gesturing vaguely at the empty glasses lined up in front of her.

"Take a guess."

"That bad?"

"Worse."

Liam's gaze flicked over her once, taking in the tired set of her shoulders, the tightness around her mouth that hadn't been there back in college.

He looked away, his eyes fixed on the rim of his glass in silence.

"Still with Oscar?"

The question landed harder than she expected.

"Define with."

His gaze moved over to her, eyes scanning her expression before his brows shot up in surprise.

"Ah."

"Don't 'ah' me."

"Wasn't judging."

He held up both hands, though the corner of his mouth twitched like he was holding back a comment he'd decided against.

"Just didn't expect that particular arrangement to still be running."

"Neither did I," she muttered into her glass.

A silence settled between them, heavier than the club music suggested it should be.

Athena studied him in silence.

Liam had always known more than he let on, and it made her wonder why he was suddenly back in the city and what exactly he wanted.

"You still talk to Vivian?"

The question slipped out before she could decide whether she wanted the answer.

Liam's easy expression didn't change, but something behind his eyes went very still.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

She swirled her drink, watching him from beneath lowered lashes.

"Just curious how tight-knit the old friend group still is."

"Tighter than you'd think."

"Interesting."

"Isn't it?"

He leaned back against the bar, and for the first time since he'd sat down, his charm dimmed slightly.

"You've got that look."

"What look?"

"The one you used to get right before you did something reckless."

His eyes narrowed slightly, studying her like a puzzle he was only just beginning to piece back together.

"What's going on with you, Athena?"

She hesitated, torn between the years of history sitting between them and the fear that Liam knowing too much could ruin everything she'd spent months building.

But then again, if there was anyone who understood exactly how deep Oscar's wounds ran, anyone who'd watched that entire disaster unfold from the inside all those years ago…

"Buy me another drink," she said slowly, sliding her empty glass toward him, "and maybe I'll tell you."

Liam's grin returned, slower this time, edged with something far more dangerous than charm.

"Goodness."

He raised two fingers toward the bartender without looking away from her.

"You know I never could resist a good secret."

Neither could she.

And judging by the glint in his eyes, neither of them had any intention of letting this conversation end here.