Marked Heart (Marked Heart #3) (4 page)

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When the night came to an end Braden ended up with a hard buzz from several pints of beer, and a ride home from Liv. Crossing his arms against his chest, in the passenger seat of her Dodge Challenger HellCat, he worked at focusing his attention on the road ahead. Although he appreciated the silence, it was starting to feel uncomfortable.

Leaning his head in her direction, Braden said, "You are seeing someone."

Liv responded with a slight frown, but didn't reply.

"Why Pat?"

Shaking her head, she remained silent.

"You won't answer me 'cause you know the kinda person he is."

As soon as they came to the red light, Liv stopped the car and looked directly at him, "Didn't I tell you who I see is none of your business."

Making a disgusted sound he shared, "I would never get with someone you disapproved of."

Glaring at him she stated, "Lily," then turned away, staring straight ahead.

The second the light turned green, she sped off down the road.

No matter how much he wanted to, there was not a thing more he could say. Liv's detest for Lily had been made clear long before she and Braden were friends. He never knew why she disliked her so much, but by the time it was finally over between them every single member of his family did too.

Liv pulled into a parking spot right in front of his apartment. He knew she was angry with him because he heard the doors unlock as she shifted her car into reverse.

"I don't like it when you're pissed at me." Braden shared, remaining seated with no intention of getting out of her car.

Keeping the car in reverse, she revved her engine with her foot planted against the break.

"You don't like it either."

Liv's arms tensed as she gripped the steering wheel and closed her eyes, demanding, "Get out of my car."

Holding back a smile, he coaxed, "Not until you say you're not mad."

Shifting her car into park, she turned and looked at him, saying, "You're like a damn kid."

"I'm older than you."

With a slight smirk, she assured, "It doesn't seem like it. You still dress like a sixteen year old boy."

After glancing down at his faded jeans and Vans, he looked over at her black and white Converse, dark jeans and Ramones T-shirt.

"So do you."

Liv let out a laugh before shaking her head at him saying, "Come on. Its late and I'm tired."

"You wanna stay over?"

Braden noticed a confused expression fall across her face, as if she didn't know how to answer.

"Do you?"

Looking away from him, she replied, "Mina."

"She won't care. I stay at your house all the time."

Shaking her head at him, Liv pointed towards the windshield, saying, "No. Mina."

Braden looked out seeing his girlfriend waving at them with an interested yet sweet expression across her face.

"See you Monday then."

With a nod, Liv shifted her car back into reverse.

Stumbling a little as he got out of Liv's car, Braden barely closed the door when Mina was right there by his side. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she pressed up against him.

"I missed you."

Braden waited for Liv's car to pull out of the parking spot before leaning down to kiss her.

~

Flipping the lights on in the living room, Liv swiped the playlist open on her phone at the same time. 'Back To The Shack' by Weezer instantly thundered through her house bringing a smile to her face. The disruption of silence in her house paused for a second as text flashed across her cell.

B: You make it home okay?

She found it odd that Braden was texting her. He seemed pretty invested in Mina when she dropped him off.

L: Safe and sound.

B: OK

Even though it was a simple text, it didn't feel right.

L: You okay?

Waiting for his response, her phone rang.

"What's up?" Liv asked, answering Braden's call.

His tone was flat as he replied, "Nothin'."

"You havin' some sort of a moment?"

There was a long pause before he replied, "I'm just drunk."

"Probably," she replied without knowing the issue, but recalling he had about seven pints at the bar.

"'Night."

"Later." Liv replied before ending the call.

Walking to her bedroom, she considered calling Pat and taking him up on his offer.

She was surprised to see him at The Dog House and even more surprised that he was flirting with her there. The anticipation of him standing close, wondering how far he was willing to go in public excited her. Then he gave her that inviting smile as he slid his hand down her arm. It was such a high, until she glanced towards the bar and saw Auggie scowling at her.

By the time she made it to her room and looked at her bed, she changed her mind. She knew there was no reason to feel guilty but how could she help it. Her husband's death had done nothing to remove him from her life. It simply made her feel even more alone. Over two years had gone by and she couldn't even bring herself to spend the night at Braden's. Thursday night had been an institution long before his death, but staying the night in another man's home, even his, was completely different. Though she had moments of freedom where there was physical thought or action with no emotion involved, Liv couldn't let go long enough for anything real. It was a painfully agonizing feeling to know what she wanted and needed, and at the same time riddled with doubt and disbelief that it was a possibility. That was where she and Braden differed. He was able to move on. Not fully and be complete as a whole, but in a physical way. Liv envied that about him. The damage Lily had done scarred him in so many ways beyond repair, but sex wasn't one of the losses of being with her.

As she laid across her bed, Liv reflected back on the last time she and Kieran were together. It had been months since they were intimate and after trying everything she could think of to get him interested in her, she decided an out of character for her, sexy dress and heels at Charlotte and Auggie's wedding might do the trick. Initially, it worked. He couldn't keep his hands off her. They didn't even make it all the way to the house. Pulling off on an old dead end dirt road on the way home, he swore he couldn't wait a second more. In the moment, she felt wild, alive, and desired. Unfortunately, making it home wasn't the only thing he couldn't wait for, leaving her feeling empty, used and unsatisfied. Still thinking it was a start, the promise of rekindling their relationship soon vanished as he fell right back into ignoring her the very next day.

She once considered turning Kieran's marking room into sex room as her way of giving his deceased ass the finger, but aside from the fact that that would require her having sex, it was just a little way to make herself feel like she had some control over what was happening. She didn't though. Liv was just as hurt as she was when he was alive. Except with him gone, the wound would never heal.

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Dragging himself off his couch, Braden went down on his knees on the carpet before pushing up on the couch cushions to stand. He rubbed his eyes, staggering toward his apartment door to see who was banging on it. Peering out of the peephole, he rubbed his eyes hard and looked again. Stepping back and cursing under his breath, he ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to look presentable.

On the other side of his door stood a medium height older woman with auburn hair pulled into a long braid and lips pursed up into a somewhat judgmental forced smile.

"Hey... Mom," he greeted, leaning forward to hug her.

Sarah leaned away, fussing, "When was the last time you showered."

Running his hands down the front of his t-shirt, Braden stepped back and let his mom in.

"I swear, son. This is a pig sty," she declared the moment she stepped in.

Flashing her a quick smile, he wrapped an arm around her, suggesting, "You always said,
if you can't do something right, don't do it at all
."

"Go clean yourself up." Sarah ordered, pushing him away from her.

Watching his mom immediately start picking up on her way to the kitchen, Braden hurried to his room to take a quick shower.

He was still a bit hungover but having his apartment cleaned up and possibly a home cooked breakfast was already making him feel better.

Rounding the corner into the kitchen, he asked, "Were ya missing your favorite son?"

Without looking up from the dishes, she replied, "I'm worried about your sister."

"And seeing me makes you feel better?" Braden joked with a wide smile.

Giving him a sideways glance, Sarah stated, "I think there's something wrong with her. She should be pregnant by now."

"Mom..." he started before hearing a knock at his door.

As he made his way to see who was at the door, his mom continued, "I'm not sure they're trying hard enough. Or they're not doing it right."

Braden swung the door open in hopes someone was there to save him from a conversation, he did not want to have.

"Hi." Mina cheered, causing him to regret opening it.

This was going to be worse than the Penny fertility conversation.

Braden pulled the door closed until only his head was sticking out of the doorway.

"Can you come back later?" he urged with a weak smile.

Just as she started to pout, they both heard Sarah gripe, "Son, are you listening?"

Mina's face instantly lit up as she blurted, "Son? Your mom's here?"

As the idea of shutting the door in her face started sounding better and better, Sarah walked up beside him and pulled it open.

"Girlfriend?"

Stepping into his apartment, Mina replied, "Yes, ma'am. I'm Mina."

Sarah eyed her suspiciously before acknowledging, "The nurse, right?"

Glancing back at Braden with a smile of wonder, like he was the one that shared information about her with his mom, she nodded.

"Shouldn't Penny already be pregnant?"

Caught off guard, Mina questioned, "Ma'am?

"You're a nurse." Sarah stated, putting her on the spot.

Stepping to the side Braden smiled to himself thinking, bet your real excited to meet her now.

Mina was quiet for a moment before replying, "Well, Mrs. Caffrey, there are many factors that can delay conception for couples that are trying to conceive."

Pleasantly surprised, Sarah led her to the kitchen table. As they both sat and started discussing birth control and menstrual cycles Braden wondered if he would ever be able to eat at his table again.

Five minutes into hearing things he never wanted to and could never un-hear, Braden had to get out of there.

"I'll be right back."

Before either of them had a chance to look up, he was out of the door and in front of his apartment.

"What's up, punk?" Liv greeted as she walked up.

Braden couldn't believe his luck as he replied, "You're awesome!"

"Yeah," she agreed with a smirk before saying, "You wanna go get your car or what?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed almost jumping up and down.

Liv gave him a strange look as he motioned for her to follow him.

"Who's in there?"

Biting the side of his tongue, he smiled before confessing, "Mina and my mom."

"Ha!"

"Don't laugh. They're in there talking about Penny's cycles and ovaries."

Letting out a loud breath of air, Liv walked past him and into his apartment.

Stepping in as if she owned the room, Liv pulled out the chair in between Mina and Sarah.

Batting her eyes, she gave a wide smile almost singing, "Hi, Sarah," then turned to Mina and saying, "Hello."

Sarah sighed as she replied, "Liv."

"So what's the kitchen table convo?"

Mina perked up, smiling as she shared, "I was just telling Mrs. Caffrey, Penny's trouble with getting pregnant..."

Braden noticed his mom give Mina a 'shut your mouth' glare as Liv asked, "You and Penny are good friends?"

Nodding, Mina replied, "She's super sweet."

"So, she asked you to talk to her mom about her troubles?"

Mina appeared confused as she stuttered, "No... Well... I..."

With a quick nod, Liv turned to Sarah, saying, "I see, Penny asked you to ask her brother's girlfriend why she wasn't pregnant yet?"

"She was being helpful." Sarah snapped as Liv stood back up.

"That's good 'cause something that private could really hurt someone's feelings, ya know."

Mina looked down at the table with an embarrassed expression.

"Why are you here, Liv?" Sarah griped, clearly feeling the sting of Liv's insinuation also.

"This one was too drunk to drive home last night," she replied, pointing at Braden.

Throwing his hands out in front of him, Braden was shocked.

"Braden Hagen Caffrey!" Sarah yelled directly at him before Liv added, "It's cool, he got laid-off so it's not like he has anything else to do."

Sarah looked like she was about to jump out of her chair and smack Braden, as he stood there with his mouth hanging open.

"We still gettin' your car?" Liv asked, glancing at Braden as she turned and walked out.

Braden knew his mom was about to let him have it. Weighing his options, he rushed out of his apartment after Liv.

Swiftly following her to her car, Braden knew she was mad but didn't understand why he had fallen into the line of her fire.

He slid into the passenger seat griping, "What the hell?" As Liv started her car, revving the engine, and drowning out the sound of his voice.

Liv backed out of the parking spot, shifted into drive, and took off, assuring, "You're lucky I didn't leave your ass there."

"What did I do?"

Slamming on her breaks, jerking them both forward at the stop sign, she fussed, "You know damn good and well Penny's feelings would be hurt if she knew they were talking about her. She's had your back so many times, you should've never let that conversation happen."

"'Cause my mom's gonna listen to anything I have to say?" he snapped back at her.

"No, but your girlfriend would have."

Her words made him feel uneasy as he argued, "Mina's a nurse. She was just tryin' to be helpful."

"Yeah? Or was she tryin' to get in good with Sarah?"

Liv's question instantly silenced Braden as he realized, he wasn't sure.

After rolling through the stop sign, neither said a word until Liv pulled beside Braden's El Camino in front of The Dog House.

"Sorry."

Shifting into park, Liv turned to him.

"Ha! Your dumbass sure will be when you get back."

Braden stared at her for a minute.

Shaking his head at himself as he realized he left his overly eager girlfriend sitting with his mom at his apartment, he mumbled, "What was I thinking?"

Liv took a moment to laugh at him before questioning, "What's your deal with her anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

Giving him a look of 'you know exactly what I mean,' Liv sat there waiting for his answer.

Shrugging, Braden leaned his head back against the headrest, saying, "She's easy to be with."

"If you say so."

Opening the passenger door, he gave her a questioning look.

With an air of wisdom, Liv stated, "For something you claim is so easy, it sure comes off as forced."

"What about you and Pat?" Braden asked, trying to take the focus off of how her advice made him feel.

Liv frowned, sharing, "I'm not with him."

"Do you wanna be?"

With a slight smirk, she replied, "Not a conversation I'm gonna have with you."

"Why? I'll tell you anything you want to know about me and Mina."

Liv quickly shifted her car into reverse, assuring, "No thanks. I've got Charlotte if I wanna have a sex talk."

Shaking his head with a laugh, Braden got out of her car and closed the door.

Driving back to his apartment, it took a little while for what Liv said to register. He almost had to pull over on the side of the road when it hit him that she wasn't interested in dating Pat. Suddenly the things he'd read on her kindle bombarded his mind. It wasn't like he thought she should go join a convent or even abstain from anything, he just didn't really think about her having sex. Now he was. Braden was thinking about Liv having sex, and with Pat of all people.