Chapter 4 Burning

• ♧•Maya•♧
• Awkward.
• One word to define how everything felt.
• Because why was the whole town fully booked at the exact time I desperately needed a place to spend the night?
• Liam stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed in front of his chest.
• “So, no rooms?” he asked, and I pursed my lips.
• Oh well. I had to put up with this, unfortunately.
• “There won’t be rooms available for now—said the ten receptionists I met,” I muttered, glancing around the room. A TV in the middle, one couch, a fireplace, a kitchen, a staircase, and...
• I couldn’t believe I’d been scammed out of this.
• It would’ve been the perfect place to spend the summer, recovering from a breakup and betrayal. But well, that was also taken from me too—unfortunately.
• “There’s just one room here. I believe you know that already,” he said, tone dry. I sighed and met his eyes.
• “Look, I just need a place to sleep. I’ll go search for a room tomorrow and be off your ass,” I said, then frowned. “I’ll take the couch.”
• I glanced at the couch in question and almost cringed at how small it looked.
• That would hurt.
• Liam huffed. “And I’m just supposed to let you take the couch, yeah?” he asked.
• My frown deepened. I was trying to figure out what he meant.
• “Since it’s just for a night, take the bed. Room’s upstairs,” he said.
• I rolled my eyes. “Can you not do this right now? Act all nice and stuff? I’m gonna take the couch. Have your bed.”
• I walked over and sat on the couch, testing how comfy it was.
• Well. It was manageable. It’d get me to morning.
• Liam huffed again.
• “You grew some guts, pookie. Did I give you enough space? Was seven years too much?” he asked.
• I sighed. God knew this was the last place I wanted to return to, but after paying a cab to drive me around searching for hotels and finding none, I had no choice.
• And this…
• This was making me regret it. I had a lot going on in my life right now, and even though it still stung a little—thinking about how he made high school hell for me—it was the last thing I wanted to dwell on right now.
• “I’ll leave before you’re even awake,” I said flatly.
• He hummed. “Didn’t you just say, ‘Rooms won’t be available for now?’”
• He stepped into my line of vision, one perfect brow raised.
• My eyes roamed his face before I pressed my lips together.
• Somehow, it wasn’t fair that he’d grown hotter.
• Not fair.
• Nature was a bitch—dishing out unfair treatment to the best people and giving the mean ones pretty privileges.
• “I’ll figure something out. Can you just let me be now?” I asked.
• He stared at me for a long second. It made me very uncomfortable.
• “Good luck sleeping on that,” he said, then turned around and walked up the wooden staircase.
• I watched until he disappeared from view before sagging into the couch, glancing at my luggage still sitting in front of the door.
• I stared into nothing. A small sigh escaped me.
• Coming to Tuscany had felt like the best option at the time. I hadn’t even thought it through. I had flight tickets and a booked apartment.
• But no.
• I was scammed out of $450 for a vacation house that had never even existed.
• My phone rang. I sat up lazily for a second before pulling it out of my pocket.
• I stared at the caller.
• Tom.
• Just seeing his name made my heart clench—like it suddenly remembered it was supposed to be mourning.
• The call went to voicemail. The screen went dark, only to light up again a second later.
• Same caller.
• Same result.
• I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him.
• Not after what I saw.
• The betrayal. The heartbreak.
• He made me realize that love wasn’t cut out for me—that no one could fully love me after all.
• Not with Jenny in the picture.
• I lay on the couch, curling into myself, knees to my chest.
• It wasn’t comfortable, but definitely better than the cold floor.
• I had no idea when I fell asleep, but I was abruptly woken by the smell of something burning—and hurried footsteps padding across the floor. Not calm ones.
• Rushed.
• Curses rang out—both in Italian and English.
• A frown crept onto my face as I tried to piece together what was happening, my brain still foggy.
• Light flooded the room, sunrays hitting me directly in the face.
• “Shit!” a male voice shouted from the kitchen, and I perked up immediately, recognizing it.
• I glanced down at myself. I was still fully clothed.
• That meant he hadn’t tried anything funny during the night.
• That was… relieving.
• I sniffed the air, got off the couch, and followed the noise—and the smoke.
• Standing in front of the stove, which was very much on fire, was Liam, trying to put it out… with bare hands.
• I rushed toward the sink, poured a glass of water, and turned to him.
• “Are you gonna help me out here?” he asked, glancing at me briefly.
• I pressed my lips together, grabbed the cup, and dumped the water onto the stove. The fire went out with a hiss.
• I slammed the cup on the counter and stared at him.
• “You could’ve just said you were trying to burn the place down—with me in it,” I said flatly.
• He raised a brow. “And here I am, standing in front of you.”
• I pressed my lips together again and walked out of the kitchen.
• “Hey. Thank you, okay?” he called after me. I didn’t respond.
• “Let me buy you breakfast, at least,” he added.
• “Not interested,” I muttered—and I meant it.
• I didn’t need anything from anyone—least of all Liam Carter.
• I wanted him at arm’s length.
• Time to go searching for a room… again.
• Oh boy.