Read Online Because of His Name by Kelly Favor - Free Book Online Page B

her small television that was
nestled in the corner of her bedroom.
    He seemed happy enough there, and his
nose had mostly stopped bleeding.   But Grace was concerned about his health.
    His nose was swollen, the skin beneath
his eyes was discolored, and his jaw was seeming to
give him some pain when he spoke.
    She left the room to go and make him an
ice pack and grab some water and food for him to eat and drink before her
roommate came home.
    She’d already explained to Liam that her
living situation was a little unconventional, especially for someone like him.
    Grace hardly even knew her roommates.   For the last few months, she’d been
living there and already one room had changed hands about three times.   Currently, a young Asian woman was
staying in it, and she kept to herself and listened to satellite radio that
spewed mostly talky stuff in whatever her language was.
    The woman who
owned the apartment, also lived in one of the three bedrooms.   Her name was Eliane and she was from
Brazil.   She worked as an engineer
and was often not home, but when she was home, Eliane dominated the common areas
and made Grace feel uncomfortable even using the kitchen or living room.
    As a result, Grace mostly kept to her
bedroom, as did the Asian girl who’d taken over the third bedroom.
    It was sort of like a boardinghouse, and
the good thing about it was that it was cheap and the location was convenient
to the Mass Pike.
    But Eliane wasn’t going to like Grace
having a strange wounded man in her room, so Grace’s plan was to keep Liam
quiet and then get him out of there before Eliane even realized he was around.
    For now, it wasn’t an issue.   The house was empty but for her and
Liam, so Grace went about getting his ice pack ready and making him a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich.
    As she spread the peanut butter and then
dolloped liberal amounts of jelly, cutting the sandwich in half at an angle,
Grace found herself smiling a little.   She liked this feeling of doing for someone, of making
something—even something simple like a PB&J—for her man.
    He’s
not your man, Grace.   He’s just a
boy that you hooked up with, and now he’s crashing in your room so as not to
have to face Mommy’s wrath.
    But whatever the case, she liked it.   And then the reality of the situation
crashed into her and she felt stunned all over again.
    LIAM
HOUSTON IS IN MY BEDROOM.
    It was strange, and exciting, and so far
it had been pretty amazing all around.
    He didn’t seem to want to leave her side,
and she was grateful for that, because she didn’t really want to leave his
side, either.
    Grace took the sandwich upstairs, along
with a bottle of water.   She put the
Ziploc bag filled with ice in her pocket and then brought all of it to the
bedroom.
    Liam was shirtless and in his boxers,
lying there on her single bed and watching television, his eyelids at
half-mast.  
    As she caught sight of him for the first time
in a few minutes, Grace was shocked to realize just how bad he looked.   His whole entire face looked swollen,
shiny and sweaty and raw.   His nose
was blown up to five times its normal size, and his eyes were quickly getting
more black and blue.
    For a moment, her chest felt as thought
it had been doused with icy cold water, and she shivered.
    But then Liam caught sight of her, and
his eyes opened wide and he gave her a grin.   “Shucks.   Is that for me?”
    “Yeah,” she said, absurdly proud of her
sandwich making abilities.   She
brought the plate and set it down on his chest and put the bottle of water in
the crook of his arm.  
    As she got closer, she noticed the
bruising, purple and yellow, around his ribcage.   It made her wince a little for him.
    He picked up half his sandwich and took a
bite and smiled, chewing.   “Best
sandwich I ever ate, Grace.   Thank
you so much.”
    “Are you in a lot of pain?” she
asked.   “I can go and grab you some
Tylenol or Advil.”
    He shook his head and waved