"Funny," he sneered, lifting the bottle to his lips, "seeing as how you're living under my roof because you're homeless."

My teeth gnashed together. "Yes, well, I'm beginning to regret that decision. I think I'd be better off on the streets than stuck dealing with some rich, stuck-up, party boy."

He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. His icy-blue eyes stared down at me, lifeless. "You don't know me, sweetheart, so I'd suggest retracting what you just said."

My hands fisted at my sides. I wanted to lash out, to hit him and scream at him, but that would only make me like Blaise.

Instead, I took a deep breath and cooled my temper.

"You're right, I'm sorry."

His eyes widened in surprise.

Clearing my throat, I said, "I know you're doing me a lot of kindness by letting me stay with you. The clothes seemed like too much and...and..." I decided to be honest for once in my life, and it'd probably be the only small truth Liam would get from me. "And I didn't want you to hold that over my head."

His brows narrowed in thought, but he said nothing.

Squaring my shoulders, I continued, "I'm curious, though, how'd you know my size?"

His lips parted, and he grinned like the Joker, his teeth a pearly white in the darkness. He looked me up and down slowly then tipped his head to the side.

"I'm very well-acquainted with the female body. I figured I could make an educated guess on your size, and your question makes me believe I succeeded." His grin widened.

I shook my head. "You're impossible."

I turned away from him and looked out at the ocean, breathing in the salty air and enjoying the slight sting of the wind on my cheeks.

"It's beautiful here," I admitted out loud.

I felt Liam's arm brush mine as he looked too. "My favorite place in the world."

Taking a deep breath, I glanced up at him. "Well, thanks for the clothes, and the bed to sleep in, and everything...yeah," I rambled, backing away.

"Don't thank me," he said, his gaze still glued to the water. "I'm not the kind of guy that deserves it."

I puzzled over his words all the way back to the house.

Liam was clearly a complicated guy.

A guy I should stay a million miles away from.

But I'd always been attracted to danger, and some habits die hard.

And others?

Well, they kill you.

Liam.

I didn't sleep.

Not much, anyway.

Sleep was always elusive to me. I was lucky if I got five hours of sleep at the most. I'd always been a light sleeper, but over the last year my insomnia had taken over. Lying in bed at night I'd stare at my ceiling, willing my eyes to close and dreams to take me away, but it never happened. Instead, I spent most of my nights locked in my darkroom or pacing the halls.

I was sure if I sought a doctor's help they'd give me some drugs to help me sleep, but I didn't want that. I didn't want any foreign substances coursing through my body, affecting my surfing. I didn't even drink that much, despite what some people may have believed.

I was sitting at the kitchen table, with my head in my hands, when I heard her scream.

I jolted out of my seat and glanced toward the stairs.

The screaming stopped.

A moment later her door creaked open, and her feet padded softly down the steps.

She rounded the corner into the kitchen and jumped back when she saw me.

"You scared me." She placed a shaky hand over her heart and tried to calm her breaths.

I eyed her, not saying a thing.

Her blue eyes were clouded with troubles, and she seemed a shade paler than her normal bronzed glow. She was dressed in a tight, black tank top and a pair of blue sleep shorts.

I'd bought them.

I didn't know what possessed me to go and buy her clothes, but I had, and I was glad I did. Seeing the spark of defiance in her eyes when she'd berated me about buying them had been worth it. Maybe I was sick, but I liked her fire. She came across as soft, quiet, and meek at first, but inside laid the heart of a motherf.u.c.king lion.

My eyes traveled back up her body, and I found that she was staring back at me. Her pulse pounded in her neck, and her hands seemed shaky.

She probably wondered if I'd heard her scream, but I wasn't going to let her know. I knew she didn't want my sympathy.

"It is my house," I finally replied back.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. Opening them, she mumbled, "Right."

I leaned back in the chair, crossing my hands behind my head. "Is there something I can help you with?" I raised a brow.

She shook her head, tucking a wild piece of dark hair behind her ear. "I couldn't sleep," she mumbled, her lips barely moving with the words. Lifting her chin, she squared me with a look I couldn't decipher. "And something tells me you can't sleep either."

My teeth snapped together, and my lips pursed. I said nothing, though-I'd learned I was better off if I kept my mouth shut.

"You have them too," she whispered.

Despite my better judgment I uttered one word. "What?"

"Demons."

My spine stiffened.

"Don't worry-" her lips lifted slightly "-I won't ask about yours if you don't ask about mine." She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a water bottle. Glancing at me once more she said, "Goodnight, Liam."

I watched her leave, a feeling of dread settling in my stomach that I couldn't explain.

Surfing might've been my favorite thing in the world, but photography came a close second. I'd picked up a camera when I was fifteen, taken a few photos, and that had cemented my obsession. I'd started out taking photos of other surfers back when I was trying to learn. I'd study those photos forever, trying to learn their techniques and see how I could tweak it to fit my style.

Lately I took photos to clear my mind. Something about being behind the lens gave me a clarity I didn't normally possess.

While I was partial to my DSLR camera, I also had a thing for old film cameras. I loved finally getting to develop the film and seeing photos I'd forgotten I'd even taken. I loved the mystery of not knowing what was going to turn up.

When I couldn't sleep, I spent a lot of time in my darkroom.

That's where I was, lost in the tasks that had become effortless for me, going through the motions-but my head wasn't in it like usual-when I ended up ruining the film by exposing it to a small amount of light.

"f.u.c.k," I groaned, throwing my hands down on the table. Something fell, but I couldn't be bothered to see what it was.

I stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind me. I stomped up the steps, my anger a vibrating force around me.

I topped the stairs and turned to my left to head for my room when a door at the other end of the hallway opened. Ari poked her head out and looked at me with wide shocked eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "I heard a door slam."

"Just peachy," I snapped.

She shook her head once and disappeared into the room.

I was sure she was wondering what she'd gotten herself into by staying with me.

I opened the double doors into my room and yanked my shirt over my head. It fell to the floor in a useless pile as I nosedived into bed. Lying on my stomach, I wrapped my arms around my pillow as I willed sleep to come. It was already after three in the morning, and I'd promised to meet Ollie and some of the guys for an early morning surf session. If I didn't go to sleep soon, I'd fall asleep on my board. It'd happened before, and the guys had made fun of me endlessly.

Rolling to my back, I stared up at the ceiling.

"Dear Sleep, it's me, Liam, and I kind of miss you," I mumbled beneath my breath. I sounded like an idiot, but I didn't really care. My body couldn't keep running on so little sleep. Eventually, it'd give out.

I began to count sheep like a total loser.

What felt like forever later, I finally drifted off to sleep, but it was a fitful, restless kind of sleep, and I awoke a few hours later feeling more tired than I had when I dove into bed.

My alarm was blaring loudly from my phone, and I quickly swiped my finger over the screen to stop the obnoxious noise.

It was only six in the morning. I'd probably only had two-and-a-half hours of sleep if I was lucky.

I stumbled from my bed over to my dresser and pulled out the first pair of board-shorts my fingers landed on. I changed into them quickly and grabbed a t-shirt and sweatshirt. Something I learned pretty quickly while surfing was how cold you could get out in the water, hence the need for a sweatshirt. A lot of times I wore a wetsuit out in the water, since I could be in it for hours at a time, but I knew that today I wouldn't be there long.

I glanced briefly at the closed door at the end of the hall when I left my room. I didn't know why I found myself worried about Ari. I didn't worry or care about most things or people, but there was something so fragile about her, while at the same time there was a quiet strength that told me she'd been through a lot. I couldn't allow myself to care, though. Caring equated to a pain in the a.s.s later. It was better to walk through the world with blinders. Few people ever broke through my walls, and that's why I had so few friends.

Downstairs I grabbed my keys from their designated dish on the kitchen counter and headed out to the garage.

I loaded my board onto the top of my Jeep and slid behind the wheel. Before I could back out of the garage my phone was beeping with a text from Ollie making sure I wasn't flaking.

I'd like to say that I didn't bail on my friends often, but that'd be a lie. I texted him back that I was on my way, and tossed my phone onto the empty seat beside me.

Thirty minutes later, I turned onto a gravel road, leading back into what felt like the middle of nowhere. There wasn't a designated place to park, so you had to make it work. Ollie's van was already there, as was Jeremiah's truck, but Brady's SUV was missing, and I did an internal fist pump that I'd at least beaten one person to our spot.

We all preferred this spot for surfing and hanging out. I didn't know why, but for some reason this place had remained hidden from tourists. Only locals knew about it, and we wanted to keep it that way.

I took off my shoes and shirt, leaving them in the car before getting out to retrieve my board from the top of the Jeep, and started toward the beach.

Sand kicked up behind me as I headed out to the water. I saw Ollie and Jeremiah already out there, their boards bobbing up and down from the wake.

Ollie happened to glance over his shoulder as my feet hit the water. "Oi. Look. There's some dude that looks like Liam here, only the real Liam always bails on us."

"First off," I called out as I settled on my board and began to paddle toward them, "did you really just say oi? Secondly, I don't always bail."

"I did, and you do." He laughed as I neared.

I finally reached them and sat up on my board, floating a few feet away from Ollie with Jeremiah on his other side.

"We're getting breakfast after this, right?" Ollie asked, glancing ahead at the small wave that formed. "'Cause the Ollster is hungry."

"Dude, it's f.u.c.king weird when you refer to yourself in the third person. Even weirder when you give yourself a nickname." Jeremiah shook his head.

"Yes, we're getting breakfast," I said, before Ollie could get defensive.

"Yo."

We all turned around at the sound of someone calling out.

"Brady," Ollie crowed, waving his arms wildly.

I shook my head, silently wondering how I'd ever ended up friends with him. Brady paddled out to join us and ended up beside me.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, Wade." He grinned broadly and held out his fist.

I b.u.mped mine against it. "I've had a lot going on."

"Yeah," Ollie piped in. "Like his hot cousin showing up."

"Hot cousin?" Brady's grin widened further and he waggled his brows. "Care to introduce me?"

I glared at Ollie first and then Brady. "f.u.c.k no. I'd never let you around her. Besides, she's already gone."