“Had enough of me kicking your ass, gramps?” Liam quipped.
“Fuck off,” Hammer turned to scowl at his friend.
Blood still seeped from his nose, but Liam grinned at him like a loon. In that moment, he prayed his friend only wanted to blow off steam, too. They’d taken their argument—hell, themselves—far too seriously.
This was what they should have done after Juliet’s suicide. Yell. Fight. Get fucking drunk. And cry. Macen had done all that alone and resented Liam for it. He knew now that his old friend would have happily joined him, if he’d only asked.
“I can go again. Just give me a minute. I need to catch my breath,” Hammer groaned.
A hint of smugness resounded in Liam’s low laughter until he palmed his jaw and cursed.
“Time’s up, ladies. Let’s go back inside. We can sit by the fire, hold hands, and sing Kumbaya,” Seth called from the front porch.
“Fucker,” Hammer muttered.
“I think we should beat his ass next,” Liam murmured conspiratorially.
Both men cracked a knowing grin. As if they’d read one another’s minds, they raised their right arms and flipped Seth off, laughing. It felt good.
Liam stumbled to his feet and held out his hand to Hammer. “Come on, you old fart. Let me help you up.”
“Who are you calling old? If our mommy over there on the porch—” Hammer thumbed in Seth’s direction “—had given us five more minutes, I’d have kicked your ass.”
Liam dropped his hand. “Yeah? Who’s on their feet first?” He grinned. “Or should I just let you drag your own half-dead carcass up alone.”
“Hey, I didn’t say I was turning down your help.” As Liam held out his hand again, Hammer laughed and latched on, rising to his feet.
Seth waited for them on the porch with a sour expression. “You two look like you fell face first into a meat grinder. When Raine comes back, she won’t like looking at either of you.”
“We’ll turn off the lights. She doesn’t need to see us, anyway. Just feel.” Hammer smirked.
“Or Beck and I could just take her off your hands,” Seth teased.
“You wanna die?” Hammer asked.
Liam suggested something anatomically impossible as they marched inside, grabbed their dry clothes, then hurried to the fireplace.
The heat felt good on Hammer’s stinging skin. Using his shirt to wipe away the blood that dripped from his nose, he eyed Liam. Would they be able to salvage their friendship and love Raine together? He wasn’t sure, but Raine blurting out her fantasy—her hope—had sharpened his. He wanted her. But he wanted her with Liam, with the best friend who’d tried to stand by him through thick and thin. Hammer might not always agree with Liam’s choices, but he knew the man never had less than good intentions. It was a place to start.
Seth joined them a minute later, tossing towels at both of them before he refilled their glasses with liquor.
“First things first, we need to discuss whether you can continue guiding Raine together or if you need to call it quits.”
“I’m not giving up,” Hammer growled.
Liam didn’t answer.
Seth swiveled a gaze in O’Neill’s direction. “You?”
Pain tore across Liam’s face. “I’m giving serious thought to chucking the whole fucking nightmare. It’s like a train wreck that keeps rolling over the same broken rails. Every damn time I think we’re getting on track, something causes it to derail again. I’m bloody tired of it.”
The desolation in Liam’s voice felt like a kick in the gut. Hammer wiped more blood from his nose on his shirt, silently staring as the drops expanded on the silk in a starburst of crimson. “Look, if it’s about the conversation today...”
“It’s not just her pregnancy scare.” Liam glanced up. His expression was unreadable, which worried Hammer even more. “That was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. I honestly didn’t think you cared whether she’d be pregnant or not. I know now, what with Juliet and all, that it’s a touchy subject for you. But you never wanted children in all the years I’ve known you. So I’d decided to adopt the kid and raise it as my own, if it came to that. I had a whole fucking fairy tale all laid out in my head. What a joke!”
Liam sank wearily into the chair next to Macen and mopped the blood from his face with his towel. Hammer hurt just seeing his pain.
“Think of me what you fucking like, but I want you to take her and be happy,” Liam murmured, defeated. “I’ll go back to New York. I won’t stand in your way.”
“You can’t do that! You’ll crush her,” Hammer insisted. “Remember? She loves you. There’s no way you can tell me that you haven’t seen how much she’s grown because of what we’ve done these past two days.”
“I’ve seen it,” Liam admitted. “But—”
“But nothing.” Hammer shook his head. “Raine needs us both. She loves us both. I think what’s got you so fucked up inside is the reality that nothing you or I can do will change that. Am I right?”