Page 2 of Unfinished

“So I take it you heard about us?” Liam gestured between him and me, turning his head to Derek. Everyone in Shermer heard of our summer together and they all heard about the breakup too. It was why I got out of town as quickly as possible. Meeting Derek was a total fluke and it was oddly comforting to have someone from home. Especially since he never brought up my past relationship with Liam.

“Of course, but that’s ancient history,” Derek replied. Liam raised an eyebrow and I’d never been so grateful to Derek than at that moment. He never brought it up because it was irrelevant, just a summer fling, and maybe a few hookups. Derek was reminding me of that. My strength momentarily returned.

“Or it’s an unfinished story.” Liam bared his teeth in a smile. Just like that, I went crashing into my rabbit hole of memories. Derek grinned back at the blatant challenge and his hand gripped my waist tight, almost painfully. I winced a little. Liam’s eyes dropped to Derek’s hand. A flash of something dark crossed his expression as his eyes rose back up to Derek's face.

I placed my hand on Derek’s chest and started moving us away, interjecting, “It was good to see you again.” I turned in order to push Derek away from Liam. The last thing we needed was a fight in the middle of the gala.

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon,” Liam replied.

I turned back to him wide-eyed. My lips tingled as I remembered our first and second kiss. Without thinking, my fingertips went to them. Liam's stare grew heated, like he knew exactly what I was thinking, and a wave of desire ran right through me. He turned on his heel and strode away. Derek gripped my hand and turned us to walk away too.

“So, he’s still an asshole,” Derek mumbled, his grip tightening, and I looked at him.

“Evidently. Can we please leave?” I begged. Pushing aside my concern over the slight roughness, hoping it wasn’t intentional. I wanted to get home before I spiraled into what-ifs. Derek didn’t need any of that.

Seeing Liam was the last thing I needed. Derek and I had been dating for the past six months. He was easy and didn’t drive me absolutely insane. He was safe, reliable, and… why does it sound like I’m admiring a Volvo? That was not sexy and it sure as hell didn’t make my heart feel like it was beating out of my chest at the sight of him. Which was why I’d been considering ending this relationship before he begged me to come to this event.

If Liam pushed his way into my life, like I was fairly positive he would, breaking up with Derek would give Liam the idea that I did it for him. Would he try to do insane things to try to convince me to date him again? Like he did before?

Oh shit! I told him where I worked, which meant he would pull something like he did that first day. Fuck me! No, don’t fuck me, please do not fuck me!

Derek kissed the top of my head, his grip on my hand loosening as he walked with me towards the door. We made our way toward the exit and I felt Liam's blue eyes watching me. At the last second, I turned my head, and confirmed my suspicions. Liam was standing with his hands in his pockets smiling at me. He nodded to me and I instinctively knew what he was thinking.

Mine.

And with the way my heart was pounding out of my chest, I couldn’t say he was wrong to think it. I had always been his. Even after our failed attempt to remain friends through college. Even after I found out about the betrayal that tore us apart. Even after years of not seeing each other. I was irrevocably his.

“This is odd for you,” Derek accused as soon as we were in the limo.

“What?” I asked, coming back to the present once again.

“No one ever affected you after a break up.”

“What do you mean?”

“I remember what you were like after breaking up with someone. An ex simply ceased to exist for you. You didn’t acknowledge them, you didn’t talk about them. You moved on like nothing happened.” I swung my head to Derek. How the hell did he know that when we weren’t around each other back then?

To be fair, he was right. In high school, I dated a couple of boys who, when we broke up, I dealt with the break up by simply pretending they never existed. One or two of them may have absolutely hated how I switched it off like that. The truth was, I didn’t love any of them, so it was easy for me to switch off any feelings I did have.

“How do you know that about me?” I asked.

“Shermer is a small town, Hannah. I was friends with an ex of yours and witnessed how brutal it was for him after your break up.”

“I don’t even really remember many of my ex’s.”

“Right, which is why the way you are reacting to Liam is so different from how you used to be. You two only dated for like two months.” His brown eyes met mine. Despite how his tone was worried, something darker flashed in his eyes.

Two months was how long everyone thought Liam and I were together. Except, we spent a couple of years keeping in touch with each other and loving each other from a distance before all contact stopped. It left me devastated. I cried for weeks after the last time I saw Liam. In part because of what happened between us and in part because of what happened shortly afterwards.

“I grew up Derek, I’m not completely heartless like I used to be, I don’t need to be cruel anymore to protect myself.” Turning my head away from him, I stared out of the window of the limo.

“Right,” Derek muttered, like he didn’t believe what I was saying.

“What? It’s been forever, I can’t possibly hold a grudge over a summer fling.” Annoyance over the conversation we were having about Liam rose up in me. It was so much more than a summer fling, but I couldn’t admit that to Derek.

“Do I have to worry about you seeing him again?”

“You’re the one making a big deal about this, Derek. It was a long time ago. I’m over him.”

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