Page 64 of Unfinished

“Yep.” I opened the door and she looked me up and down.

“Damn! I knew it would look good but, fuck yes, you are hot.”

“Let’s go before I switch into my canvas shoes and yoga pants!” I shoved Ashley out of the doorway gently and she giggled. She was wearing black skinny pants, a white silky top with a black bomber jacket, and black boots.

“Time to pregame,” Ashley announced, and I followed her to the kitchen.

I tossed my leather jacket over a chair and headed to the kitchen as Ashley pulled out tequila and shot glasses. I tried to ignore any looks. Liam’s were eyes on me and my skin was becoming heated under his stare. He came to stand behind me and caged me in at the breakfast bar with his arms on either side of me. I felt the heat of him on my back and my heart started pounding. My nipples hardened and I hoped I could pass off their appearance as I was cold. Ashley and her outfit of choice made it impossible to wear a bra. She smirked at me like she knew I was cursing her out in my head.

Every single time Liam and I were near each other, this was what happened to my body, and I wasn’t the only one who had a reaction to our nearness. He felt this too based on how his breathing faltered a bit. After almost two years, I expected our attraction to dull some, but it was still incredibly strong. We’d spent the last year and a half talking and building this amazing friendship with each other and it only seemed to heighten everything we felt.

“Happy Birthday, Hannah! Let’s get fucked up!” Ashley cheered and we all took our shots.

“Okay, if you plan on getting me fucked up, I’m going to need food.”

“We’re getting food first, Chad’s meeting us at the restaurant,” Ashley replied.

“Who’s Chad?” Liam asked and I heard the slight disgust in his tone.

I turned around and looked at him. Everyone went quiet and Liam still had me caged in. I couldn’t help but smirk at his scowl at the mention of a male name.

“Chad is the only other friend I have in Pittsburgh. He’s my study buddy.”

Liam looked like he had something to say about that and I stood there looking up at him. I waited for him to say how he really felt but he rolled his lips and nodded. “Oh cool. Is he trying to graduate early too?”

“Yes, we are going for the same degree, so we take some classes together and have study sessions.”

Liam stared down at me with his signature confident grin and I pinched my eyebrows together, “What?”

“Nothing,” He shook his head but his eyes dropped to my breasts and slowly rose back up. He leaned down and whispered, "You look fucking hot and I'm kicking myself for saying no to benefits right now."

“The Uber is here,” Ashley interrupted. After gathering everything I needed for the night, we left the apartment.

The Uber took us to the restaurant on Carson Street and Chad already had a table reserved. I introduced him to Rion, Bas, Archer, and Liam. I’d talked about them some in the last two years so he knew about them at least. Conversation was kept light during dinner but I felt Liam’s eyes on me through most of it.

The plan after dinner was to bar hop for a couple of hours and then head down to one of the dance clubs. By the time we were headed to the club, Ashley had managed to gather a whole group of people. Some of them were from our work but most of them were random people joining us. This was typical Ashley, being the social butterfly.

Ashley and I checked our coats as soon as we got into the club and headed towards the dance floor. With plenty of alcohol in me, I was feeling tipsy and loving life. Things were good. I’d have my bachelor's degree soon and the future looked bright.

Chapter 29

Liam

The electricity between Hannah and I was still there. As we got closer to her being finished with school, I couldn’t help but think about our future. She was still the only one I wanted and every time I took someone to an event I couldn’t help but wish it was her on my arm instead of them. I had to do that for her protection. Things were getting dangerous for the family and by keeping my “dating” life random the way I was, no one would suspect her as holding my interest and make her a potential target.

The men I had watching over her already informed me of this Chad guy a long time ago, but she never mentioned him to me. He checked out and it was obvious they were friends. I couldn’t make every single guy disappear from her life, even though I wanted to, so I allowed Chad to stick around. Nobody wanted to date a Chad anyway.

Still, things had changed a bit. I didn’t think it was possible that I could be even more attracted to her. She was different somehow. More confident. More comfortable. All of this made her even sexier. Hannah had more curves now, and that outfit she was wearing showed every single one of them.

Watching her on the dance floor with Ashley was killing me. My cock hadn’t gotten the message about no benefits and was practically weeping to be buried in her. I walked away from the table and ordered another beer.

“You okay, man?” Bas asked as he followed me.

“No. I was an idiot making the no benefits rule,” I said and Bas laughed.

We walked back over to a bar table we’d been holding down for all our drinks. I watched as Hannah and Ashley took shots with a few guys. They hadn’t paid for a single drink because Ashley kept telling people it was Hannah’s birthday. We walked into this club with a group of about fifteen people and our group had only grown since then.

I watched as Hannah danced with a few different guys throughout the night, fighting the urge to go caveman on her. Bas had made a few comments to me joking about my suffering. He knew I still felt everything for Hannah.

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