Page 72 of Unfinished

“And?” Ashley asked.

“If someone asks me out, I’m going to say yes. I don’t owe Liam any type of loyalty, we are just friends.” Looking at Ashley, she nodded her approval.

“Hey, Hannah!” Chad shouted after me as I was leaving a class.

“Hey, Chad. what’s up?” I asked as he caught up.

“Do you want to go to dinner with me?” The question came out of nowhere. With the exception of our first meeting at the bookstore, Chad had never seemed interested in taking me on a date.

“Dinner?” I promised myself a week ago that I would say yes to someone asking me out, but do I want to go on a date with Chad? We’d been friends for a while but that was all we’d been.

“Yea, like a date. I know we’ve been friends and study buddies…” Chad ran his hand through his chestnut hair, “I thought maybe… you know what this is stupid, sorry.”

Chad went to walk away so I blurted out, “We can have dinner, I’m actually off on Friday.”

Chad spun back to me with his eyes wide and I smiled softly.

“Alright, I’ll pick you up on Friday at seven.” Chad smiled brightly at me and I nodded with a smile, then turned to walk to my next class.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t turn down a date if someone asked and I was going to stick to that. I was in college, I was single, and even if I loved Liam, we knew we couldn’t be together right now anyway. He was dating. I should too.

Chad and I were going on our third date tonight and I was going to suggest that we just be friends because I didn’t want to string him along if I knew I’d never be serious with him. The saddest part, was I was more concerned about losing a great study buddy.

I liked Chad enough, but he wasn’t Liam. Which was what I was afraid of when I allowed myself to fall for Liam in the first place. I was fairly positive he ruined me and no one else would ever compare to him. Which meant if we didn’t end up together, I would most definitely end up in a 100 sq foot apartment with twenty cats.

On paper, Chad was exactly who I should be with. He would end up in software development like me, we would have cozy nights at home, buy a house, have two kids and a dog, and would be genuinely content in our lives together.

With Liam it was all heat, passion, and that damned connection. His life scared the shit out of me, though. His family was insanely rich and how the hell would I adjust to that life?

With someone like Chad I’d be content, but I’d probably always fantasize about Liam. That wasn’t fair to anyone, which was why I was asking Chad to just be friends tonight. I tried to date someone else and it confirmed that it had always been Liam. Even if I couldn’t be with Liam, I couldn’t string someone else along either.

We were going to one of the local clubs, which was throwing a costume party. I decided to Rule 63 Captain America and dressed up as the female version. I had my hair in waves and pulled into a high ponytail. At least I’d be warm tonight with this bodysuit. It was cold and drizzling outside. I looked hot as hell though and it was a shame that it was being wasted on someone I planned on dumping.

Chad was dressed up like the Winter Soldier and, surprisingly, he pulled it off pretty well. We did look pretty good together. When we walked into the club, there were a lot of people who gave us compliments and loved our costumes.

We started dancing after a couple of shots. I saw so many great costumes and the club was going nuts with a fantastic DJ. Ashley ran over and hugged me, she was dressed up like a sexy mad hatter. She pulled out her camera and we took a picture together with Chad behind us.

“You do look fantastic, by the way,” Chad said into my ear, putting his hands on my hips.

“Thank you.” I smiled up at him.

The DJ started playing a remix of “Heads Will Roll” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and we got close together to dance. Chad’s hand slid down my back and stopped at the curve of my ass as I rolled and rocked with him.

Chad leaned his head down and pressed his lips to mine. Nothing, not a damn thing happened for me as we kissed. There was no spark, no heat, no passion, no need. I broke away from the kiss, pushing Chad back slightly, and I looked up at him. Before I was able to say anything, I was being pulled away from Chad and an arm shoved Chad away. Upon collecting my bearings, I saw Liam dressed as Tony Stark and he was glaring at Chad.

“What the fuck, man?” Chad yelled.

“Stop!” I yelled, moving in between them.

“Stay away from Hannah!” Liam yelled at Chad and I had my hands on Liam’s chest trying to keep him away from Chad. I was shocked that Liam was there but also a little scared because he was seeing me on a date.

That shouldn’t be something I was scared about. We had agreed to date and Liam had a few women on his arms over the last couple of years. I shouldn’t have been feeling scared that he saw me with someone else. So why was I? Why did it feel like I just got caught cheating?

“Are you two a couple?” Chad asked me and I looked up at him.

“No, we are just friends,” I shouted over the music.

“Obviously not to him,” Chad spit and he threw his hands up and walked away.

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