Page 42 of Falling For Liam
“I know you’re staring,” he announces when he pauses to open it.
“Good. You’ve got a great arse.”
“Not as good as yours,” are his parting words before the door closes softly behind him.
I want to fall back on the bed and relive the last few hours, but I don’t have time for that. Instead, I jump from the bed and make my way to the en suite. My muscles pull like I’ve just had a serious session at the gym, and I’m reminded of my lack of…exercise lately. I can’t even pinpoint when the last time I had sex was. For someone who supposedly had a boyfriend, that’s horrendous.
After doing what I need to do, I stand and stare at myself in the mirror. I’ve got black makeup smears under my eyes but it does little to distract from the bright shining blue beneath. I thought I looked alive and more like myself than ever before going out, but right now, the woman staring back at me is someone I’d almost forgotten. She’s got things to look forward to, a future full of promise and surprise.
After freshening up, I swipe Liam’s discarded shirt from the floor and wrap it around my shoulders. Bringing the fabric up to my nose, I take a deep breath of him and I smile. This evening was everything I didn’t know I needed.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I allow myself to smile and relax. Right here, right now is exactly where I’m meant to be, and I can’t help thinking that if all that bullshit in Cardiff meant I got to have this, then it was almost worth it…almost.
Dragging my bag from the floor where it fell some time ago, I dig inside for my phone. I’m convinced I’ll have messages from Nicole asking how tonight went. Conniving bitch—I can’t believe she set me up. Not that I’m ever going to hold it against her.
My phone lights up and my stomach drops. Staring back at me is a number that I never thought I’d see again. Maybe it was naïve of me not to change my number when I got here, but I really believed running would be enough.
My hands tremble as I swipe across the phone and then open the message. What comes up has tears stinging my eyes and bile burning my throat.
Liam
“Here you go, one glass of water,” I sing as I let myself back into the room, my wide smile still firmly in place. BJ found me in the kitchen as I filled glasses for both of us. One look at me stood in only my boxers with a goofy smile on my face and he knew exactly how my night had gone.
“That’s what I’m talking about, dude!” he exclaimed as he slapped my shoulder. “Was she worth the wait?”
“Too fucking right.” There was no way I was giving that fucker any details, but I knew he could read my joy all too well so there was no point trying to cover it up.
“I’m so fucking glad. You know Dec and I were worried it might have fallen off.”
“Fuck off, prick.” This wasn’t news to me. Both of them have mentioned it a time or two before when I showed no interest in pulling random women while we were out.
“I need to call him,” he said, making a show of pulling his phone from his pocket. “He needs to hear that our boy doesn’t have a pussy, after all.”
Shaking my head at his weirdness, I grabbed both glasses and headed back up to where my girl was waiting for me.
One look at her and my heart drops. Fuck, I shouldn’t have left. I knew I shouldn’t have allowed her time to think. She’s regretting it, and my side of her bed’s still fucking warm.
“Liv?” I ask, halfway to the bed.
She’s sat on the end, staring down at her hands, hiding behind her hair. I don’t need to see more to know. She’s about to turn me away.
It’s another two seconds before her head moves and she looks up at me, but although her eyes look haunted, like I was expecting, she has a wide smile on her face.
“Hey, what took you so long?”
I stare at her for a beat, feeling like I’ve just been whiplashed. What the fuck’s going on? I know it’s been quite a while since I last had sex, but I’m pretty sure this insecurity on my part is a new thing.
“Sorry, I…uh…got collared by BJ.”
“Ah,” she says, dropping her eyes down my almost naked body. “Bet that was enlightening. Is there a reason why you’re still all the way over there?”
“Uh…I guess not.” Handing her one of the glasses still in my hand, I place the other one down beside the bed and drop down next to her. “Are you okay?” I ask. Something seems really off, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
“Couldn’t be better.” Her voice is a little empty, but when she places the glass on the floor and proceeds to throw one of her legs over me until she’s straddling my lap, I shamelessly put it to one side.
“This definitely looks better on you than it does me.” I run my finger down the front of my shirt, popping the buttons to expose more of her body.
“You think?”
