Page 34 of Shutout
Abruptly, the door opens and someone stumbles out, crashing into Liv from behind. I react in time to catch her before she face-plants on the floor. Instead, she smacks hard against my chest.
“Ow!”
I wince. “You okay?” But then the drunkards get their own feet tangled and almost take us out.
“Sorry, captain.” One of the freshmen in the team grins at me, an equally tipsy girl behind him. Her makeup is all smudged and her skirt is on backwards. And he’s missing a shirt altogether.
“You better behave, Michaels,” I warn with a frown. Dude salutes and turns around, giggling girl in tow grabbinghisass. Strong hint that whatever that was, at least was consensual.
I remember the girl in my arms and glance down. Liv rubs her nose with her hand, face scrunched up in pain. All I can do is bite my lips when she pins me with the full force of her glare.
“Is your freaking chest made of steel?”
“Titanium,” I chime, sounding serious. “And as you can see, that wasn’t a bathroom.”
Liv harrumphs and she puts her hands on me, one against my chest, the other against my stomach. I freeze, muscles contracting at the shockwave the touch sends. Sensation travelsall the way down to my toes and I have to steel myself against a shiver.
But then Liv pushes me away, and I have no choice but to let my arms fall.
“So anyway, where’s the bathroom?” she asks with impatience.
I comb my hair away from my forehead, biting my lip so I don’t whine like a wounded animal. That’s how I feel now with the distance between us.
“You don’t want to use the ones downstairs, trust me.” I lean forward and grab her hand. “Let’s go upstairs.”
“Fine.” She sighs like it’s no big deal that this is the most contact we’ve had since we made out in an alley a week ago.
I shift my hand to lace our fingers together, holding tight as I navigate us back upstairs. There’s a couple about to round at least base two at the top of the stairs, and a wild mental picture forms in my mind. It’s of Liv and I just like that, her legs around my waist as I prop her up against a wall and devour her mouth.
Shit. I’m messed up. We’re supposed to just be friends—barely. I haven’t even earned her trust back. I shouldn’t be thinking about things like that.
“Where are we going?” Liv asks while we climb up the second set of stairs, this one tucked against the east end of the second floor.
“My room.” My voice comes out weirdly deep and raspy, and I keep talking so I can pretend I didn’t get turned on all on my own. “Now that I’ve been made captain of the team, I’ve moved up to the third floor that is normally for seniors.”
Our steps echo through the quiet. We keep partygoers off this floor, unless one of its residents intentionally brings company upstairs.
Uh, I guess like Liv and I now.
“Congrats, by the way. I know how important all that is to you,” she murmurs.
I pause at the top of the stairs to glance back at her. Liv meets my eyes slowly. A tightness in my shoulders ebbs away, one I hadn’t even noticed until now. It’s like I’d been waiting for this moment and it dawns on me how much I wanted someone I care about to confirm if this was an accomplishment at all.
Swallowing hard, I face forward again and resume the walk. “Thanks, Liv.”
Some voices echo around the hallway as we make it upstairs. We pass by a door that barely muffles some pretty clear sounds as to what’s happening behind it. Behind me, Liv expels the kind of breath that makes her sound exhausted.
We reach the end of the hallway and I dig my keys out of my pocket to unlock my room. I open the door with my free hand and mumble, “I cleaned my bathroom this morning. Holler if you need anything.”
Liv uncurls her fingers and slides her hand from mine, not looking up as she steps into my bedroom. “Thanks.”
“No worries. I’ll wait out here, okay?”
She glances over her shoulder. “Uh, sure.” Then she closes the door with a soft click.
I turn to rest my back against the door, twirling my keys around my finger. Liv is in my bathroom. Why does this feel so weird? We used to visit each other’s houses all the time in high school, would do our homework side by side on my bed, or she’d sit on her bedroom windowsill while I sat on the floor below her. It was no big deal.
This feels like a big deal.
