Finally, he pulled away and we were both breathless. I looked into his eyes and I could see that they were dancing with excitement; I could also see something else that scared the life out of me because I knew I wasn’t ready for that. I saw lust, plain and simple. Liam wanted my body badly. I gasped and pushed him back, stepping out of the shower quickly.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. Too soon, right?” he asked, coming out of the shower and taking hold of my hand.
I turned back to look at him. I couldn’t give him what he wanted; he could get that somewhere else. I mean, he was Liam James for goodness sake, he could have any girl he wanted, and he does! He already admitted he hooked up with someone last night before he kissed me. He was a player plain and simple and if I let him have my heart, he would break it, no doubt about it.
“Liam, what do you want from me?” I asked quietly, looking at my soaked sneakers.
He put his finger under my chin and lifted my face so I had to look at him. “Everything,” he said simply.
My heart stopped, and then took off in a sprint at how sweet that sounded. Wait, it’s just a line to get into your pants, Amber, calm down! “I can’t give you that, not even close. Go find the skank that you hooked up with last night, I’m sure she’s more than willing to do everything with you,” I growled nastily, doing air quotes around the word everything, before storming off to get changed. My bag was already in here, I assume one of the girls put it in after seeing Liam and I in the shower making out. Damn it, that’s embarrassing!
He grabbed my wrist and made me stop and look at him. “What skank are you talking about, Angel?” he asked, looking at me confused.
“The skank you screwed before you kissed me in bed! Damn it, Liam, you weren’t even drunk and you’ve forgotten already? Wow, this one must have really meant something to you,” I spat acidly.
He looked even more confused. “I didn’t screw anyone last night, what are you talking about?” he asked, trying to pull me to him, but I stood my ground and wrenched my wrist out of his grasp, he didn’t resist he just let me go; he knew I didn’t like being restrained.
I gave him my death glare and grabbed my towel out of my bag, toweling off my dripping hair. I pulled the little daisy out of my ponytail and threw it at his feet. “Liam, you already told me in the car earlier that you f**ked some chick you wanted, that’s why you were so happy,” I growled. Was he seriously going to lie to me about it now?
Understanding crossed his face, his body seeming to visibly relax. “Actually, I never said I f**ked anyone. What I actually said was that I finally scored with a really hot chick that I’d been after for a while,” he stated, shrugging and smiling, as if this cleared everything up.
I shook my head, still angry. The wording didn’t matter to me, it was all the same and I still felt betrayed and used. “Whatever, fucked, scored, it’s all the same thing. You’re a stupid freaking player and I can’t believe I let you kiss me. Twice!” I cried. I could feel the tears threatening to come out, so I turned my back on him.
“You’re misunderstanding what I meant!” he said desperately.
I span around to face him again. “Oh, I’m sorry! Explain please,” I said sarcastically, waving my hand in a go ahead gesture.
“I was talking about you,” he said quietly. I frowned, me? “I’ve been crazy about you since the first time I saw you, Angel, but your brother wouldn’t let me anywhere near you. All this time it’s only ever been you.” He looked at the floor like a little lost boy and I couldn’t breathe.
Did he really just say that? He liked me but Jake wouldn’t let him near me? How could that be true? Anyway, he’s a player who has sex with three or four different girls a week. How could it only ever be me? He’s never even had a girlfriend, he just has dates!
He looked at me pleadingly, he was hurting I could tell by his face, but I didn’t know what to do. If I took a chance I knew I would fall in love with him and there was a good chance he would break my heart into a million pieces, but I don’t think I could stand to lose him. He had been a constant in my life and I needed him, probably more than I needed Jake. He stepped forward and took my face in his hands and bent his face to mine and kissed me, tenderly. I knew the decision had been made; this really wasn’t something I could think through and reason out the pros and cons. When Liam kissed me, everything seemed right and whole, just like it should be. I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around him tightly, pressing into his chest.
He pulled away and grinned at me. “How about I buy lunch today, and we call it a date?” he suggested, looking at me shyly. I’d never seen Liam look shy or vulnerable in his life. The tender, pleading expression on his face was enough to set what felt like a hundred butterflies loose in my stomach.
I pretended to think about it for a few seconds and his face fell. “OK,” I finally agreed, smiling. He grinned happily before pulling me into another kiss that actually made me feel a little giddy.
He pulled out of the kiss just as I was getting slightly breathless. “I’d better go get some dry clothes from the car, give you a chance to get changed,” he said looking me over with a satisfied smile on his face. “Not that you don’t look sexy as hell in what you’re wearing.”
I looked down at myself, to see that my white t-shirt was now stuck to me and completely see through. I laughed uncomfortably and wrapped my arms around myself, blushing like crazy. He laughed too and bent to pick up the flower that I had thrown at his feet. He held it back out to me, smiling his beautiful smile.
“Thanks,” I whispered, biting my lip as my face burned with embarrassment.
“Anytime,” he said as he walked out of the door.
Chapter 6
I got changed quickly and walked out to the car. Liam was already there, leaning casually against the car, chatting happily with Justin and Spencer, another guy from my crew.
“Hey,” I chirped as I walked up to them.
Liam smiled a beautiful smile at me. “That’s my cue boys, gotta take the lady on our first real date. See you next week,” he said, waving them away with a flick of his hand.
Justin’s mouth fell open and he looked from Liam to me several times. “Date? But…. I mean…. what? I thought he was your brother’s best friend! You don’t even like him; you always say he’s a man-whore asshole. Whenever I’ve said to you about how hot he was, you just said that you wouldn’t touch his STD ass with a bargepole!” Justin said, frowning, and looking at me confused.
I groaned and closed my eyes. I was literally so embarrassed that I wished the ground would open up and swallow me. How could he just say that right in front of Liam? Not that I haven’t told him that to his face on more than one occasion, but I still felt awful. I heard Liam start to laugh so I risked a glance at him, he didn’t look angry or anything.
“Thanks, Jus,” I muttered, giving him a look that should be able to kill him on the spot.
Liam reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me to his side, still laughing. “It’s a lady’s prerogative to change her mind,” he said to Justin with a wink, opening my car door for me.
“I’ll see you next week, guys, and I promise I won’t be late,” I vowed, kissing their cheeks before getting in the car. Liam gave them both the typical man hug handshake thing, and ran round to the driver’s side. When he started the car he looked over at me with a smile. “Sorry,” I muttered, blushing again.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before out of your beautiful mouth,” he replied with a grin.
I couldn’t help but smile, he was full of the compliments today, but some part of me was worrying if he had said that to all the other girls. Was he expecting me to have sex with him after a couple of dates? Because if he was, then he was going to be very disappointed. I decided that we needed to talk about it. I mean, what was the point in even trying, if he was just using me for sex, and I wasn’t planning on giving it up anytime soon?
“So, where shall we go for lunch?” he asked, snapping me out of my little internal discussion.
“Um…. I don’t mind, what do you fancy?” I asked. He shot me a flirty look and a wicked smile. I rolled my eyes at him; he really is a sex crazed player! “To eat, Liam,” I added, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to look stern.
He just laughed and started driving. “How about Chinese? You like that, right?” he asked, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.
“Yeah, I love Chinese food!” I chirped happily, grinning like I’d won the lottery. Jake hated Chinese food so we hardly ever had it; Liam smiled and drove us to the restaurant on the high-street.
We were now sitting, eating our food. We had been chatting happily for nearly an hour and I was again surprised by how easy it was to talk to him. I’d known him for twelve years and I’d never really just spoken to him properly about stuff. His leg brushed mine under the table and made me jump, not because of my fear, but because it sent a little jolt through my system, making the hairs on the back of my neck prick up and my pulse quicken.
I decided now was the time to sort it out, there was only one other couple in the restaurant so we could talk freely, but I just didn’t know how to begin. “Liam, I think we need to talk about something,” I said quietly.
He cocked his head to the side slightly and looked at me curiously. “OK. What’s up?”
I took a deep breath, I just needed to get it out and see what he thought about it. “I really don’t know what you want from me; I mean, you can have any girl that you want. I’m an emotional wreck for goodness sake… I mean…. I flinch every time anyone touches me. I…. I can’t give you what you want,” I rambled, frowning. Wow, that came out a little different than I thought, but at least it got the point across.
“You’re worried about sex,” he stated, looking at me knowingly, not seeming to be bothered by this conversation at all.
I gulped and nodded. “I just…. I’m not ready for anything like that, so if that’s what you want then there really is no point in starting anything,” I said quietly, looking down at my plate and wishing the ground would swallow me again.
He put his hand under my chin and lifted my face up to look at his; he was smiling his beautiful smile. “I can wait as long as you want. I really am crazy about you, it’s not about sex,” he said tenderly, making my heart start to race.
Is he serious or is this a trick so I’ll give it up sooner? “What if I said I didn’t believe in ha**ng s*x before marriage?” I asked, testing him.
His eyes showed his amusement, but he just kept his face straight. “Then I’d say how about we get married as soon as you’re old enough. Eighteen is the legal age, right?” he replied, winking at me.
I laughed but was still unsure what he meant, I wasn’t eighteen for another two years, is he saying that he’ll wait two years for me? No sex until after marriage wasn’t something that I believed in; I’d just wanted to see his reaction. “I don’t believe in that, but I don’t know how long it’ll be, Liam, honestly.” I chewed on my lip nervously.
“Angel, I said I can wait as long as you need. I want to be with you.” He looked me right in the eyes as he spoke. I didn’t see one ounce of doubt or trickery there and I felt hope building up inside me. Was he really that into me that he would wait for me?
“What about in three months’ time when you still haven’t gotten any, and some random girl throws herself at you, could you wait then?” I asked sceptically.
He laughed. “You really do think I’m some sex crazed player, don’t you?” he asked. I nodded in confirmation. I didn’t think it, I knew it, he slept around a lot! “Do you know why I’ve been with all of those girls?” he asked, suddenly looking uncomfortable and embarrassed.
“They give good head?” I asked sarcastically. Is he really going to go into details about his sex life to a girl he’s just told he’s crazy about and who is scared of having sex? Does he actually not have a clue?