Liam
Shay had called me several times over the weekend. I didn’t answer. I was sure I’d see or hear from her Monday at school but I didn’t feel like making any more excuses to her. I didn’t like her, I wanted something I couldn’t have.
Of course.
Layla and I took a run at the lake, and I tossed her toy into the waves from the boats passing by. It was peaceful, Sarah had been right. I hadn’t heard from her since that Friday. It was Sunday and I wanted so bad to just go over to her apartment, but I wasn’t sure who all was there.
Layla brought her bone back to me, and I tossed it out further.
What would happen if Matt opened the door?
He already suspected me. Would he pick a fight? I wasn’t scared, I could hold my own. Or would he go and tell? I’d lose my job for sure. It was in the handbook about student/teacher relationships. It was against the rules, and I wanted to break them over and over again.
Layla trotted back up to me and flopped on the dirt. She was tired. I patted her head and walked over toward the truck. I heard the faint sound of my cell phone ringing. Dad’s name popped up. I was sure it was my mom again.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hey, son,” Dad said. My heart began to beat even faster. What did he want? He’d already told me everything he needed before I left.
“What’s going on?” I asked, leaning against the seats.
“Just checking in on you. Is everything alright?”
I nodded but remembered he couldn’t see me. “Yes, sir. Everything is fine.”
Why are you really calling?
“I wanted to check in, because your mother and I are coming down next weekend. We wanted to make sure you were free. You don’t have any plans?” He laughed but it was bitter. “We both know you don’t have anything serious, because woman aren’t after teachers.”
Anger rose in my throat. That was another lame excuse for a reason not to teach, in his eyes. The only thing women want was a hardcore military man.
Bullshit.
Sarah would disagree with him.
But, Sarah isn’t mine.
“Actually, I do have plans. But, I can break them.”
Dad was silent for a moment. “Oh, really? Why don’t you bring her to meet us then? We’ll get to know your new squeeze.”
My head began to spin.
How can I get out of this?
There wasn’t anything I could think of. “Okay, we’ll be ready.” I hung up the phone and tossed it in my truck.
What a fucking dick.
I patted the seat and Layla jumped in and over into the passenger’s seat. I started the truck and spun out of the lake. I only had three options and all three were risky. I could call and cancel, but Dad would know I was lying. I could ask Shay to go, but I didn’t want to lead her on. Or, what I wanted, was to bring Sarah with me. Show her off to my dad. But that could get me fired or in jail.
“Fuck. Way to go, Liam.”
Sarah
Liam was perched on his desk when I walked in ten minutes early. His head snapped toward mine and blood rushed to my cheeks.
God, I hope he can’t tell I’m blushing.
“Hey,” he said, sliding off his desk. I groaned because he looked utterly delicious. “You’re early.”
I nodded and played with the strap on my bag. “Ms. Shay knows,” I said.
“Knows…” Liam trailed off into silence. “Shit,” he mumbled, running his hand over his face. “What did she say? How do you know she knows?”
I gave him a quick recap. “She is creepy as fuck,” I said.
He laughed. “Well, she has no proof. So, that’s good.” He smiled down at me and I returned a half-hearted one. I hadn’t said what I needed to say yet, because I was chicken shit. “Why do I get the feeling you have something else to tell me?”
Shit. “Um,” I mumbled. “See, I think that we need to cool it. First off, I have a boyfriend. I’m not sure what I’m doing. I don’t know why I’m feeling this way, and I’m confused. Secondly, it’s against the rules and you could get fired. Thirdly, we have someone on to us.”
Liam’s face was unreadable. I wanted to grab him and shake some words from his mouth.
God, his mouth. Stop, Sarah.
“You’re one hundred percent right, Sarah.” He nodded, looking at the ground. “We do need to stop. But, I’m not sure I can.”
Butterflies started to dance in my stomach. “But, I’ll try. If you do something for me.”
I swallowed a large lump in my throat. “What is it?”
“It’s kind of a long story. But, my parents are coming down this weekend. And I kind of lied and said I had a girlfriend. My dad doesn’t approve of me teaching and doesn’t think women will be attracted to me because of it.”
Has he looked at his son? Every woman in her right mind would want him.
“Okay…”
“I want you to pretend, just for one night, to be my girlfriend. Please.”
How in the hell was I supposed to say no to that?
His eyes were hopeful and he was biting on his bottom lip. “Sure. But, what if someone sees us?”
He shook his head. “They won’t. We’ll go out of town to eat. Does that sound okay? I really appreciate it, Sarah.” He reached over and touched my cheek. I leaned into the feeling but before I could appreciate it, he pulled away.
Disappoint sat in. But it was the right thing to do, I think. I sighed, and walked over to my seat.
Liam barely looked at me during class. We reviewed for our map test Wednesday and then I went out to work study.
Cody was waiting on me, two Sonic cups in his hand. “One strawberry slushy for you,” he said, handing me the drink.
I took a large gulp and closed my eyes.
Heaven.
“So, how did class go?” he asked, sucking on his straw.
I eyed him and shook my head. “I told him that we needed to cool it and he said okay. Then he asked if I could pretend to be his girlfriend when his parents came down.”
Cody chocked on his straw. “No fucking way,” he said laughing. “That should go over well, what did you say?”
“I said yes. Because, I’m a sucker for him. I wanted to pounce on him during class. Something is wrong with me.”
Cody smiled. “Something would be wrong with you if you didn’t want to pounce on the man, Sarah. You had a connection before you found out he was your teacher. Now you are both attracted to each other, you kissed, and done other things. Now, it’s hard to let that connection go. It’s simple math, Sarah. Hot plus hot, and chemistry plus chemistry equals something beautiful.”
I snickered behind my hand. “You should write Hallmark cards.”
“Laugh all you want, I’m going to be famous at
something
one day. I just don’t know what yet.”
“I’m sure you will be--,” I trailed off when I heard someone shout outside the hallway door. ‘What in the hell?” I asked.
“I’ll go see,” Cody said, walking over to the door. His mouth screwed up in a hard to read expression. “Come here,” he mouthed, motioning me toward the door.
I walked over and saw Matt and Jamie arguing in the hallway. He was pointing his finger in her face and she was on the verge of tears. “What are y’all doing?” I busted out, hands on my hips.
They both turned to me at the same time. Jamie pressed her mouth into a thin line and Matt smiled. “Hey, baby. Sorry…” he trailed off, clearly trying to think of something to say, “I’m just talking to Jamie about Tyler.”
‘What about him?” I asked, irritated at the people watching us.
“She was just concerned if he was serious about them or not. I was just making sure she understood.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why haven’t you answered me back yet? I’ve text you ten times Jamie.”
She shrugged and pulled at her hair. “I’ve been busy. Sorry, I have to go.” She turned around and ran down the hallway.
Matt shrugged, walked over kissed my forehead and said, “I’m going to baseball practice, I’ll see ya tonight.”
I waited until he disappeared down the hallway before looking at Cody. “What the fuck was that about?” he asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Excuse me would you look over my essay?” someone asked from behind me. I watched down the empty hallway and grabbed their paper.
“Sure.”
Liam
Sarah had been pretty forward about us today. She wanted us to cool down, and I didn’t think I could. I would because I said I would try. She did say she’d go with me to see my parents. Which, I knew was a bad idea, but I wanted to take her. I slammed my forehead against the bathroom wall. It would be hard pretending to be with Sarah, knowing I really wanted to be with her.
Reaching over I tried to turn on my water, but the shower head oozed out a slow drizzle. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I picked up my phone to call the landlord when I remembered she’s a fucking bitch. It’d be three hours before she sent someone up. Frustrated, I bit my lip, grabbed my clothes and marched over to 203A.
Sarah opened the door. Her long tanned legs barely covered with a pair of cheerleading shorts, and her flat stomach showing between the elastic waist of her pants and the bottom of her tank top. “Hi,” I said, finally finding her eyes.
She smiled. “HI, what’s up?”
“My shower will not work, is there any way I could use yours?”
Her faced turned pale. Maybe this was a bad idea. But before I could run from humiliation, she opened the door all the way. “Sure, you can use Cody’s.”
“No he can’t,” Cody said from the kitchen. He tugged off his shirt. “I’m getting in. You can use Sarah’s.” He gave Sarah a smile and ran into what I assumed was his bathroom.
She looked back at me and motioned for me to follow her. I tried not to laugh at her face. Then I saw her ass in those shorts and my dick reminded me not to ever laugh at her again. “Okay, here it is,” she said, opening the door. The smell smacked me in the face when I walked in. It smelled like vanilla, a scent I’d smelled on her the night at the lake. She had orange, pink and yellow towels, shower curtains and orange rugs. I smiled and looked over at her.
She was nervously picking at her shirt and not meeting my eyes on purpose. “There are towels in the cabinet, shampoo, body wash and conditioner. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
I licked my lips and nodded at her. “Sure.”
Sarah
Holy Hell.
I shut the door and slid against the wall. He was naked in the next room, no clothes, just all manly inch of him bear. I shivered.
I heard the shower turn on and then my door creaked opened. “What are you doing in here? You said you had to take a shower,” I said.
Cody rolled his eyes. “That was a ploy to get him in your shower. Don’t cha just want to sneak in there and take a little peak?”
I shook my head. “No way, you couldn’t pay me.” That’s was a lie, I would have done it for free.
“Sureee,” Cody said, shutting the door. “Tell me how it is,” he said. I heard his feet and then his door shut.
Jesus
. Biting my lip, I sat on my bed and watched the door. I didn’t figure it would do anything, but I imagined what lied behind it.
Liam. Naked. Sexy. Chest. Arms. Tattoos
. That was what my brain felt like, a mush of words surrounding him. I need some help.
I turned on my TV and laid against the headboard. Zeus chased his tail on the end of the bed. When I heard the shower turn off, I sat up straight, waiting for him to come out. When the door finally opened, he walked out in just his jeans, hanging low on his hips.
Mother fucker.
His hair was still wet, water traveling down his chest and dissolving in his jeans. My mouth felt dry, I couldn’t make myself speak.
“Thanks, Sarah,” he said, bringing me back to the present.
I nodded, nibbled on my lip and smiled. “Sure, anytime. You should call the landlord and tell her about your water. But, she is kind of a bitch.”
He laughed, his Adam’s apple moving in his throat. “That she is. I just hope that she can get it fixed soon.”
I twisted a ring around my finger. “Well, if you need to, my shower is opened anytime.”
Liam cocked an eyebrow and a cat like grin spread across his face. “Really?” he took a small step toward me. “Will you be in that shower that’s opened anytime?” He took another step toward me.
My breath started to come in short gasps.
Control your hormones, Sarah
. I bit my lip and took a step backwards. “That really isn’t something we should talk about, Mr. Downs.”
He stopped, smiled wider and took two steps toward me. “Something we shouldn’t and something you want to, is two different things, Ms. Thomas. Tell me,” he said, trailing a finger from my jawline to the V in my shirt. “Do you not want to be in that shower, or do you think we shouldn’t be in that shower?”
Shouldn’t.
His hand dipped below my shirt, caressing against the top of my bra.
Jesus.
I exhaled shakily and glanced up at him. He winked. “Shouldn’t,” I mumbled.
He made a soft purr sound and leaned into me.
Yes,
I wanted to scream. But before his lips touched mine, he turned and kissed my cheek. “Just checking,” he mumbled into my ear, before turning around and walking out.
Bastard.
I lay in my bed, watching the door.
Did he just tease me?
I couldn’t describe the feeling I had when he walked out of the door.
Asshole.
I wanted to slap the shit out of him and pull his clothes off at the same time. My body was on fire, he was hot as hell and I wanted all of him. I had gotten up three different times determined to barge over to his house, but decided against it. I had told him we needed to cool down, and I was anything but cool. I was scolding hot with need. Aggravated, I turned on my side and buried my face in my pillow. I don’t know how long I laid there, until I finally fell into a Liam filled sleep.
The next morning,
I got up early, and went to Java City. I ordered an Oreo Java and headed toward class. Jamie still hadn’t texted or called me. For some reason, she was mad and wasn’t getting over it. Not to mention Matt, who hadn’t stayed the night in two nights. Not that I was complaining, getting sleep was something I had missed. But, it was out of character for him.
When I got to class I swept into the room and took my seat by Tyler. He was in my creative writing class, too. “Hey,” he said, leaning toward me.
I sat down. “Hey, what’s up?”
He shrugged and spun his pen around his desktop. “Nothing. Haven’t heard from Jamie. She won’t have anything to do with me. Any news on your end?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I shook my head. “She has been ignoring me for days. I don’t know what the hell is up with her. She and Matt were talking in the hallway and I asked her. She said she’d been busy. We all know that’s a damn lie. She doesn’t do anything. Ever.”
Tyler smiled and shook his head, turning his hat around backwards. “Did you do your homework?”
I pulled my notebook close to my chest.
Yeah, I had done it. I had basically written a fucking porno. Not exactly, but close.
“Yeah, I did.”
He rummaged around in his bag and slid me his. We always did that. I read his, he read mine. “Um, I’d rather not--,” I said but he had already placed his on my desk and took my notebook.
No!
He opened it up and then his brows furrowed. “What in the hell?” He looked up at me. “I’d say this was a nice piece for Matt to see, but he doesn’t have brown hair or gray eyes.” He held the notebook out to the side. “Who is this about?”
I leaned over and snatched my notebook. “No one. This is fiction writing, I made him up.”
Lie. Lie. Lie.
He furrowed his brow but finally smiled and shrugged. “You’re such a girl,” he mumbled.
I sighed. I had been feeling more like a hormone case than a girl lately.
When class was over, I walked toward the library. I had the day off from the writing center, so I decided to do a little studying for the Survey of Civ class on Friday. I sat down at my table and pulled out my books. I had the places down probably as much as I could. After an hour, I decided to go get me a drink. The drink machine was on the other side of the second floor.
I made it to the third row over when I heard something.
What was that?
I strained my ear and listened.
Moaning?
I rolled my eyes.
Again, moaning louder.
Damn.
Tip-toeing I walked over to the bookshelf, and peeked around the corner. My heart fell from my body.
“Matt?” I asked, even though I knew it was him.
His head whipped around, turning his make out buddy to face me. “Jamie?” I screeched out, my hand covering my mouth.
“Baby,” Matt said, pushing Jamie away. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“It’s not what it looks like?
So, I’m imagining you making out with my best friend. I’m pretty sure it i
s
what it look like, Matt.”
“I’m sorry, baby. She doesn’t mean anything. I fucked up.”
Jamie stomped her foot, letting out a scream. “I don’t mean anything?” she yelled, her brown eyes huge. “What was last night then, Matt? Did you fuck me just because I’m nothing?”
He’d slept with her. My face was burning, and I couldn’t stop the rage in my throat. Grabbing the nearest book, I threw it right at his head. He tried to duck but it nicked his eye. “Fuck,” he yelled, grabbing at his eye. A thin line of blood ran down his face and I smiled.
“Serves you right, mother fucker.”
“You made him bleed,” Jamie yelled, running to his side.
I laughed without humor. “Don’t you ever talk to me again, you stupid slut. Do you see he was so easily going to toss you away? You. Mean. Nothing.”
Tears started to build in my eyes but I pushed them back
. I will not let them see me cry.
A firm hand grabbed my elbow, pulling me back from the aisle. I glanced up and looked into Liam’s eyes. “You going home?”
I nodded. “Anywhere but here.”
Liam didn’t say anything to me on the way back to Pine Valley. He sat in the driver’s seat, no music, no talking just silence. I needed it. I couldn’t tolerate any more words, talking, sounds or looks. I was on the verge of tears and a scream was teasing my throat.
How could they do this to me? How could my best friend sleep with my boyfriend? How could my boyfriend sleep with my best friend?
My vision blurred from the tears but the sick realization that I had done this to Matt with Liam struck me. Regardless that it wasn’t his best friend I had done it with, it was still wrong. I sighed, and ran my fingers over my face. “Is this a sign?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” Liam asked.
“A sign that what I’m doing it wrong? Or is it a free pass out. A free pass to not be with Matt anymore. To do what I want to do.”
Liam’s jaw clenched and he closed his eyes. “What do you want to do?” he asked.
He knew. He wanted me to say it. “For you to take me,” I said as calmly as I could. I hoped that he couldn’t tell that my heart was beating erratically against my chest.
“What I want to tell you is that it’s your free pass, you can have all of me you want. But the other side of me says to do what you think is right. If you love Matt and want to give him another chance than I’ll be here when you’re finished.”
He glanced over at me, gray eyes iridescent. He pulled into the parking lot, the hot sun beating down on his truck. “What is it, Sarah?” he asked, his voice a soft whisper.
I swallowed. “I think you need to bring me to your room.”