“You’re joking, right?” she asked Liam. Her voice wasn’t smooth and sexy like it had been a minute ago. The aggravation was clear in her tone.
“Nope,” was the only response that Liam gave her.
She stood there staring at him for a moment longer like she was waiting for him to change his mind and come to his senses, but Liam didn’t say another word and he certainly didn’t look at her. She finally gave up and stomped off mumbling obscenities under her breath.
“Sorry about that,” Liam said. “So, finish telling me about your home.”
I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Liam had basically told Anna to kick rocks and chose to hang out with me to talk about my home instead of going out to party. I was pretty sure I felt my heart do a flip inside of my chest just before the butterflies took hold. I could hardly believe what was happening, but I definitely liked it so far.
CHAPTER FIVE
Over the next month, Liam and I spend most of our free time together. He has become the best friend I’ve ever had, and I am hoping he feels a little something more. I love spending time with him and every time his hand touches mine or he smiles at me like I just lit up his world my heart skips a beat or two. Like many nights, Liam walked me home after we studied our history notes together and grabbed some sandwiches at the campus café. We had planned to watch a movie before calling it a night since Cindy was never at the dorm, but when we walked in she was sitting on her bed under the blankets, for once looking like she might be turning in early for the night.
“Hey guys,” Cindy greeted Liam and me when she glanced up from her phone screen.
“Hey, Cindy. What’s going on tonight?” I asked her. I was hoping she had plans. As much time as Liam and I had been spending together it was almost always in public, and never alone. I had truly been looking forward to spending time alone with him tonight. I thought that his suggestion that we watch a movie alone at my dorm might mean something more.
Cindy shrugged her shoulders and looked back down at her screen. “I’m just going to call it a night early. I’ve been feeling pretty tired this week so I thought I would see if I could catch up on some sleep.”
I looked at Liam and mouthed sorry. “Do you want to do something else?” I asked him quietly, hoping that Cindy would be too caught up in her social media status to pay attention to what we were saying.
“No, it’s okay,” Liam said with a small smile. “I’ll let the two of you have a quiet girls night. We can catch up tomorrow if you want. I’ll call or text you tomorrow.”
Despite the fact that I would much rather kick Cindy out then spend the night hanging out with her over Liam, I forced a smile and agreed. “Sounds good. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Liam told Cindy goodnight and then he saw himself out of our dorm room. I put my bag down and took a seat on the edge of the bed to remove my shoes. Cindy sat up and moved down her bed so that she was sitting across from me, facing me. “So, what is up with that?” Cindy asked and she nodded her head toward the door.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I guess he just didn’t feel like imposing since you said you want to catch up on your rest.”
Cindy rolled her eyes and me. “Don’t be obtuse, Hailey. You know that is not what I meant. What’s up with the two of you spending so much time together?”
“We are friends. What’s wrong with me hanging out with him?” I was feeling defensive. Cindy’s tone suggested she was trying to insinuate something not so nice.
“Look, Hailey.” Cindy reached moved to sit on my bed beside me. “You don’t have to play shy. We are friends, right. I know that you and Liam have to be sleeping together, otherwise why would he be spending every waking minute with you. So spill.”
Cindy smiled brightly like she thought we were about to have to girlfriends heart to heart and talk about boys and what they do in bed. I, on the other hand, was at a loss. Cindy and I may not be best friends, but overall I thought I could consider her a friend until now. What kind of friend would insinuate that a guy would only spend his time with me if he was getting sex out of it.
I look at Cindy with my eyes wide and I feel my eyebrows raised up in shock. “Cindy, no, we aren’t. I’m not.” I was so caught off guard that I found myself fighting for what to say. I took a deep breath and calmed myself down. “We are not sleeping together.”
Cindy stared at me, studying my face. Her smile faded and instead she looked confused. “Then why is Liam hanging out with you like he does?”
As soon as she said those words I felt tears well up in my eyes. I couldn’t believe she would say something so cruel. Cindy had never had a lot of tact, but she was usually still a nice person. This, however, was just mean and hurtful. I had no idea she thought so little of me that she believed the only reason a guy would bother spending time with me would be for sex. I stood up and grabbed my keys practically running out the door. I could hear Cindy saying something as I slammed the door shut behind me, but I didn’t stop to listen and figure out what it was. At that moment the last thing I wanted was to hear anything else that Cindy had to say. She had already said plenty.
When I stormed out of the dorm room I didn’t really know where I planned to go. All I knew was that I had to get away from Cindy right away. I couldn’t bear to sit in that room for one more minute while she judged me. Before I knew where I was headed I found myself walking down the hall where Liam’s dorm was located. When I got to his room I knocked lightly on the door and stood back waiting to see if he was going to answer the door. When Liam didn’t come to the door after a minute I turned around and headed back the direction I had come from. I chastised myself for thinking he would just be sitting in his room all alone just because our plans for the night hadn’t worked it. He was probably out at a party somewhere enjoying his break from me and my aversion to the college party scene.
I didn’t get far before I heard someone calling my name. When I turned around, Liam stood just outside his door with a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was wet and pushed back, and his bare chest was lined with beads of water; clearly he had been in the shower. With one hand on his towel, holding it together, Liam raised his other hand and motioned for me to come back. I didn’t move right away. So many thoughts were running through my head. My initial reaction was happiness that Liam was in fact home, but when I considered all of the reasons he might be taking a shower that small happy sliver faded.
“Hailey, please come on in.” Liam sort of woke me from my sad daydream and I made my way back to his dorm and he gestured for me to enter in front of him.
I walked inside Liam’s room but I didn’t turn around. I heard him shut the door and when he lightly placed his hand on my shoulder I let my head fall. Liam moved closer to me and I could practically feel his body heat against my back. “Is everything okay, Hailey?” Liam asked from behind me.
His voice sounded so sincere, like he was truly concerned about me and when I heard that concern in his voice tears welled up in my eyes once again and slowly trickled down my cheeks. Liam grabbed my arm and slowly turned me around to face him.
“Hailey, tell me what’s wrong,” Liam encouraged.
I wiped the tears away from my eyes and took a breath before looking him in the eyes. “Cindy thought that we were sleeping together. When I told her that we were not she made a snide remark about why would you be hanging out with me otherwise.”
Liam stepped back and ran his hands through his hair. His face contorted and anger flashed in his eyes. For a minute I thought he was about to yell; like maybe I had somehow made him mad at me, or he is mad that someone figured out his deal. Maybe he really was after something from me.
“Why?” I asked him.
Liam dropped his hands and looked at me. “What?” The anger was gone and now he just looked confused.
“Why are you spending so much time with me? What do you get out of it?”
“Hailey,” my name was barely a whisper on Liam’s lips.
Liam slowly lifted his head and smiled planting two quick kisses on my lips. “Does that answer your questions?” Liam smiled down at me and I smiled back with a small nod. He brushed my hair behind my ear. “I better get some clothes on. We’re going out.”
“We are?” I ask.
“Yep. I want to dance with my girl.”
Liam grabbed some clothes and went in the bathroom and quickly got dressed. He took me to a party. I had not been to a party since my first night at school, but Liam was able to convince me when he referred to me as his girl. The idea of sharing a slow dance with him made me feel like all kinds of butterflies in my stomach. When we got to the party Liam took me by my hand and led me straight to the area being used as a dance floor. Facing each other, Liam took ahold of my arms and wrapped them around his neck, then he wrapped his own arms around my waist and he began to sway to the music. It was a slow song, and Liam held me close and kept his eyes locked on mine as we slowly danced. I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face, and the butterflies in my stomach had me feeling like I was floating on cloud nine. When the song ended Liam gave me a sweet, soft kiss on the lips. “I’ll be right back,” he told me. “I’m just going to go grab us some drinks. Don’t go anywhere.”
I smiled and nodded, “I’ll be right here.”
The minute Liam was out of my site Jeff, Cindy’s boyfriend, came up to me with a sly smile spread across his face that made me feel a little uncomfortable. “Hey, Hailey,” Jeff said. “Cindy sent me to get you. She said that she needs to talk to you in private; that it’s important.”
Even though I was still upset with Cindy, I decided to go with Jeff to talk with her. Maybe she wanted to apologize and that is why she asked to speak in private. She might have been harsh in her judgement of Liam and I, but she was my roommate and the closest thing I had found to a friend since coming here outside of Liam so I was hoping we could work things out. Jeff led me to a room with a shut door and when he held the door open he motioned for me to go in ahead of him. Once I was in the room I realized right away that Cindy was not there, but before I could make a move to leave Jeff was inside the room and he had the door shut behind him. He stood between me and the door and I knew that I would not be able to get past him to get out unless he allowed me to do so.
“Jeff, what’s going on? Where’s Cindy?” I tried to keep my voice calm and not let him hear the uneasiness in my voice, but I was pretty sure that the way my voice came out squeaking like a mouse wasn’t disguising anything.
The next thing I knew Jeff moved in on me, right in my person space. All I could smell was his thick cologne and the alcohol on his breath. “Actually, I just wanted to spend some time with you, alone,” Jeff said. He had his face barely an inch away from mine and he had backed me up until I was pinned between his body and a wall. He ran the back of his hand down my arm from my shoulder to my hand while he said, “I thought we could get to know each other a little better.”
I fought the urge to shiver in disgust. “Aren’t you dating Cindy?” I asked him. I was hoping that his brain was just riddled with alcohol, and that I could bring him back to his senses by mentioning hi current relationship with my roommate. Unfortunately, all I managed to do was make him laugh.
“Cindy is old news. See, I’ve already had the one roommate and now I am ready for a taste of the other.” Jeff’s eyes moved down to my chest and I watched as his tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip.
He leaned in closer attempting to press his lips to mine, but I quickly turned my face and shot both of my arms out in front of me pushing against his chest as hard as I could. I struggled against him as hard as I could, but he wouldn’t budge. He wrapped his hand around my face and turned it back towards him, but just before his lips touched mine his was suddenly yanked back and away from me. Before I had a chance to comprehend what had happened, Liam was on top of Jeff throwing punch after punch into his face. I just stood there in shock for a minute before what I was witnessing actually sunk in, and then I began screaming Liam’s name trying to get him to stop. It was like Liam was in some kind of trance and the only thing he could see or hear was Jeff. After a few minutes, a few guys came into the room and they were able to pull Liam off of Jeff. He didn’t go easily, and they had to work together to get him out of the frat house. I followed them out, still in a daze and I didn’t even realize that they were campus security until we were outside and I saw them putting Liam into the back of one of the campus security vehicles. They pull off and I find myself alone, and confused as I try to wrap my mind around everything that just happened.
CHAPTER SIX
The next day I stay in my dorm room trying to sort through everything that happened in my head. Cindy was already home and asleep when I got back the night before, but I made sure to be quiet so I wouldn’t wake her. However, this morning when I woke up she was sitting up in her bed staring at me like she had been there a while just waiting on me to wake up so she could grill me for something.
I sat up and turned to face her, trying to prepare myself for whatever might be about to come out of her mouth. “Hey,” I said. My voice cracked and I cleared my throat while I waited for her to say something.
Cindy got up and moved over to my bed, then she reached for me and took both of my hands in her own. “Hailey, I am so sorry for what Jeff did to you last night. If had known that he was capable of anything like that I never would have had anything to do with him.”
I tried to smile to reassure her when I responded. Just because she had been dating Jeff didn’t mean she could have known that he was capable of something so horrible. “You don’t need to apologize for what Jeff did, Cindy. He made the decision to attempt to assault me all on his own and I don’t hold you accountable for his actions.”
“Thanks,” she said. She was still staring at me like there was more she wanted to say but was afraid to do so. After a minute of silence, she finally went on, “I heard about what Liam did to Jeff.”
Before she could say more I cut her off, “Jeff was attacking me and Liam stopped him.”
Cindy sighed, “I understand him wanting to defend you, but from what everyone is saying he completely lost control and left Jeff in a bloody heap on the floor. Everyone said that if the campus security guys hadn’t shown up Liam might have killed him. This isn’t the first time I have heard stories about his crazy temper. You need to be careful around him, or one day you could be the one he turns his anger on. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
I was more confused than ever. This wasn’t the first time Liam had lost his temper on campus? I’d never heard about his anger issues before, but then again, I wasn’t exactly friends with many people to hear things like that. Liam was the person I spent the majority of my time with. We both sat in silence for a few minutes, but the silence was soon interrupted by a knock at our door. I was still too lost inside my own head to pay any attention to the door, so Cindy was the one who jumped up from my bed and opened the door.
As soon as I heard her great the person at the door, I knew who it was. “What the hell are you doing here? She doesn’t want to see you. If you give a shit about her then you’ll leave her alone; you aren’t good for her.”
“Me?” Liam’s voice was tight. “You are the one who needs to make better choices. If you hadn’t brought that scumbag into her life, then what happened last night never would have
happened. I think you’re the one who needs to make better choices in men.”
I jumped off my bed and made my way to the door to stop them before they broke out into a full on screaming match. “Cindy, please,” I pleaded. I might be feeling a bit confused at the moment, but I wasn’t ready to give up Liam. He’d been a good friend and he deserved to chance to talk things out. “Would you just give us a little time alone?” I asked Cindy.
“You’re kidding, right?” Cindy sounded offended and pissed. “You need to get out of here and leave her alone,” she practically hissed at Liam.
Liam’s nostrils flared. “Maybe you should choose the people you hang out with better!” he accused. “If you hadn’t been hanging out with that scumbag, then Hailey never would have followed him and none of this would have happened.”
I stepped between them and held up my hands to keep them separated, and then I looked back to Cindy. “Cindy, please, just let me have some time to talk to him.” When she crossed her arms I whispered please one more time, and Cindy huffed in frustration before she grabbed her purse to leave. The way she was glaring at Liam on her way out made it obvious that she didn’t want to go, but when she realized I wasn’t going to change my mind she huffed out a loud breath and stomped down the hall, away from our room.
I walked back over to my bed and sat down on the edge, and Liam followed behind me only stopping to shut the door. Liam sits down beside me and I can feel his knee brush against mine as he settles on the bead. “Hailey, are you okay?” he asks. His voice is laced with emotion and I know without a doubt that he is truly worried about me.
“Yes, but Liam,” I pause for a minute to get myself together and think about how I want to say what I need to tell him, “when you lost control last night, I can’t deny that you scared me. I’ve never seen anyone in a fight up so close, and it was like you weren’t there; like the Liam I know had left and was taken over by this guy full of rage.”
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