Sadly, Penn shot down all of our extravagant ideas with phrases like "you guys are ridiculous", "No, we don't need to buy a house in Hawaii so that Becca will date me", and “stop calling me or I’ll turn my phone off”. Liam and I chalked it up to poor judgment on his part. I guess romantic roses and candles on the beach would have to cut it.
All day Saturday we were running around doing his bidding. We picked up chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of Dom Perignon. We drove around looking for the perfect rose petals because they couldn't just be red. Becca also loved yellow roses, so Penn thought we had to get both red and yellow petals. High maintenance couple alert.
On the way home I could feel Liam glance over to watch me every now and then. It made my skin flush to feel his gaze on me, but I never gave into the urge to meet his eyes. He seemed even more serious about us since the incident with the paparazzi. He'd asked me that morning if I'd thought anymore about moving in with him. We'd even discussed it with Coach Davis on Friday. She was wary about me moving in with him so soon, but she'd agreed that the security at the house wasn't up to par for someone with as much media coverage as I was getting. It was probably safer for the girls living in the house, as well as myself, if I thought about moving somewhere a bit more secure.
The more I let the idea linger in my mind over the last two days, the more I wanted to throw caution to the wind and do it. I’d seen different versions of Liam, but there were still so many that I wanted to know and learn. I wanted the midnight-snack Liam with the disheveled hair. I wanted the lazy Saturday Liam that never changed out of his sweats, but looked freaking adorable anyway. The hot bastard. The only reason I hesitated was because of Becca and Emily. It was so easy to see each other when I could literally shout across our bathroom to get Emily’s attention, and Becca was in my room more than I was. I didn't want to drift away from them or the rest of the girls on my team.
My thoughts were interrupted when we pulled up outside Liam's house. I’d have time to make a decision later. We carried everything inside and then went to find Penn who was running around like a wild man. You would have thought he was asking her to marry him at this point.
"Penn, seriously, everything will work out," I said just as my phone buzzed. I glanced down to see a text from Becca.
Becca: Freaking out a bit. Penn’s been acting weird all day. He still hasn't called, but he just texted me and told me a limo was waiting for me outside. That's good, right?
Kinsley: Yes! No worrying!!!
I dropped my phone back down and we hustled down to the beach so we could relieve Penn of his duties. He went to shower and left Liam and me to light all the candles. No big deal, right? Wrong. Who thought candles on a beach was romantic? There’s this mysterious force at the beach that never stops. Locals refer to it as wind, and it majorly fucked up our plan.
So there we were unable to light a single candle while we also attempted to protect the entire setup before Becca showed up. This was actually much harder than expected considering the seagulls assumed the rose petals were some kind of food. They kept swooping down and stealing petals, almost taking me out in the process and pooping on at least three of the unlit candles. Sorry Becca, hope you like your romance with a side of bird flu.
"You know we should at least get one of these strawberries," I pointed out.
Liam chuckled. "We can make chocolate covered strawberries, babe."
My brows perked up. "You have the supplies?"
"Strawberries, chocolate, and Kinsley— yes," he winked. I shivered at the thought of melted chocolate and Liam in the same vicinity.
I was still attempting to light the first candle just as Penn came back down to the beach.
"She's five minutes away! You guys have to go!" he said, hurrying us along. In a flurry of movements, we picked up the extra lighters and trash and ran up onto Liam's porch without explaining the fatal flaw in his plan. He’d figure it out soon enough.
“WAIT! THEY AREN’T LIT,” he yelled.
Liam glanced over toward me with a wicked smile. “Run!”
We weren't planning on watching the entire thing, but I had to see Becca’s reaction when she stepped outside.
"I don't want to watch for long. It feels like we're invading their privacy," Liam said, sitting down next to me on the porch.
"I agree."
Liam’s hand stroked my leg and goose bumps bloomed beneath his touch. If he kept it up, we’d miss the entire thing.