He had to keep going. I needed him to keep going.
But just as his hand skimmed over the top of my thigh to push my dress up, there was a loud crash against the door followed by drunken laughter. Mumbled voices echoed through the door, and in that instant, the magic was sucked out of the room like a giant vacuum. Liam jumped off me so fast that I would have had whiplash if I weren’t lying back against his bed.
"You have to leave, Kinsley. Now," he demanded, tugging his hands through the locks of his hair that had been mine only moments ago. Mine to tug, mine to tangle, mine to pull as his mouth kissed me.
He looked like he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life. His tortured expression made me regret everything we’d just done.
Was I a mistake? Did he not want this?
"What? Why?" I asked, propping myself up on my elbows so I could see him pacing around the room.
"Get out, Kinsley," Liam said again, his tone loud and harsh. He wasn't yelling, but he might as well have been. “We can’t do this. Leave, Kinsley. Now.”
His words felt like a slap in the face, and I had enough dignity to get out before he made it even worse. I had hope that he would come to his senses as I passed him and headed for the door, but I turned the door knob and bolted without him saying another word.
The drunken fool that had ruined our moment was still lying outside against the door. He was now completely passed out with a dopey smile across him face. I stepped over him, held my chin high, and tried not to wonder what would have happened if he’d chosen a different door to pass out against.
Chapter Nine
I was so anxious about practice Monday morning that I woke up an hour before my alarm and was the first one downstairs. I sat in the kitchen, nursing a bowl of granola and fruit, when Becca finally came down, wiping sleep from her eyes.
I'd avoided her like the plague the day before, not only because I was annoyed with her about the wax comment, but also because I didn't want to lie to her about what happened between Liam and I. I tried to push away the memory of his lips on mine. Stop it. They were not that great. It wasn’t the best kiss you’ve ever had and you are definitely not falling for your coach.
There, see that’s not so hard.
"Morning, Kinsley," she offered gently.
"Hey," I muttered, staring down into my bowl of granola. Yesterday had been terrible. I didn't want to think about Liam, but I couldn't help it. I knew he had feelings for me, and I knew we couldn't be together, but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt when he kicked me out on Saturday night. It felt like a personal rejection rather than a logical one, and I couldn't get that out of my head.
Becca walked around the counter to where I was sitting and gave me her best puppy dog eyes.
"I'm sorry about the wax comment. That was really dumb and I know it was probably embarrassing," she said, wrapping me in a giant hug. "So, I'm not letting you go until you tell me that you forgive me."
I lasted all of two seconds before cracking a smile. "Fiiine. Fine, but you have to promise that I can get you back sometime. Okay?"
"Done! You can pants me at the next party we go to, but just warn me ahead of time so I can plan on wearing really cute underwear," she winked, then headed to the fridge for breakfast.
I laughed and took a bite of granola.
"Now that you're not mad at me, do you think you could fill me in on the whole..." she paused and looked over her shoulder before mouthing, "Liam situation?"
"Wow, that didn't take you long," I joked before finishing off the rest of my breakfast. "If you hurry, I'll tell you in the car."
We gathered our things quickly and I had just enough time to decide that I would be honest with Becca. I felt bad about keeping it from Emily, but the fewer people to know, the better, and Becca already knew something was going on anyway.
Once I parked outside the practice field, she unbuckled and turned to face me.
"Okay, spill," she smiled.
"You first. Did something happen between you and Jace?" I asked.
"You mean before you pulled my ass out of the party?"
After I’d bolted out of Liam’s room Saturday night, I’d found Becca and forced her to leave the party with me. She’d passed out as soon as we got to the car, so it saved me from having to yell at her the whole way home.
I cringed. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was mad at you and Liam, and I just wanted to leave, but I didn't want to abandon you there."
Becca relaxed back against the seat, "Nah, I'm kidding. I'm actually glad you found me when you did. I wasn't really into Jace. He was a cute distraction, but I haven't really thought about him since the party."
I envied her. To have the rights to my thoughts back would be a nice change of pace. I'm not sure when Liam had taken root inside of my brain, but he didn't appear to be leaving anytime soon.
"But obviously something happened with you and Liam. Right?” Becca asked, pulling me out of my reverie. “You can tell me. I would never tell anyone else."