I smiled and shrugged. "I was just excited to see you, I guess. Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," he answered, putting the car in drive and heading away from my house.
"Ah, fine, but I wore my pajamas. I couldn't tell if you were kidding, but I decided I'd take you up on the offer anyway." I unzipped my jacket to show him my faded "Made in the ‘90s" shirt that was on its last leg and my sleeping shorts.
"I wasn't bluffing. You'll be glad you wore them."
I smiled and watched him drive. I had no clue where he was leading me, but the uncertainty was half the fun.
"I think I'm doing my first interview on Wednesday," I mentioned as he exited the highway.
"Really? With who?"
"Brian King. I met him the other day with Coach Davis."
"Ah, I know Brian. He's a decent guy." His eyes were focused on the road and I couldn't tell if there was more he wanted to say about the subject.
"Have you ever done an interview with him?"
"No. We played soccer together for a year, though."
I didn't have time to ask more, because Liam was pulling into a small Drive-in Movie Theater. Who knew they even existed in LA still?
"I figured since going to the movies is out of the question, we could at least sneak into a drive in movie and pretend like it's a real date," Liam explained with an earnest expression.
A giant smile spread across my lips. "It's an awesome date. I'm in pajamas… it doesn't get better than that."
He laughed at my joke as he pulled his SUV into one of the middle parking spots. It was a small theater with room for twenty or thirty cars at most. It was filling up fast around us and I knew we’d gotten there just in time.
“How will we watch the movie if the screen is behind us?” I asked, twisting my head to look through the back window.
He smirked and hopped out. “C’mon, we’re sitting in the trunk.”
I had no choice but to follow him to the back of the car, and when he lifted the back latch, I was glad I did. He’d set up a picnic of sorts. Well a picnic made up mostly of candy, does that count? He had it all lined up perfectly. Twizzlers, Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Snickers, Butterfingers, and M&Ms… to name a few. There was a little cooler of drinks pushed off the side next to a tub of popcorn that he’d put a lid on for our drive over.
“Did you raid a small candy village to get all of this stuff?”
He smirked. “I have a sweet tooth. It’s my one flaw.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved his arm playfully.
"I think they're showing Sixteen Candles tonight. I've never seen it,” he said.
I gasped. "What! How have you not seen it? It's on TV like once a week.
He shrugged. “Okay, so I have two flaws."
I smiled. "I can't believe you did all of this.”
"I hate not being able to take you on real dates, so I wanted to make it special," he admitted, then followed with, "I also just really like candy."
He flashed me a wicked grin and helped me up into the back of the car. Once we'd stuffed our faces, we pushed the food and drinks to the side and laid down on the blanket Liam had brought.
Somehow we ended up shifting around until he was leaning against the back seat and I was leaning back on his chest with his legs on either side of me. Okay, it wasn’t exactly an accident; I kept shifting back until he pretty much had to accommodate my body in his space. Oh, oops, how’d we get into this adorable position? Strategic planning, my friends.
His arms were wrapped around me, holding the blanket in place. As easy as it would have been to turn around, kiss him, and forget about the rest of the movie, I really enjoyed just sitting there together. It felt good to feel his chest rising and falling against my back.
Every now and then he'd ask me if I was comfortable or if I needed a drink, but I just shook my head, not wanting him to move a muscle for fear that the magic would be lost.
Chapter Sixteen
The blissful feeling of lying in Liam’s arms was long and forgotten when I woke up to someone ripping the blankets off my bed Tuesday morning.
Tara's voice invaded my consciousness.
"Get up and get dressed. You, Becca, and Emily have a special job this morning."
What the hell? Was I going to have to start barricading my door every night to ensure she couldn’t Edward Cullen me? It probably wouldn’t work; she’d just climb in through my window like the angsty vampire did.
I groaned and sat up, trying to blink away my sleep. Tara was joined by Sofie and another one of her evil henchmen. They all stared down at me with cunning smiles that made me wish I slept with a rifle beneath my pillow like an old southern veteran.
“Get up,” Tara ordered again.
Her tone was wearing on me, not to mention I thought we were moving beyond the whole high school bully situation. It seemed like she’d maxed out her asshole card, but apparently she needed another shot of evil to tide her over for a few more days.
Were we positive that she didn’t have any serial killer relatives?