heart. I look up into his eyes, getting lost in a sea of deep blue emotions. He proceeds to tell me our kiss is basically the best kiss of his existence. My resolve is beginning to crumble. I’m so tempted to throw caution to the wind and have a fling with Liam. Instead, I put on my big girl panties and do the responsible thing. I tell him if he ever decides he can give me all of him, he knows where to find me. I give him one final quick kiss on the lips and leave him there in the bathroom.
I walk back into the kitchen and take my seat next to Hailey. She looks at me in question and I shrug my shoulders. She smiles at me, like she just discovered the cure for cancer. I pick up my fork and continue to eat. It’s Aiden who breaks the tension.
“Ash, you have got to taste Mrs. Mac’s dirt cake,” he says as he shovels in a humongous bite.
Mrs. Mac smiles at me. “Would you like a bowl?”
“Yes, please, dinner was great.” I stand up to carry my now empty plate to the kitchen.
Liam appears at my side. “I got it,” as he grabs my plate and walks to the kitchen. Mr. Mac stands to follow him.
The remainder of the day is uneventful. We all sit down to play a game of Back Alley Thirteen, Liam, Aiden, and Mr. Mac play their guitars and we all sing. We laugh and joke until it’s time to leave. Aiden and Hailey keep giving me questioning looks. I smile at them to let them know I’m good. Liam continues to dote on me, grabbing me drinks, holding my chair for me, and such. All of my senses are on high alert. When we leave, he holds the door for me again and helps me into the back seat of his Pathfinder. The drive back is quiet, since we’re all full and worn out. When we arrive at the dorm, Liam hops out and opens my door for me. I smile and say, “Thank you”. I give Aiden a hug, then link arms with Hailey as we head to our room.
We’re barely through the doors of the building before Hailey pounces on me for information.
“What the fuck was that?” she says with a huge smile on her face.
I look at her as if she is crazy. “What was what?” I can tell she isn’t buying my poor attempt to evade her questions.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Allison Hagan. What is that chemistry between you and my brother? Holy shit, sparks were flying all damn day.”
“You’re crazy, there were no sparks. Liam was just being...nice, that’s all,” I say, my voice cracking. Yeah, that was real convincing.
“I call bullshit. What you’re forgetting is he’s my brother, and I know him all too well. Never in my life have I seen him be attentive to any girl, unless he was trying to hook up. He ran from the table to chase after you and see if you were okay. Then he was in the bathroom with you for a while.” She smirks.
I throw myself down on my bed and cover my head with my pillow. I contemplate how much I should tell her. Liam is her brother after all, but she’s my roommate, and I need someone to talk to about all of this. Aiden would never understand. I take a deep breath, remove the pillow, and say, “We kissed,” and quickly cover my face back up.
“I knew it!”
Before I know what’s happening, Hailey’s on my bed, pulling the pillow away. “You kissed him?” she questions.
Unable to speak and feeling the heat engulf my cheeks, I nod my head yes and look up at the ceiling.
“This is awesome. Wouldn’t it be great if you guys ended up getting married? We would be sisters for real.”
“Seriously, you’re not mad, or think this is weird?”
“Well, when things start to heat up with you two spare me the graphic details, but no, I’m cool with it. Liam is a great guy, he just has his priorities all out of whack. I would love to see him get serious and what better person than my new roomie-BFF?”
“I’m sorry to disappoint, but it doesn’t mean anything. Liam has made it clear he would never consider a relationship, and I don’t want to waste my time on a fling, so it’s never gonna happen with us.”
Hailey laughs. “Oh, it’s so gonna