ice cream. “Yay,” he yelled, scaring my mom who frowned.
“Calm down,” she said. “She isn’t on hundred percent yet.”
Cody stuck his tongue out when she turned her head. “Okay, Mom.”
She hated when he called her that. I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Okay, Cody. I can’t stay here and take care of her. I have to get back to work. So, I’m going to need you take care of her for me. I put some soup in the cabinets, some Sprite in the refrigerator and threw away those Mike Hard Lemonades.”
Cody narrowed his eyes. “Those were mine.”
She shrugged. “Ya don’t need ‘em, hon. Okay, baby,” she kissed my forehead, “if ya need anything let me know. Don’t hesitate to call.”
“Okay, Mom. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She grabbed her purse and walked out of the door. Cody jumped down beside me once she left. “Whew, thought she’d never leave.”
I laughed and sat up on the couch. “I really feel better, my mom is just overprotected. My head hurts a little bit though.”
Cody smiled. “That’s what Moms are for. So, have you talked to him?”
“Who?”
Cody snorted. “Stop acting like you don’t know.”
I twirled my finger around Zeus’ hair. “Not since yesterday. I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know what I’d say to him if I did see him. I can’t get him fired. I won’t be the reason he gets fired.”
Cody slapped his palm against his forehead. “Sarah. I’d like you to really think about your situation right now. You have a guy that is willing to get fired and risk his life for you. Not to mention he is fucking gorgeous. You’re going to regret not going over there and at least talking to him about it.”
I sighed. “Ugh, you don’t have to act like my mom.”
He gasped. “Take that back,” he said.
“Okay, but stop acting like a normal mother please.”
He nodded. “Better. Anyway, do what you want babe. But, I think you should light a match underneath that toned ass and go get ya man.”
“If you stop talking like that, I’ll think about it.”
He smiled. “I’m going to take a shower, call me if you need anything, okay?” He winked before he disappeared behind the door.
Sighing, I closed my eyes and rested my head on the futon. This is nuts. I need to talk to him sometime. I need to get this over with. Decided. Done with.
Taking a deep breath, I walked over to Liam’s apartment. My hands were shaky as I rapped my fingers against the door.
A few seconds later Liam opened the door and my breath caught. I knew this had been a bad idea. I knew that once I saw him that I’d be gone. And I was. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. First problem. My eyes wouldn’t leave his abs. The perfect V poking out of his low-rise jeans, made me want to lick him. His face was scruffy. It was the first time I’d seen him so scruffy, it was worse than the night I’d first met him. His gray eyes were intense, his jaw heavy. “Sarah,” he said my name so softly, it seemed not to be real.
“Hi, Liam,” I said, giving him a pathetic wave.
“Oh,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “Come in.” I walked in and took a seat at his kitchen barstool. “So,” he cleared his throat. “You’re feeling better?”
I played with the fringe on my jeans. “Yeah, my head hurts a little but nothing major. I feel a lot better. Thank you, Liam.”
He swallowed and nodded. “I was so scared. I heard you scream, and I didn’t have a key. I was so scared. I couldn’t get to you fast enough.”
“You did. I’m fine. If it weren’t for you I could be in worse shape, or dead. No telling what he would have done to me.”
Liam rubbed his eyes with his hand. “Yeah.”
“So, I guess we need to talk, right? I mean…about us. I know I left things badly. I was just concerned that I would get you fired. I couldn’t know I was the reason. You were given another chance, and I can’t…I can’t be responsible for your failure.”
Liam watched my face carefully, before a smile crawled up his face. Was that funny? “Um, why are you smiling like that?”
Liam reached over to the other side of the bar and handed me an envelope. I raised an eyebrow but pulled out a letter. At the top was a University of Arkansas at