Wanting Us Page 4

  “How did he know you’d be here and not at your brother’s?”

  I haven’t really thought about that before. “I don’t know. He knows my past with Liam and maybe thought I’d stay with you instead of him and Drew. But he definitely knows I’m here now so that makes me worried.”

  “Well he got arrested right?”

  I wince a little because she’s about to fuss me out. “No, I asked Caleb not to arrest him.”

  “What!?! What do you mean you asked him not to arrest him? How do you expect him to leave you alone? You need to be thinking about yourself and not his career.”

  I hold up my hand to stop her. “I got a restraining order. I took it to the police station this morning. He’s not allowed to come within a hundred feet of me. He didn’t do anything last night that would warrant his arrest.”

  Mack sits up fast, almost spilling her wine. “Are you kidding me? He harassed you all day yesterday and he hit you a couple of days ago. To me that’s two things he could be arrested for.”

  I sink further into the couch feeling a little defeated. “Okay… Okay. I’m just so confused about what to do. That’s why I went with the restraining order. It’s kind of like a warning and if he breaks it, he will be arrested. I don’t want to tarnish his career that I know he’s good at and I’m hoping him being violent is a one time thing. But I’m also questioning myself because what if when he gets into another relationship, he beats her. I could’ve possibly prevented that if I pressed charges.”

  Mack must see the doubt on my face because she reaches over and grabs my hand. “Hey. You can’t worry about the ‘what if’s’. I’m sorry for being hard on you. You can only do what’s best for you. And if that’s just a restraining order right now then that’s fine. But just promise me if he breaks it you call the police.”

  Mack raises her glass to mine and I clink them together. “I promise.”

  Mack squeezes my hand before letting go and leaning back against the couch. “Good. Now let’s backtrack for a second.” Mack smile grows as I wait for her to continue. “Caleb’s completely hot, right!?!”

  I chuckle at her. “Yeah he is. I wouldn’t say no to him if he wanted to have his way with me.” We both chuckle. “Have you been with him?”

  “Nope. But my friend has shown me a picture of him naked and my god.” She starts fanning herself, making me chuckle. “What about you? Would you answer his call?”

  I shake my head. “I hadn’t really thought about it. Between Bryan’s crazy and Liam’s apology, I shouldn’t be thinking about any guys right now.”

  Mack sits up again and places her wine down. “Wait. Liam’s apology?”

  “Yes. After Bryan left, Liam stayed for dinner and then we talked about what happened in the locker room.”

  “Wow. I’m surprised he brought that up so quickly. How did that go?”

  I chuckle. “As good as you can expect. It was emotional to say the least. The short version is that he apologized for just standing there and I explained what happened before he got to the locker room. After I told him how low Carly’s comments made me feel, he told me how special I was to him.”

  “So, what did he say about Carly saying he called her his sun too?”

  I set down my glass and face Mack. “I didn’t tell him her exact words to me. It would’ve killed me again if he would’ve admitted to saying that to her. But he did say Carly lied and I was special to him. That he thought I was the girl he’d be forever with. I just don’t know if I believe him.”

  “That’s fine. You’ll be able to answer that over time once you get to know Liam again. My questions for you are did you forgive him and are you going to allow him back into your life?”

  “It’s not really about forgiveness. I haven’t been mad at him for a long time. But in order to get over this I need to believe him that I was special and I’m not sure I do yet. It’s stupid that I believe a girl that hated me over a guy that I loved, but she really broke me; making me doubt everything he ever said.”

  “Well the only way to grow that trust back is to be friends with him again.”

  “I know. I can’t avoid him anymore but even being with him for a few hours yesterday, old feelings started forming again.”

  She smirks at me like she expected nothing less. “There’s nothing wrong with that. You had strong feelings for him and now that you’ve seen him again it’s natural for those feelings to remerge.”

  “I’m just not sure if I want those feelings anymore. It’s been such a long time and neither one of us are same the people. I need to get my head straight around him because I don’t like the internal battle.” I pick up my glass and finish off my wine.

  “You’re not going to like this answer but being around Liam is the only thing that’s going to help you figure out if those feelings are old or not. Would you ever consider getting back with Liam?”

  I shake my head because that thought cannot be in my brain right now. “I can’t answer that right now.” I pour myself another glass and take a long sip. “Actually, let’s not talk about me anymore. Let’s go back to your date. You’ve got to tell me something.”

  Mack grabs her wine glass and takes a sip. “Fine. We went to American Tobacco Campus in Durham to watch a baseball game. I don’t want to tell you anything else because I really like this guy and I don’t want to jinx it. But I promise you’ll be the first to know once I’m ready to talk about him.”

  “Okay fine. If you won’t talk about him, how’s work going?” Mack is an emergency room nurse at the same hospital I work at.

  “Work’s great. I work the next two days. Do you want to get lunch together tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely. Do you want to walk over to Guasaca?”

  “You read my mind.” She taps her glass against mine before finishing off her wine.

  “That’s why we’re besties, because I know your food choices.”

  We both laugh. “That and we’re the same size so I can borrow your clothes.”

  “Wait! What do I get out of this friendship?”

  “My undying love and helpful advice.”

  I pull her into a hug and squeeze her tight. “Thanks for this. I really needed a girl’s night.”

  “I know. Now let’s get this girl’s night truly started.” She pours herself another glass of wine and starts last night’s recording of the Bachelorette. As I sit there watching the Bachelorette go on her one on one date, I let out a big breath slowly. I feel better about my decision on what to do with Bryan. While I’m still worried that he could hurt another woman in the future, I need to take Liam’s and Mack’s advice and not focus on the ‘what if’s’ because it doesn’t matter what I do, Bryan is going to do what he wants. I just hope he takes the restraining order seriously.

  As I sink further into the couch, my phone vibrates on the armrest and I freeze for a split second. Is it Bryan? I haven’t heard from him today. But of course he would somehow sense I was thinking about him. I slowly pick up my phone and I feel relieved when I see it’s a text from Liam.

  Liam: I’m heading into work. Just wanted to say hi.

  I can feel a smile forming on my face as I read the text again. Liam used to always be able to make me smile with such simple gestures. I’m glad he’s still able to.

  Chapter Nine

  Liz

  July 2010

  “Come on Drew. Keep up!” I sprint down our street with my brother getting further behind me.

  “I’m not trying to kill myself. You know I have football practice this afternoon.”

  I can tell he’s slowing down so I turn around and jog backwards. “Coach Moore is going to appreciate how much your endurance has improved.”

  “I don’t need to be able to run five miles as fast as possible. That’s you. You’re the star of the track team. I’m a defensive tackle. I just need to block the other team from moving forward.”

  I turn around and we both jog down the street next to each other. “I know what position
you play. I go to all your games. I also know Coach has been pushing you guys to up your endurance. That’s why you started running with me this summer.”

  He chuckles. “Yeah what a stupid idea that was.” We jog around the curve right before the cul-de-sac we live on. There’s a U-Haul in the driveway next to our house. “That wasn’t there when we left.”

  “It looks like our new neighbors have arrived.” We both slow down to a walk as I see a guy our age with blonde hair hanging over his eyes walk around the truck in only gym shorts. I really hope he’s one of our new neighbors.

  Drew notices me staring and nudges me, making me look at him. “Stop staring.”

  Drew has always been protective of me. He tries to keep all the guys at school away and because of that I tend to date the new guys at school. They either aren’t intimidated by him yet or I was able to meet them before Drew. Which can be hard because Drew is a part of the welcoming committee at school. I give him a glare and push him.

  The guy notices us pushing each other as we reach our driveway. “Hey!”

  Drew and I both turn to him and I notice his smile grows bigger as I turn to face him in my running top and shorts. “Hi!”

  Drew notices him looking at me and protectively steps in between us. “Hey man! I’m Drew.”

  “Liam.” As they both size the other up, I take the second to take in Liam’s tall, muscular frame and his well-defined six pack. I let my eyes drift further south to his black Clemson football shorts that are sitting low on his hips. I can feel my cheeks heating up as I unashamedly check him out.

  I step around Drew and I can feel his annoyed glare on the side of my face. “I’m Liz.” And just to annoy Drew more, I bring out my flirt game. I place a hand on my waist and lean into my hip extenuating my curves and small waist while batting my lashes a few times. “Do you play football?”

  I smile to myself as Liam’s full attention focuses on me and I nod to his shorts. His smile grows as he realizes I’ve checked him out. “Yeah I play wide receiver. I’m supposed to be playing for North Raleigh High.”

  Drew steps up to Liam trying to bump me out of the way and grabs his shoulder. “Welcome to the team. I play defensive tackle. Are you going to be at practice today?”

  Great. Now the fun is over. They’re now going to bond over football. Way to go Liz! Liam seems to lighten up at the fact Drew plays too. “Yeah. Coach Moore wants me to meet everyone.”

  “That’s great. Do you want to ride with me to practice?”

  “That would be great. I don’t really know my way around the city yet.”

  “Do you have your phone? I can give you my number. Just text me when you’re ready to go.” Liam hands Drew his phone. “Where are you guys from?”

  “Greenville, South Carolina. My dad got a new job at Wake County Hospital.”

  Drew goes to hand Liam back his phone but I snatch it from his hands receiving another glare from him. “Liz.”

  His warning does nothing to me and I give Drew an annoyed look. “Drew.” I quickly type in my number and hand it back to Liam. “We’re going to be neighbors too. You should definitely have my number.”

  Feeling pretty proud of myself for getting Liam’s attention back, I give him a flirtatious smile and when he smiles back, I know I’m going to be in real trouble with him around. Drew fake coughs making Liam look to him. I roll my eyes at my brother and look down at my watch. Crap I need to go. I take a step back towards our driveway causing both guys to look at me. I look at Drew. “I need to go. I have a date I need to get ready for.” Drew looks pissed and when I look to Liam, he has a different expression on his face. “It was nice to meet you. I’m sure I’ll see you later at practice.”

  Liam looks confused. “You play football.”

  I chuckle and shake my head no. “Track.”

  I turn to head down the driveway but Drew catches my arm. “Who are you going on a date with?”

  I glare down at my arm and Drew lets go of me. “Really? You need to do this now? You don’t know him. He’s new to school and is on the track team. So you haven’t had time to warn him off.” I look over to Liam who’s still standing there but trying to look like he’s not eavesdropping.

  “Who goes on a date in the middle of the day?”

  “I do. We’re just getting lunch before practice. He’s coming to pick me up in an hour. You can meet him then.”

  “Who is he? Is it that new Alan guy?”

  “Oh my god Drew. What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you doing this right now?”

  I look over to Liam. “Liam I’ll see you around. Also, don’t let this show that Drew is doing fool you. He doesn’t really get a say in my life.”

  Before either of them can say another word, I head down our driveway and walk into my house. My mom greets me as I walk into the kitchen. “Hey honey! How was your run?”

  “It was good.” I grab a bottle of water and take a long glop. “We met the son of our new neighbors. He’s nice. He’s going to our school and is playing on the football team.”

  “Is he cute?”

  I almost choke on my water. “Mom!”

  “What? I know you’re at the age where you’re checking out guys.”

  I laugh. “Yeah he is but Drew is never going to let that happen.”

  My mom just shakes her head. “Drew needs to loosen up. I know he’s basically taking different girls out every weekend. So why can’t you have dates?”

  “That’s what I’m saying.” I walk over to her and kiss her cheek. “Speaking of dates. I have one in an hour so I better go get showered and ready. He’ll take me to practice so I’ll see you guys for dinner.”

  “Alright honey. Have a good date and practice. I’m on my way out to have brunch with some friends.” My mom hugs me even though I’m all sweaty before heading out to her car.

  After I’ve showered and dried my hair, I head out of the bathroom Drew and I share to find him waiting for me. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you were waiting.”

  “Liz. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go all fatherly on you. It just surprised me you had a date. You normally tell me when you like a guy and when they ask you out.”

  “I know and you normally talk to the guys before that date. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to see how this date would go before you got to him.”

  “I just want you to be safe. That’s my job as your big brother.”

  I give him a shove. “It’s only five minutes.”

  He chuckles. “It still counts.”

  I shake my head and go to my room to get ready. Thirty minutes later I walk out of my room in a flowy tank top and jean shorts with my gym bag. When I get downstairs Drew is in the living room watching tv. He turns and looks at me. “You look nice. When is he getting here?”

  “Anytime now. What are you doing until practice?”

  “I’m going to help Liam with moving.”

  “That’s nice. You guys are going to be besties before you know it.”

  “Yeah. Which makes him unavailable to you.”

  “Whatever. We’ll see.”

  I hear a car horn outside and I let out a small breath. I can’t believe he just honked for me. Drew walks up to the window and shakes his head. “Did he really just honk? Please tell me you aren’t going on a date with a guy that can’t even get out of his car and walk to the door.”

  I open the front door and turn to look at Drew to find him right behind me ready to go outside to say something to Alan. “Please stay here. I don’t like it either. Let’s just say strike one.” I give him a big smile and walk out to meet my date. “Hey Alan!”

  I climb into his car and throw my bag in the back. “Hey Liz! You ready for lunch?”

  “Yeah.” As Alan drives out of my driveway, I look over to my neighbor’s house and see Liam looking at us. I wave to him and he give me a sexy smile that distracts me from my date all the way to the restaurant. As I have lunch with Alan, I find myself zoning out when he’s talking. To be hon
est, I haven’t hung out with him outside of practice so now that we aren’t talking about running, we really have nothing in common. I pull out my phone to check the time and see a text from an unsaved number. Before opening it, I know it’s from Liam.

  Liam: Hi!

  A large smile forms on my face as I look at the short text.

  Liz: : )

  Chapter Ten

  Liam

  Present

  Sitting in my neighborhood bar Friday evening waiting for Caleb and Drew, I take a drink of my beer and pull out my phone. I haven’t texted Liz since Tuesday night and looking at the message thread, I can feel the same smile forming on my face that I had Tuesday night when I saw Liz’s smiley face. Ever since I met Liz, I would randomly send her hi text messages and she would always text back a smiley face.

  When I received the same smiley face back on Tuesday, I felt a sense of relief wash over me. To me it was like she wanted to put everything behind us. I haven’t gotten the nerve up to text her again since then because I’m afraid it was just a fluke thing and she really doesn’t want to talk to me.

  “Hey man!” The sound of Caleb’s voice causes me to jump a little and lock my phone so he can’t see what I was looking at. Caleb grabs the stool next to me at the bar and silently orders a beer as I give him a nod. “What a crazy night we had last night. I can’t believe that tip actually worked out. The informant has been kind of flaky lately. I thought for sure it was going to be a bad lead.”

  The bartender slides Caleb a beer and we both order a burger. “He normally lets us know about the warehouses after they’ve been cleared. I’m glad we went in heavy though because they had a ton of guards around that place.”

  “Yeah Drew’s crew did great taking them out quickly and quietly so the guys inside didn’t know we were coming.”

  I nod in agreement. “He’s loving the new promotion to SWAT. Ever since the academy this is where he’s wanted to be and he’s worked really hard to be a part of it.”