Wanting Us Read online

  I’m sitting upstairs in our bonus room watching Paranormal Activity 2 because what other way is there to get over a breakup than to be scared to death. I’m thirty minutes into the movie with my blanket pulled up to my eyes when our house alarm beeps, letting me know a door has been opened downstairs. My heartbeat quickens as I pause the movie and grab Drew’s old baseball bat out of the closet. I have the bat ready to swing as I step out of the bonus room and turn to the staircase.

  A figure is instantly there and I go to swing but they grab it and step into the light. My body instantly relaxes when I recognize Liam and I let go of the bat allowing him to take it and rest it against the wall. “Hey! What’s got you so spooked?” He loops his arm around my shoulders rubbing my arm as he guides me back to the couch. “Ahh. You’re watching Paranormal Activity 2 without me.”

  I shrug out of his hold and push him slightly, letting him know I’m a little annoyed with him. “You’re supposed to be at a party. You scared the shit out of me. You could’ve texted letting me know you were coming over.”

  “The party was lame and Carly was driving me crazy.”

  We both fall onto the couch next to each other and he grabs the remote to hit play. “You’re the one dating her.”

  He bumps my shoulders with his. “Just keep your opinion to yourself.” We’ve had this conversation so many times that I don’t really know why he’s still with her.

  We both chuckle at the situation and settle into the couch to watch the movie. Every time I jump at something in the movie Liam pulls me closer to him. By the time we’re on the last couple minutes of the movie, my face is curled into his chest with my knees resting on his leg. Right as Katie shows up at the end, Liam quickly pokes me in the side making me jump and proceeds to tickle me as I fall back on the couch.

  I squirm underneath him and try to pull his hands away from my side, but it’s no use. “Stop. Liam. Stop.” His hands are still at my sides but he doesn’t remove them. Our chests move in unison as we both try to slow our breathing and when my eyes move from his chest to his eyes, I can see him searching mine for something. The air between us instantly changes from light hearted to heated. I move my hands from his wrists up his arms slowly, taking in every muscle as Liam shifts in between my legs and lowers himself closer to me.

  There’s still a couple of inches in between us when Liam stops and I can feel his breath against my lips. I have wanted this for a while now and it almost happened last September before he started dating Carly. I look at his lips wanting them on mine. All I’d have to do is lean up but I really want him to initiate this. I look back to his eyes hoping there isn’t indecision there and when I see there isn’t, I slide my hands over his shoulders and to the back of his neck, letting my fingers tangle in the back of his hair. “Liam are you going to go through with this or are you…”

  Liam quickly closes the distance between our mouths and kisses me. The kiss is slow at first like we’re testing each other to see if this is what we want. Liam and I have been skirting around our feelings for each other from almost the moment that we met and it would’ve killed me if this kiss felt awkward. But it doesn’t. With his lips on mine, my whole body sparks and I arch into him needing there to be no distance between us. He hums against my mouth liking my reaction and he deepens our kiss.

  Our kiss seems to last forever but in reality, it’s only a few minutes before Liam quickly breaks our kiss and sits completely up. Confused by his reaction at first, I then register Drew’s voice yelling from downstairs. “Liz. Where are you?” I guess I didn’t hear the alarm chime when he opened the door. I quickly sit up as well and run my fingers through my hair because I’m sure it’s a mess right now.

  Liam and I smile at each other like we almost got caught doing something we shouldn’t. Even if Drew did catch us making out, I don’t really think he’d get mad. It’s been no secret Liam and I like each other so it wouldn’t come as a shock to Drew. Remembering Drew was looking for me, I yell out without breaking eye contact with Liam, “We’re in the bonus room.”

  “We’re?” I can hear Drew stomp up the steps and both Liam and I look to the doorway. “Who’s here?” Drew walks around the corner taking in Liam and I. “Oh. Hey Liam. I didn’t realize you were here.” Liam stands up and they both do their guy hand shake before sitting back down next to me. Drew comes over to the other side of me, but before he sits, he places his hand on top of my head and messes up my hair. “Liz you didn’t miss out on anything. The party was pretty dead.” I hit him in the stomach barely making him wince. “Although when I was leaving, Carly seemed to doing her best to try to liven up the party. She’s been drinking heavily ever since y’alls public fight.”

  Drew looks to Liam like maybe he should be there and I look to Liam confused about what happened. “She’ll be okay. She was planning to stay at Janice’s tonight anyways.”

  Drew seems to let it go when he leans back on the couch looking at the credits on the screen. “What were you guys doing?” I whip around to Drew surprised by his question. Does he know? I must have a surprised expression on my face because Drew gives me a confused look. “What movie where you watching?”

  I breathe a sigh of relief. “Paranormal Activity 2.”

  “What?! We were supposed to watch that together.”

  “Well I guess you missed out. You’re just going to have to watch it by yourself now. Try not to scream to loud.” I pat Drew’s legs as I stand up.

  “I’m not watching it alone. You’re just going to have to watch it again right now.” I start heading for the door. “Where are you going?”

  “To shower. You can go ahead and start the movie. Liam missed the first thirty minutes so I’m sure he’d want to see them.”

  “Nope, not a chance. You need to watch it fully with us. So shower fast. I’ll give you twenty minutes before I come and drag you out of the bathroom no matter what state you’re in.”

  “No, you won’t. Not with Liam here.”

  “Don’t test me, sis.” I hold my hands up like I surrender before walking backwards out of the room. Before rounding the corner to head to the bathroom, I smile at Liam finding him smiling back at me.

  Several minutes later after my shower, I open the bathroom door in my red and black flannel pajamas while towel drying my hair to Liam who quickly slides his way into the bathroom with me and closes the door behind him. Confused, I let my hand fall holding the towel and I’m about to ask if it’s been twenty minutes when I see the look in Liam’s eyes. The towel slips from my fingers as I step back and Liam stalks towards me. It only takes me two steps before I can’t go any further and Liam takes the last step closing the distance between us. Liam softly places his hands on both sides of my neck and runs his thumbs along my jawline. “Do you regret it?”

  I shake my head no as I place my hands on his chest and move them up and around his neck. Liam leans forward as I go up on my toes meeting him halfway and when our lips meet, our hold on each other tightens. The last time the kiss was slow and exploring, but this time there’s hunger and passion like we can’t seem to get enough of each other. One of Liam’s hands moves further back into my tangled wet hair holding me to him so I can’t pull away while the other slides down my side to my lower back, pulling me closer to him.

  Arching into him more, I moan against his mouth letting him know how great this feels. Liam breaks our kiss first as he leans his forehead against mine. “Finally,” escapes his lips as a whisper and I smile at him letting him know I couldn’t agree more.

  We stand there like that for a couple of minutes relishing in how great it feels to finally be in his arms, but that feeling is interrupted when a flash of Liam and Carly together pops in my mind. Oh my god. I just kissed Liam and he’s still with Carly. What if this was a one night thing? He could go back to her tomorrow. I lean back from him on instinct trying to protect myself. “What about Carly, Liam?”

  Liam tries to pull me back to where we were but I place my hands on his
chest stopping him. “Carly and I broke up at the party, but I’ll make sure Carly remembers it tomorrow.” I look down away from his stare because I’m afraid I’ll see uncertainty in his eyes, but Liam stops me by placing his fingers under my chin and lifting it up so our eyes connect. “Liz, you are who I want to be with. I’ve been wanting this for a long time but other people have been getting in my way. I’m not going to allow that anymore. I want you. I want us. It’s too late to turn back Liz. You have me forever, so don’t second guess it.”

  Liam is looking down at me waiting for me to accept us, but I’m searching his eyes to make sure he means every word he said. I’ve been waiting for this too and it would break me if tomorrow he decides this isn’t what he wants. I can feel Liam’s hands fist the back of my shirt as he tries to bring me up against him again and I go willingly, wrapping my arms around his neck. He smirks at me and I kiss him with everything I have letting him know I want him and us as well.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Liz

  Present

  “Liz.” I turn towards the sound of his voice and drop the whisk I’m holding covered in brownie batter when my eyes meet his eyes that are full of desire.

  “Liam…” I can feel my body flush from his stare and his name comes out breathless. “How did…” Liam slowly stalks towards me causing me to stop mid question and swallow the lump in my throat. My god, he’s sexy. With the look in his eyes, I’d let him devour me instantly and I know I’d enjoy it. I take a step back and lean against the counter, shaking that thought out of my head because I need to have a clear head before he reaches me.

  Liam reaches me within a second, pressing his body against mine and claiming my mouth. The feeling of his body against mine washes away any resistance I have towards him as I moan against his mouth and deepen our kiss. He grinds his hips against me and I can feel the bulge in his pants against my lower stomach. I lower one of my hands that are fisted in his shirt holding him to me down his chest and abs to his growing erection, rubbing it through his jeans.

  That seems to set a fire in him because he deepens our kiss more while running his hands down my body to my thighs. He picks me up and sets me on the counter, knocking the batter to the floor. I chuckle against his mouth but the mess doesn’t slow him down. His hands slide up the inside of my thighs, pulling my dress up and making me open my legs wider so he can step in between them. I gasp, breaking our kiss when Liam runs his thumb over my clit through my panties. My god that feels so good. It’s been forever since I’ve been wound up this quickly. I moan again and start rocking my hips against his hand as Liam kisses and nips down my neck, marking me. When his lips get to where my shoulder meets my neck, his other hand pushes my dress straps away and my dress falls, exposing my breasts.

  I buck against his hand when the feeling is too intense and I know I’m about to come. “Oh god… Liam. I’m almost there.”

  “I know babe.” He pushes my panties to the side and sticks a finger inside me while rubbing circles over my clit with his thumb.

  I gasp. “Liam.”

  Knock. Knock. What the hell? Liam starts to fade away as a second knock rings through my apartment along with everything else.

  I sit up breathing hard and quickly push off the blanket because it feels like it’s a hundred degrees in here. Looking around the room, I realize I’m in the living room on the couch. I let out a breath trying to calm myself from the super hot dream. Geez that one felt real. There’s another knock on the door making me jump. “Liz… Mack? Are you guy’s home?”

  Shit. It’s Liam. I quickly jump off the couch, straighten my dress that has somehow gotten scrunched up around my waist, and go to answer the door. “Sorry.” I give Liam an apologetic smile while also trying to hide my heavy breathing and probably flushed face. Liam looks me up and down and since I know he knows what I look like when I’m turned on, I’m sure he thinks I’ve been doing some dirty things to myself before he got here.

  “Am I early?” Liam looks into the apartment like he’s expecting to see someone else with me. Like he interrupted something. If only he knew what he interrupted.

  I look over to the oven clock and shake my head no. “You’re right on time. I was just napping. That’s why it took me so long to answer.” Liam walks into the apartment and I stick my head into the hallway. “Where’s Drew?”

  “He bailed. Something about plans he couldn’t cancel.” He looks me up and down again. “Do you always get this flustered when you nap?”

  I really want to say, ‘Just when I dream about you’ but instead I decide to just ignore his question. “Mack bailed too. She left a couple of hours ago saying she made plans with her mom.”

  “Well I guess it’s just us.” Great! Now I’m really wishing Mack or Drew were here. I take a few deep breaths trying not to think about all the things Liam and I can do alone here while I head to the kitchen to grab two beers out of the refrigerator. I really need a cold drink to cool me off. I set the beers on the counter and a flash of my dream pops in my head of Liam lifting me up onto it. I shake that out of my head as I search in the drawer for the bottle opener.

  Liam places his hand on my back and I slightly jump because I didn’t even notice him walking up behind me. I look at him over my shoulder and he hands me his keys with a bottle opener on them. I quickly open the beers and hand him back his keys. “Are you okay with this? I can leave and we can all do this another time.”

  I look into his eyes and see the uncertainty in them as he worries about how I feel about us being together alone. The uncertainty in his eyes makes me uneasy because we’re friends again and all week it’s been like old times. I don’t want him thinking I’m second guessing our friendship because this last week I’ve started to look forward to our texts.

  I smile up at him and I can see the uncertainty wash away from his eyes. “Of course, I’m fine with this. Mack and Drew are just going to miss out on a good time.” I hand him his beer and he clinks his beer to mine and we both take a drink. “How about I order pizza since it’s just the two of us.”

  “Sounds good.” We both head to the living room as I order us a pizza online. Liam sits down in the middle of the couch and makes himself at home, grabbing the tv remote and flipping through the channels.

  I stare at him basically taking up the whole couch and chuckle to myself. “Are you going to share the couch?”

  Liam grabs my hand and pulls me down on the couch next to him. “There’s plenty of room.”

  I smile and shake my head while curling up next to him, trying not to lean on him. He settles on Rise of the Planet of the Apes after a couple of minutes of switching through the channels. “Do you remember when we went to see this in the theater?”

  “Of course. We went with a whole bunch of people. Everyone else in the theater was so pissed because we couldn’t keep quiet. We almost got kicked out.”

  “I remember that was the first time you let me hold your hand.”

  “Let you? That was the first time you had the guts to hold my hand. And I also remember you started dating Carly a couple days after that.”

  “Yeah, that’s because you started dating Keith.”

  “I was dating Keith at the time of the movie. He just couldn’t come.”

  Liam reaches over and places his hand over top mine and interlocks our fingers. The familiar warmth from his hand spreads through mine and up my arm. “Liam… we said we’d be friends.” I pull my hand away from his needing the distance so I don’t get comfortable with his touch.

  “We are friends.” He smiles at me like he’s up to something.

  “Friends don’t hold hands.”

  “We were friends when we held hands before.”

  I shake my head slightly. “You know as well as I do when we held hands in that theater we were more than just friends. It’s just that you couldn’t make the next move afterwards.”

  “Oh really.” He starts tickling me. “I couldn’t make the move?”

  I
try to wiggle out of his hold. “Stop. Don’t be mad it took you five months to finally kiss me.”

  “I’m not waiting…” Liam is interrupted by my phone going off. He removes his hands from me as I reach for my phone and see it’s an unsaved number.

  “I need to take this. I’m on call this weekend for the executive office. It could be important.” I get up from the couch and head to my room. “Hello! This is Liz.”

  “Well hello Elizabeth. Do you miss me?” Bryan? I pull the phone away from my ear and look at the screen. This isn’t his number.

  I whisper so hopefully Liam won’t hear me. “You aren’t supposed to be calling me. You need to leave me alone. Don’t make me call the police.”

  “Oh beautiful. You wouldn’t call the police on me. You didn’t call the police when I came to your place. Your boy toy did.”

  “Shut up Bryan. I will call them next time so don’t test me.” I hang up the phone before he can say anything else. I quickly save this number under Blocked Caller so I know not to answer it again. Taking a few long breaths, I calm myself so hopefully Liam won’t notice how freaked out I am.

  Walking back into the living room, Liam’s eyes are on me instantly and I try my best to hide my face by looking at my phone. “Everything okay? Do you need to head to the hospital?”

  “No, everything is fine. It was just a telemarketer.” I can’t believe I just lied to him, but I had to because if he knew it was Bryan, he’d make me call the police. I can feel Liam’s eyes on me like he’s trying to read something in my body language. Sitting back down next to Liam, I give him a smile that hopefully reassures him that everything is fine.

  Liam smirks at me, silently agreeing to not bring up his doubts and wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. I go willingly allowing the feeling of him calm me. We sit there in silence watching the movie, or in my case, just staring at the tv thinking about the phone call. Why is he calling me? Why can’t he leave me alone? I just started to get past everything with him and now it’s like everything is back. I’m going to have to start watching out for him again. No more answering my phone without looking at the number.