One Chance (9 page)

“Why don’t you come with us?” Max suggests.

“I’m not party hopping tonight, but thanks anyway.”

“So who are you kissing
tonight dickhead?” Max asks Liam as Liam looks to me.

“No one,
why would I be kissing someone tonight?” he asks confused.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m with Meg.”

“Yeah, what the hell happened there?”
Max asks.

“What do you mean what happened?”

“You told me you couldn’t stand the bitch, now you’re going to live with her?” Max says, making Liam look anywhere but at us.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t stand her,” he tries to defend.

“The fuck you didn’t dude.  You said she was a high maintenance bitch and you couldn’t wait to get rid of her,” he says calling Liam out.

“He’s full of shit,” Liam says to me, completely ignoring what Max is saying.

“That’s your business not mine.  I won’t repeat anything so no worries,” I say as a group of girls walk into the kitchen smelling of vomit and cigarette smoke, making me want to get away as quickly as possible.

“Thanks,” he says before taking a long swig of his beer.

“Well, I will let you two get caught up while I mingle.  Have a good night,” I say before heading into another direction that doesn’t have stench all over it.

Liam

“
Dude, did you seriously have to say that shit out loud?” I ask, smacking the back of Max’s head.

“Ouch,” he says rubbing his head, “I only repeated what the fuck you told me.”

“You don’t need to repeat it, especially to Haley.”

“Why does that matter?”

“They are in the same sorority at school asshole.”

“Oh shit, I forgot you told me that.  What are the odds of that happening?”

“No clue, but it happened.”

“I remember when you had such a crush on her,” Max says laughing
, “Go figure, you liked the twin that was best friends with your baby brother.”

“That was a long time ago asshole.”

“Hey, I’m not saying there’s any fault in it, she was hot then, but hell, Haley with dark hair is fucking sexy as fuck.”

“You aren’t fucking her Max.”

“Why not?  You want a piece of that first?”

I can’t help how hard I punch him in the chest, “Don’t talk about
her like that.  You know she’s like family to me asshole.”

“Damn it Liam,” Max says rubbing the spot on his chest he just took a blow to, “I was only fucking kidding.”

“Sure you were.”

“I won’t go after her, but I’m not
gonna lie, I was planning on making out with her tonight.”

“I’m sure you were.”

“Wouldn’t you rather it be me than some other douchebag here?”  I can’t help but look around and notice he’s right.  There are plenty of jackasses here tonight.  Shit.  “Guess that means we are going to be staying here tonight, huh man?”

“Damn it, yeah I guess so,” I say unhappy with the situation.  Why the fuck couldn’t she just go with Brody and her sister?  That way I wouldn’t have to play fucking babysitter.

“Its shots time then baby,” Max says too eagerly.  Before I know it, we each slam five shots of Jack.

“No more, I’m done,” I say taking a long chug of beer.

“Fine, we can do more later,” Max says.

“I’m going to
see who else is here, I’ll meet back up with you then,” I say before heading toward the living room.

Haley

“Damn girl you’re drunk,” Hanna says all giggly.

“Thanks
, like I didn’t already know,” I slur, “I just need to sit,” I say as I plop down on the oversized chair that’s downstairs.

“Alright, I’ll be back, I’m going to see what’s going on upstairs.

“Okayyy, I’ll just be here,” I continue to slur.  I know it’s getting closer to midnight, but I haven’t seen a freaking clock to know.  Thankfully, downstairs isn’t busy; there are only about five people down here right now.  I’m thankful for the peace and quiet for a change.

After what feels like forever
, I decide it’s probably best if I go lay down.  I head up the stairs to the main floor, hoping I can make it up the next flight of stairs that lead to the spare room I’m staying in tonight.

“
Heyyy,” Liam slurs, guess I’m not the only one drunk tonight.

“
Heyyy yourself.”

“What are you doing?”

“Going to lie down for a few minutes.”

“Do you feel sick?” he says quickly.

“No,” I say as I go to move and trip over my own foot, causing Liam to reach out and catch me.  Not sure how he’s capable of that in his state, but I’m grateful, “Thanks,” I say as I balance myself.

“Not a problem.  I’ll help you,” he says as he places an arm a
round my shoulders to steady me.

“You don’t have to, I think I can manage.”

“Sure you can, you just proved that,” he says with a smirk.

“Ugh, fine,” I say as we head towards the stairs.

“I’m drunk.”

“Me too,” I say laughing at him for his sudden admission.

“You aren’t nice.”

“What me?  Of course I am,” I say still laughing at him as we make our way up the stairs.

“No you aren’t.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drunk,” I say lying.

“You don’t like me in a drunken state?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Oh, so you do like me huh Hails?”

“Of course, what’s not to like?”

“Very true, that was an excellent answer,” he says as he pulls me into his side as we head down the hall to the spare room.

I push open the bedroom door to find it empty thank goodness.  “Aww that looks comfy,” I say as I head towards the bed.

“It sure does, mind if I lie down for a few minutes?”

“Sure go ahead,” I say as I plop down on the right side, Liam on the left.
  I see the television remote on the nightstand and grab it to turn on the television.

“What are you doing?” Liam asks looking over at me confused.

“It’s not even midnight yet,” I say as I flip through the channels.

“Girls,” he says shaking his head.

“What?”

“
Nothing.”

“No tell me.”

“You seriously did w
ant someone to make out with you tonight, didn’t you?”

“Well
, I wasn’t opposed to it.  It’s all in good fun, so it’s not like it really matters.”

“Wow, I never took you for that type of girl.”

“What type of girl?”

“The one to make out with random people.”

“Not random people, it would be someone I know,” I say matter of fact.

“Why not random people?”

“Because I’d rather make out with people I know.”

“Shit,” Liam grunts.

“What’s wrong?” I ask glancing at him.

“This didn’t happen,” he says
quickly before his lips lock onto mine.  I can’t help but open just a little wanting more.  Liam takes full advantage pushing his tongue into my mouth our tongues exploring one another.  It doesn’t take long for the kiss to turn hot and heavy.  I try pushing his shirt up out of my way, but being drunk doesn’t make it easy.

“More,” I moan in between kisses.  His hands go under my shirt and he starts to caress my breasts.  As we move, Liam is positioned between my thighs allowing me to feel his erection.  I pull his shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the floor.  He pushes my shirt up revealing my light pink bra; it takes little time for him to unhook the front snap revealing myself to him.

I know it’s not the first time, but he doesn’t know that.

“You are beautiful,” he says between kisses.  He kisses my lips down my jaw line, to my throat, until he reaches my hard peak.  He starts sucking on my right nipple while pulling on the other one.  I can’t help
when my back arches, wanting him closer. “Oh God,” I moan.

I pull on his hair, wanting him to meet my lips
, which he complies.  I reach down to unhook his jeans and he grabs my hands, “Fuck,” he mumbles.

“What?” I ask worried.

“Haley we can’t do this.  I’m with Meg,” he says reminding me of his current girlfriend situation.

“Shit,” I say pulling my hand quickly away, wanting nothing more than to get as far away from him as possible right this moment, “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Neither was I, but this can’t ever happen.”

“It won’t.  We’re drunk.”

“That’s no excuse and you know it,” he says pinning me down with a stern look.

“I’m saying that’s why it got as far as it did, if we were both sober it would have never gone anywhere.  Can you move so I can get dressed?”

He doesn’t say anything, but moves off of me.  I hop off the bed trying to hook my bra and pull my shirt down quickly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too, that shouldn’t have happened,” I say urgently.  I’m glad it did, wished more would have happened, but I know it can’t.  I’ve never been his type, never will be.

“Haley it’s fine, but if possible
, can this stay between us?”

“Of course, don’t worry I won’t tell anyone anything,” I say in all seriousness.

“Thanks,” he says as he lies back on the bed.

“What are you doing?” I ask shocked.

“Going to sleep.”

“In here?”

“Yeah, it’s a big enough bed Haley, plus it’s not like we haven’t slept in the same bed before.”

“Yeah
, but we didn’t make out before.”

“I’m in no condition to drive right now.”

“You’re right, okay fine, but stay on your side,” I say as I crawl into bed.

“Aren’t you going to change?”

“No, my clothes are in the car, I wasn’t sure if I was going to spend the night or not, but I can’t drive right now either.”

“Do you want me to go get them for you?”

“No, it’s not a big deal.”

“Okay, well night Haley.”

“Goodnight Liam.

Chapter Seven

Before we know it, it’s time to head back to school.  I’m throwing my bag into Liam’s car since we decided to carpool back to school, while Kenzie’s saying goodbye to Mom and Dad.

“Call me when yo
u get to school, both of you,” Mom says looking between Kenzie and me.

“I will,” I say with a smile.

I give Mom a hug then hug Dad goodbye before walking back across the street.  Liam and Brody are outside saying farewell too.

“See
, if you would just hook up with Liam things could be like this all the time,” Kenzie says out of nowhere.  I can’t help but come to a complete stop in the middle of the road, pulling on her arm.

“Could be like what?”

“This,” she says nodding towards the Masters house.  Mom and Dad are now over talking to Mr. and Mrs. Masters, “Everyone gets along, loves each other really.  It could be perfect.”

“Except Liam and I aren’t like that.”

“Which I can’t figure out.  You were obsessed with that boy growing up, we both were.”

“Yeah when we were younger, we aren’t kids anymore
Kenz.”

“Don’t I know it, but
Hails he’s only gotten hotter.”

“I’m not denying that,” I say on a laugh.

“So what’s the problem?”

“We just don’t fit, plus he’s taken if you’ve forgotten again.”

“No I didn’t forget, just wishful thinking I guess.”

“You can stop that because it’s never going to happen.”

“What’s never going to happen?” Brody asks as he approaches us.

“Oh nothing, just girl talk,” I say quickly.

“You ready?” he asks Kenzie.

“Sure am,” she says to him before turning towards me. “I’m going to miss you.  Call me and keep me posted on everything,” she says before giving me a hug.

“I will, I promise,” I say hugging her back.

“Don’t kill my brother on the drive back,” Brody says as he gives me a hug goodbye.

“I won’t,” I say laughing, “I’m gonna miss you too.”

“Me too
Hails, me too,” he says before releasing me.  I walk over to Liam’s car, where he’s already sitting in the driver’s seat. I give one last wave before climbing in and buckling my seatbelt.

“Ready?”

“Yep,” I say with a smile.

We get on the highway and head towards college for the first twenty minutes neither of us says a word.  After the
party fiasco, we have been avoiding each other.  When I woke up, Liam was nowhere in sight.  I came home and ended up spending the day with Brody and Kenzie and when we went over to Brody’s house, Liam was sure to leave quickly.  I considered driving myself back to school, but was surprised yesterday when Liam told me what time to be ready to go.  So here we are, in Liam’s black mustang driving back to school, in solitude.

“If this is how it’s going to be for the complete drive back, you can take me back to my car.”

“What?” Liam says shocked looking over at me confused.

“If I wanted to ride in silence the entire way back
, I would have driven myself.”

“Sorry,” he says quickly.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not,” he retorts.

“The hell you aren’t.  I thought we agreed what happened shouldn’t have happened and won’t again.  So what’s wrong with you?” I ask with arms crossed wanting answers.

“
Nothing’s wrong.”

“I call bullshit,” I say getting more irritated by the minute.

“What?”

“You heard me, bullshit,” I shout, causing him to start laughing at me.

“Who says that?” he asks while laughing.

“I do and I just did,” I state with a glare.

“Seriously, nothing’s wrong, I just have some stuff going on.”

“So you haven’t been avoiding me?”
I ask sarcastically.  I know he has.

“No.”

“Liar,” I mumble under my breath as I stare out the side window.

“Did you just call me a liar?” he asks giving me a look.

“Sure did because you did just lie to me,” I say calling him out.

“Fine, I was avoiding you, only because I didn’t know if you were going to say anything, but I did have things going on too, so I didn’t go out of my way to avoid you,” he finally says.

“I already told you, I wouldn’t tell.”

“Yeah
, so you said.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You aren’t the best at keeping secrets Haley.”

“I’m better than you think.”

“If you say so.  But regardless, it can’t get out.”

“I told you it wouldn’t.  I’m not going to say anything, plus we didn’t really do anything but make out.”  The look I get from Liam looks like he could kill me right now.  I’m not sure what I said
, but whatever it was I wish I could take it back.

“How about we listen to some music?” Liam asks as he flips on the radio,
and he finds a station of rock for us to listen to.  I move and get comfortable in my seat and stare out the side window.  This is going to be the longest drive of my life.

A few hours later
, Liam pulls into a gas station/convenient store place. “I’m gonna get gas,” he says before hopping out of the car.  I decide now is the time to stretch my legs and grab a bite to eat.  We still have seven hours to go.

“Do you want anything?”

“I’ll be in,” he says as he goes back to pumping.  I turn and walk inside deciding to relieve myself first.  After I’m done in the bathroom I grab a bag of chips, licorice, a soda, and a small container of fresh fruit.  I pay for my order and walk back out to the car to find Liam nowhere in sight.  I walk to the car and wait patiently for him to return.

“Ready to go?” he asks as he walks out with a bag of his own.

“Yes,” I say before climbing back inside the car.  I decide to start on my fruit before anything else.  It’s a container of grapes, strawberries, and cantaloupe. “Would you like any fruit?” I ask holding the container over to Liam.

“No thanks,” he says before diving into his chips.

For the next hour, we continue on our way, eating our snacks in silence, all but the radio playing.  “Do you mind if I drive for a little while?” I ask, wanting and needing something else to do before I go nuts.

“I got it.”

“Liam, seriously,” I practically shout.

“What?”

“I’m asking you to let me drive.”

“Something wrong with my driving?”

“No, I just need to do something before you drive me completely fucking nuts.”

Before I know it, Liam is pulling off the side of the
road faster than shit.  “You want to fucking drive, then drive,” he says before opening the door and hopping out.  He gets to my door and swings it open waiting for me to get out.  I haven’t seen him this mad in years.  I decide not to say a word; I get out of the car, walk around, and get in the driver seat.  I adjust the seat so I can reach the pedals before putting my seat belt on. 

I pull us back out onto the highway, change the radio station to some country and continue on our way.  Liam never says a word.

For the next two hours I drive, while singing to myself, not caring that Liam looks pissed.  He doesn’t say anything and he has no reason to be mad.  He can get over himself.

“I need you to stop at a gas station or something,” he says kindly.

“Okay,” I say deciding the next exit is only two miles, so I’ll take that one.  I take the exit and pull into a small convenient store.  Liam hops out of the car and walks inside.  I decide to stretch my limbs again.  I head inside thinking I might as well use the restroom while we’re here.

When I walk back out to the car
, Liam is waiting by the driver side door.  “I’ll drive,” he says holding his hand open for the keys.

“I was driving just fine.”

“Haley, I said I’d drive, now give me the damn keys.”

“What the hell is your problem?”

“Right now, you are,” he says looking irate.

I slap the keys into his hand, walk around and get into the passenger side.   I should have driven myself.

Liam changes the radio to a rap station and though I like rap, he has me extremely pissed off.  I pull out my iPod throw my ear buds in and lay my seat back.  I grab my pillow from the back seat deciding that if he wants to be an ass I’ll try and take a nap; hopefully, I don’t wake up until we are pulling into campus.

A few hours later
, I wake up and watch as Liam comes to a stop at another store.  I hop out of the car and head inside needing to relieve myself like no other.  I decide to grab a bottle of water and some pretzels before heading back outside.

I beat Liam out this time and wait at the car.  “Care if I drive the rest of the way?” I ask him once he comes out.

“I hate people driving my car,” he finally says.

“Then why didn’t you just say that?”

“Because you were pissed off and yelling,” he says as he walks towards me.

“If you would have told me that
, I wouldn’t have driven Liam.”

“Its fine, but
I’ll drive the rest of the way,” he says as I make my way around the car to get in for the final leg of the trip.  “I’m sorry I’ve been an ass this whole trip.”

“It’s fine
, but please don’t be like this on the way home in a few months.”

“I won’t, I promise.”

“Good.”

“Are you moving in to the sorority house for next year?”

“Yeah, my roommate wants to and we rushed together so we are going to room together in the house too.”

“That’s cool. 
You like the sorority?” Liam asks.

“Actually I do.  I wasn’t planning on joining a sorority, but I’m really glad I did.”

“Yeah, I was surprised to hear you were in one.  I never took you for the type.”

“Guess you don’t know me as well as you thought you did.”

“You’re right on that.  So what are your plans once we get back?” he asks changing subjects.

“Not really sure.  I’m ready for
summer though.”

“It will be here before you know it.”

“Yeah, it will,” I agree.

“
Are you glad you made the decision to go to Michigan instead of West Virginia?”

“Definitely.  I miss Kenzie and Brody
, but I made the right choice for me.”

“Good.  You n
eed to do what’s right for you,” he says with a smile.

“You ready to get back into football?”

“Always,” he says eagerly.

“You still love it?”

“Hell yeah.  What’s not to love?”

“True.  You’re about to be a senior.”

“I know, that part I can’t believe.”

“Why not?”

“Not ready for it to be over I guess.”

“Well it’s not yet.  You still have another year to go.  Do you think you’re going to try to go pro?”

“That’s the plan.  My agent wanted me to drop out and go pro this year, but I’m not doing it,” he says surprising me.

“Why not?”

“Because I need a back-up plan, if it doesn’t work out.”

“
Like it wouldn’t work out Liam,” I say with a knowing look.

“You never know and I love college football. 
So I want to get my degree and play my senior year here before seeing what happens.”

“That’s smart.”

“I think so, unfortunately not everyone agrees with me,” he says solemnly.

“Your parents don’t?” I ask surprised.

“No they do, they think education’s the most important thing.”

“Then who?” I ask confused, because I know Brody wouldn’t care what he does.

“Meg.”

“She wants you to leave school for pro football?” I ask
, not believing what I’m hearing.

“Sure does.”

“Why?”

“I guess
, so she knows there’s a stable future.  Who knows?”

“But that wouldn’t mean a stable future
, because you just said you never know what could happen.”

“I know, but it’s my choice and I already made my decision.”

“She’ll get over it, I’m sure.”

“She’s fine now, but every once in a while she brings it up.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”

The rest of the drive is easy conversation, which would have been nice the entire way, but oh well, I will take what I can get I guess.  It’s around 7:00 p.m. when Liam drops me off at my dorm. I grab my bags say good night and head inside to see if Quinn is back yet.

“Damn girl I thought you were never going to get here,” Quinn says as I enter our room.