A Savage Game of Love Page 2
There isn’t any part of me that feels sorry for him. He was in a bad accident, but he clearly survived… somewhat intact.
“Fine. I’ll tell you what went down, but it wasn’t pretty, and that was on you. I don’t lie, and everything you’ll hear is one hundred percent the truth. Whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you, but know this. What you think, say, or do, doesn’t bother me. I learned to live with what you did, and just because you nearly died, it doesn’t change a thing for me.”
Something like remorse fills his eyes, but he nods. “I understand.”
I roll my eyes, not giving a fuck if he understands or not.
“And I’m only telling you so you can live with the memories I do.”
It’s not fair I should have to bear them all on my own. If he thinks what he’s been told by his closest friends was cruel, wait till I tell him my side.
Chapter Three
The Past
It’s the first day of senior year, and the heat is brutal. Though school has been out for nearly three months, the air conditioner is still on the fritz, and having the windows open isn’t helping a bit to cool down. There’s no breeze, and I can feel the sweat dripping down the nape of my neck and under my shirt collar.
I just have to suffer through this last class, and then I can go home to take the longest cold shower in history. I gaze around the room, trying not to zone out and actually take some notes, when I catch Liam Harris looking over his shoulder, staring straight at me. He grins when he sees me looking back, and I quickly dart my eyes to the front where Mr. Knowles is currently reading from a textbook.
I can’t help myself. I look back to see Liam still staring at me. He tips his chin, and I look to see if he’s really just trying to get someone else’s attention.
When I look back, he’s silently laughing and raises his brow, telling me it’s me he’s looking at.
Is there something in my hair? I slyly run my hand over the back of my head, but nothing seems to be out of place.
Liam Harris. The most popular boy in school, and he’s not even on the football team. Callum Young, the school’s quarterback, and Ethan Scott, the team’s wide receiver, are his best friends, and together, they’re untouchable. It’s such a cliché, but the cheerleaders and most of the other female student population eat them up.
Liam, however, is notoriously known for his hot temper and bad boy ways. I’m surprised he hasn’t been expelled yet.
Still, there’s no reason for him to be smiling at me like that. I’m not exactly a loner, or classed as a nerd, but I’m not popular, either. I’m known as the girl who is possibly the only virgin left in our grade. Logically, I know this can’t be true, but no one else admitted they were at the end of last semester when asked during Health class.
Everyone laughed at me, like it was something I should be embarrassed about. I didn’t care then, and I don’t care now. Just because I haven’t let a guy stick his dick inside of me just so I can be like everyone else doesn’t make me any less than them, and it certainly doesn’t make me embarrassed.
My body, my virginity, is not something I’m going to give away, like it means nothing. I’ll decide when, where, and how I give it. The last thing I want to do is regret my choices years down the road. And the fact that I’m not even comfortable thinking about having sex proves to me I’m not ready.
The bell rings. Collecting my books, I shove them into my bag and head out into the hallway. Turning left, Liam Harris rushes up beside me and slows his pace to match mine.
Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll go away?
Apparently, not a chance.
“You’re Gabriella, right?” he asks, his voice deep but smooth.
I refrain from rolling my eyes. He knows damn well what my name is. We may not run in the same circles, but everyone in this school knows each other. We’ve literally gone to the same schools since kindergarten.
Pushing open the door and stepping outside, I internally groan at the heat while keeping my eyes forward as I head for my car. He stays at my side and I start to wonder what’s going on without actually asking him.
“There’s a party this weekend. I was wondering if you’d wanna go with me?”
Digging for my keys, I pause. “Why?” I drag the word out, letting him know I’m clearly suspicious.
“Because, I reckon we’d have a good time.”
Yeah, I don’t think so.
Latching onto my keys, I go to unlock my door when he steps in front of me and leans against my car, digging his hands into his pockets.
“A good time? You know what that is, yeah?”
This time, I give him a dramatic eye roll. Fucking popular kids, always assuming no one outside of their circle knows how to have fun. Because heaven forbid us normal people have a social life outside of school and homework.
“Again, why? We don’t know each other,” I point out.
“We know of each other,” he retorts.
Pushing away from the car, he steps closer. Seriously, am I in a parallel universe right now, or is it the heat? Am I suffering from heat exhaustion and I’m full-on hallucinating or something?
“Look, we have several classes together. Let me know if you wanna go.”
He walks away. The only reason I watch him until he disappears with his friends, Callum and Ethan, is because processing the last five minutes is giving me a headache, and I’m a little afraid to drive in this state of weirdness.
Pulling into the driveway, I notice mom’s car is parked out front. She’s supposed to be at work, so her car being here tells me she’s having another “sick day.”
Bracing myself for what’s to come, I grab my school bag and unlock the front door.
The wine hits me first, and the sight of her lounging on the couch rolls my stomach. She never used to be like this. She hasn’t been the same since my father was diagnosed with colon cancer and died. The disease took him so fast. No one had time to digest he was sick in the first place. It left me and my two brothers broken, but it left my mom in her own personal living hell. Sometimes I get so angry with her, I forget how to breathe. But most of the time, I pity her. Her heart’s broken, and I don’t see her ever getting over it.
“How was school?” she slurs.
At least she still cares enough to ask about my day.
“Hot. I’m going for a shower.”
I don’t hang around. Dumping my bag on my bed, I grab a clean pair of shorts and a tee from the drawers and lock myself in the bathroom.
The cold water chills me, and I gradually turn up the heat, letting my mind wander.
I miss my mom—the mom before Dad died. Don’t get me wrong, she isn’t a horrible drunk. She just needs wine and liquor to get through the day and to sleep at night. But the effects of alcohol make her clumsy, and her highs and lows spiral out of control. It’s like looking after a child sometimes.
Stepping out of the shower, I dry off and get dressed, sit at my desk, and turn on the small fan when my phone pings with a message.
If you don’t want to go to the party, I could take you somewhere else. – Liam.
What the hell? I stare at the screen, rereading the text five times. Since when does Liam Harris have my number?
How did you get my number?
* * *
I beat up a kid from your youth group.
He did what?
My head spinning, I move to the bed, thinking that if I’m going to pass out, I should land on something soft.
Who could it have been? There were only six boys in my youth group—a group I haven’t attended in over a year—and none of them would’ve stood a chance against Liam.
The nausea rolling through my stomach turns to anger. I’m getting ready to type out a furious text when another message comes through from him.
I was joking. Your friend Milly gave it to me.
I close my eyes, letting the relief surge thr
ough me.
So… party or dinner?
Dinner? What are we, in our fifties?
My thumb taps the screen while I think this through. Curiosity runs through my blood. And while I’m suspicious, I’m also more than curious to see what he’s up to. What the hell?
Party.
I’ll pick you up at seven this Friday.
I don’t bother replying. To be honest, I don’t know what to say. My curiosity turns to excitement, and I have to bite down pretty hard on my bottom lip to keep from smiling.
Liam walks me from my car and into the school every morning. He smiles at me across the cafeteria at lunch every day, and stares at me in the classes we share for the rest of the week.
We exchange small talk during the short walks from the car to class, and it hasn’t been… unpleasant.
It’s left me confused, and I’m still confused as I look at myself in the full-length mirror in my mom’s room. My little black dress fits snugly around my slender-ish frame, and my crop denim jacket covers my bare arms. My hair is up in a ponytail, with wispy, curly strands hanging loosely around my face.
“You should wear heels. Boots don’t work with a nice dress like that,” my mom announces from the doorway, clutching her wine glass.
“I’m braving it by wearing a dress.”
Her smile is soft, reminding me of pre-drunk mom, when she smiled every day.
“I take it you’re off to a party?”
“Yeah. Liam Harris is picking me up in a minute.”
“Harris? Molly Harris’s boy?”
“That’s the one.”
Her surprise matches mine from the other day.
Nerves creep in as I eye my outfit once more. I look like I’m ready for a party, but still casual, which is what I was going for. It’s not my first party, but it is my first one going with a date.
Maybe I should cancel. I have no business going to a party with Liam Harris.
Just as I decide to get my phone from my room, readying an excuse as to why I can’t go, a car horn blasts from out front.
It can’t be seven already. A quick glance at the clock says it’s five after, and I swallow the nervous lump in my throat.
“Go and have fun. It’s about time you did.”
As usual, my mother isn’t helpful in the slightest. Rushing out of her room, I grab my phone and house keys off my bed and shove them into my jacket pocket.
Walking out the front door is the most nerve-racking experience of my life so far. If I trip right now, I’m going to die of embarrassment. I’m not usually a clumsy person, but every humiliating scenario imaginable races through my mind at supersonic speed between the house and his car.
I make it to him in one piece, and once I’m seated and have my belt on, he grins at me.
“You look hot.”
My cheeks burning from the compliment, I smile back.
“Thanks.”
Should I compliment him? How do you even approach that? You look hot… No, I can’t. I opt to keep my mouth shut.
“You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” I say, trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum.
He laughs. “You’ll be fine, Gabriella. It’ll be fun.”
During the quiet drive, I sneak glances at him. Everyone is going to wonder why we’re arriving at the party together. Hell, I’m still trying to work out how this happened myself.
He takes us across town to what the locals call the “money side,” where the houses get bigger the farther we go. After we find a place to park outside one of the bigger houses, he jumps out from behind the wheel and rounds the car to open my door.
This is it. This is where the night truly begins.
Taking my hand, he helps me to my feet and closes the door. I can already hear the music coming from inside, and my heart starts to pound against my chest.
“Whose party is this?”
“Ethan’s. His parents are away for the weekend.”
The house is crammed with people from school, and a lot of others I don’t recognise. Sticking close to Liam, he squeezes my hand and leads us into the kitchen, pushing through people without a care in the world.
The house is beautifully decorated, and I internally cringe when I see people treating the furniture like they’re in a crack house. Surely his parents are going to lose their shit when they come home?
Callum is sitting on the counter with Alice tucked between his legs, his chin resting on the top of her head. A ripple of jealously runs through me at how close they are, which is silly. My hand is currently wrapped inside of Liam’s, the hottest guy in school.
The guys greet each other with fist bumps, and tip their heads toward me as if to say “hey.” I almost snort; it’s such a guy thing. I look at Alice and smile, and she smiles back. Bella, on the other hand, can’t take her eyes off Liam’s hand wrapped around mine.
Liam looks at me and asks, “You want a beer?”
I shift my gaze away from Bella and reply, “Sure.”
Reaching in with his free hand, he grabs two bottles from the cooler on the island. Nodding to his friends, he leads me through the massive crowd and out the back door. The garden is just as beautiful as the house. They even have a pool. Not many people in Oak Hill have the means to own a freaking pool.
We find a quiet spot near the back of the garden, and I’m careful not to flash anyone as I sit on the grass beside him.
Taking the offered beer from his hand, I twist the cap off, all under his intense gaze.
“What?”
“Dunno. I didn’t expect you to drink beer. Stupid, really.”
I laugh. “Why wouldn’t I drink beer at a party? I don’t get fall-on-my-face wasted, but I can have a couple.”
My mom drinks enough for my whole family. One drunk is more than my brothers and I can handle.
“Fair enough. So, what kind of music do you like?”
“What kind of music do you think I like?” I ask, interested to see what his assumptions are of me. He already thinks I’m a goody-two-shoes who hasn’t drunk beer before. The way his eyes roam over me has me questioning why me? again.
“My guess? Pop. I reckon you sing into your hairbrush anytime Beyoncé comes on.”
I bark out a laugh and quickly slam my hand over my mouth. “Is that what you see when you look at me? I mean, I don’t not like her music, but I don’t think I’ve ever gone out of my way to listen to her songs.”
His brow arches in surprise.
“So who does the girl I’m very fucking interested in getting to know right now listen to?”
“My favourite is Nirvana. I also love Foo Fighters, Green Day…”
I go on to list everyone I listen to when he blurts out, “No way. Really? It’s like you’re listing straight from my playlists.”
Grinning, I take a pull on my beer. Every sip seems to help settle my nerves.
“Movies?”
I tell him my go-to movie, Armageddon, and he laughs.
“The one with Bruce Willis and the asteroid?”
“That’s the one.”
“Why?”
“A bunch of guys with criminal records saving the world? What’s not to love?”
“It’s Ben Affleck, isn’t it?”
“It’s a mixture. What’s yours?”
“Terminator. It’s a classic.”
And a total guy movie.
Finishing my beer, I pick at the label as the conversation stalls.
“Hey,” he murmurs, forcing me to peek up at him from under my lashes. “You’re nothing like I thought you’d be.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“Oh, it’s good.” He shuffles closer and plucks the empty bottle from my hands.
“You want a bad boy who saves the world, Gabriella?”
“Is the world expecting Armageddon?” I ask, my voice thick at his close proximity.
“Could be for all we know. How about this… you want me to kiss you?”
My eyes dr
op to his mouth just as his tongue slips out, running over his bottom lip.
Placing his hand around the side of my face, I have no choice but to fully look at him.
“I really want to kiss you.”
How did we go from talking about music and movies to him wanting to kiss me? Even though my heart’s racing, I really, really, want him to lean in closer.
“Then kiss me.”
In the space of a breath, his lips are on mine. The taste of his beer mixes with mine as our tongues dance as one. His other hand finds its way to the other side of my face and the moment deepens when his lips press harder against mine. It’s not my first kiss, but it’s the first one to have my head spinning.
Chapter Four
The Past
Liam is waiting for me on Monday morning as I climb out of my car and head into school, with Callum and Ethan waiting off to the side. Liam smiles like he’s missed me. Like he hasn’t laid eyes on me for weeks, which is ridiculous, as I saw him Friday night. And while the kiss still burns in my memory, the texts we’d swapped over the weekend still have me confused. He initiated every thread, and smiling nervously as I replied to each one, I just couldn’t wrap my head around his sudden interest in me.
“Hey,” he drawls as he takes my bag from me and swings it over his shoulder.
Darting my eyes to his friends still hovering nearby, I catch them laughing under their breath and quickly look away. I’m not sure they like me, and I don’t know if I like them, either.
“Shall I expect a chaperone every day?” I ask Liam, deciding to focus only on him.
Grinning, he shrugs. “Maybe.”
Stopping by my locker, he waits while I collect my math book, and then proceeds to walk me to my first class, one we don’t share.
Pausing at the door, I hold out my hand and he passes my bag over.
“I want to kiss you again.”