"What are you doing later?" he asked.
Thinking about you, what I do every second of my existence. "I don"t have any plans."
"Let"s work on the garden together."
I wanted to burst into tears. I missed the afternoons we would spend in comfortable silence, pampering the plants and taking care of the soil. "I would love to."
His hands moved to my waist and they spanned my entire back. He pulled me close, pushing his concrete chest against mine. Feeling him like this was heaven. Now I didn"t want to go to cla.s.s. I wanted to stay right here forever.
He kissed the top of my head. "Bring an overnight bag this time."
My heart fluttered at his words.
Cla.s.s was excruciating because I"d rather be with Liam than learn about math. Normally, I was interested, but today, there was only one thing on my mind. Last night was the best sleep I"d gotten in the past three months. With Liam, the ma.s.s of muscle beside me, I drifted into a pleasant slumber.
When my calculus cla.s.s was over, I headed to the door.
"Hey, Keira."
I turned to see Ryder smiling at me. "Oh, hi." I forgot this guy was in my cla.s.s. Honestly, I would have forgotten about him entirely if Liam hadn"t brought him up twice.
He walked with me to the door. "Boring, huh?"
I smirked. "My mind was just elsewhere."
"Mine too," he agreed. "So, you hungry?"
Um, what? "Sorry?"
"You want to get something to eat?" He kept his pace beside me as we left the cla.s.sroom.
"I told you I wasn"t interested." My words came out a little harsh.
He raised his hands and put a smile on his face. "I was asking as a friend..."
Oh. Now I felt like a b.i.t.c.h. "Sorry."
"Besides, I heard you and Liam broke up three months ago...I just a.s.sumed you had enough time to move on." He shrugged. "Honestly, I"ve had a crush on you since the beginning of the semester. I just finally had the guts to ask you out."
I wasn"t expecting him to say that. "I had no idea..."
He kept smiling. "You seem to be off in your own world most of the time."
I kept walking when a shadow pa.s.sed over me. I stopped, realizing a concrete wall just moved in front of me.
Liam stared at Ryder, his eyes threatening. He didn"t look at me once, just focusing on the guy next to me. His jaw was clenched and his eyes burned in undisguised hatred.
Okay...this was awkward.
Ryder flinched when he noticed Liam. "Hey, man. Good fight the other night."
"Thanks." Liam"s tone was dark. He kept staring at him, silently telling him to leave.
I"d never seen Liam act like this before. I wasn"t sure what to do.
Liam put his hand on my waist then pulled me to him. "Hey, baby."
Baby? I missed hearing him call me that...
Ryder"s gaze shifted back and forth between us. "I guess I"ll see you guys later..." He turned around and walked off, his shoulders sagging.
Liam kept staring at him until he was thirty feet away. His hand never left my waist.
What should I say? The whole episode was odd. Liam acted like a wolf guarding his pack.
"Let me know if he bothers you again," he said darkly.
"Well, he wasn"t really bothering me..." He wasn"t. He seemed like a good guy. When I turned Liam down, he didn"t give up. Could I really dislike Ryder for trying to get a girlfriend?
"He wasn"t?" Surprise moved into his eyes.
"No. He was nice."
His hand dropped. "You weren"t scared?"
"No..."
He looked at me with new eyes. "Really?"
"Yeah. I can take care of myself."
Liam stared at me for a long time, silent.
"I told you I"m done being scared."
"I can see that."
Tired of missing his hand on me, I reached out and grabbed it.
He looked down at our joined hands but didn"t pull away.
"What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Outside my cla.s.sroom. You"ve never done that before."
He shrugged. "It was on my way."
"On your way where...?" His last cla.s.s was over an hour ago and it was on the other side of the campus.
He looked away and didn"t respond to me.
"Liam?"
He clenched his jaw and sighed. "I"m jealous. I didn"t want some other guy to swoop you up while we...worked through our problems."
"No other guy could ever swoop me up. I was yours even if you weren"t mine."
"I"ve always been yours," he whispered.
"Well, you don"t need to worry, Liam. You can trust me."
"I know I can."
"Then why be jealous?"
He took a step and pulled me forward. "I don"t know...I guess I understand how you feel about Adrianna."
A small laugh escaped my lips. "Adrianna is a psychotic terror. Ryder is a nice guy looking for a date. Not comparable at all."
He smirked slightly. "Yeah, that"s true."
I smiled while I watched him. "I like it when you"re jealous."
"You do?" He turned to me, warmth in his eyes.
"Yeah, I like the way you claimed me, making sure he knew I wasn"t up for grabs."
He released a breath. "Good. I"m glad I didn"t make you mad."
"Make me mad?" I asked incredulously. "Every girl on this campus wants you but you only want me. And you want every guy to know I"m yours. Believe me, I"m not mad."
A light blush moved into his cheeks. "I"m glad you see it that way."
I moved closer into his side. "I do."
His hand left mine and moved around my waist. Then he pulled me into him and kissed me on the cheek.
My skin burned as soon as his lips pressed against me. The affection he gave me was enough to make my body increase twenty degrees in a few seconds. It felt so good that I bit my lip, unsure why.
He pulled away then grabbed my hand again, walking with me. "Hungry?"
No. "Yes."
"Lunch?"
"Yes."
"Okay." His thumb brushed over mine while he pulled me beside him.
I was in heaven.
We reached the cafeteria and walked inside. Mexican food was on the menu today, just like usual. It was hard to find anything else in Southern California. But I didn"t mind. I loved it.
"Enchiladas?" he asked.
He remembered. "Sure."
"Take a seat and I"ll get it."
He was being a perfect boyfriend all over again. "Okay."
He dropped my hand then got in line.
I sighed happily then walked to a table by the window. Things seemed to be getting back to normal. I knew Liam wouldn"t have warmed up to me if I hadn"t made some progress. I guess going to the fight and not jumping to conclusions when I saw Theresa at his house really helped. Although, I still didn"t know what his relationship to Theresa was. But I wouldn"t be stupid enough to ask at this point.
I surveyed the tables around us and noticed a thin brunette laughing with her girlfriends. The high-pitch giggle strained my ears because I knew whom it belonged to. Lo and behold, Adrianna was sitting just a few feet away.
Ugh.
Just looking at her made me want to slam her face into concrete. I wasn"t a violent person and didn"t have violent tendencies, but I really wanted to yank her hair out and cause her misery. All she had done since Liam became mine was sabotage our joy and happiness. Someone needed to put her in her place. Since Liam was too much of a gentleman to be too aggressive, I"d have to do something about it.
Liam headed toward our tables carrying the trays. I was glad we were right in Adriana"s view. She could see we were back together and nothing she could do would keep us apart.
Liam put the can of soda in the center of the table. "c.o.ke?"
We always shared one because neither one of us wanted all the sugar. "Sure."
He sat down, oblivious to Adrianna and her gang of broads.
I knew I couldn"t rush Liam by being physical with him. If he were ready for that, we would have done more than just sleep the night before. So, I reached out and placed my hand on his knuckles, stroking the worn and weathered skin. "Thanks for lunch."
"My pleasure." He pulled his plate toward him then grabbed a fork.
When I glanced at Adrianna, she had a noticeable scowl on her face. She looked like she just inhaled something sour. The taste was making her nauseated. Her fists clenched tightly, clearly displease by what she saw.
Take that, c.u.n.t.
Liam studied my face. "What are you looking at?"
I turned back to him. "A wh.o.r.e."
He c.o.c.ked an eyebrow because I never spoke like that.
When I glanced back at Adrianna, she was marching to our table, livid.
She stopped in front of Liam, her hands on her hips. "You"re with her?"