Pulling Away.
She looked up at me from underneath her fluttery eyelashes. Her lips were pursed and her eyes were narrowed. She had a natural scowl to her face and came across mildly intimidating. I only say mildly because I spent the whole of last year warming up to Liams intimidation and Lola was a pussycat in comparison.
“I don’t like any of your clothes.” She admitted brutally as I posed for her in my third outfit change of the day, I sighed dramatically as I moved more outfits aside looking for something she would finally approve of but she shook her head at every single thing.
It didn’t take her long before she got up from the bed and searched through our shared closet pulling out a pair of distressed skinny jeans and a cropped sweater from the side she kept her own clothes on. She handed them to me and flipped her auburn hair ferociously sending a wave of lavender scent in my direction.
“Here, wear this, it might make you look like you actually have an ass.” She slapped my backside before placing herself back on the bed. I rolled my eyes at her classic backhanded insult and started stripping my clothes.
I haven’t seen Liam for over a week, lately college just seemed to get in the way of things. I don’t think either of us expected it to be this demanding. We’ve spoke on the phone almost every day but he always seems too busy or too tired to meet up. Which I understood but it just sucks. After a substantial amount of pressure he agreed to meet up halfway between our two universities.
My heart raced as I watched the minutes tick by, Liam always had impeccable timekeeping and I was already running late. I dodged the human bodies as I made my way towards the cafe we arranged to meet up at.
My eyes scanned the room and my heart skipped a beat as I spotted him instantly. I forgot how good he looked. He wore a grey beanie on his head that teased a little strand of chestnut against his forehead, his signature leather jacket draped over a grey t.shirt and although his legs were hidden under a table I knew he would undoubtedly be wearing dark jeans.
I halted my footsteps just so I could secretly admire his beauty from across the room. He had no idea I was watching as he flicked small grains of salt across the table in boredom. I bit back my smile, he looked so innocent and light. Like all of the heaviness from back home was slowly evaporating and the cracks in his skin were healing. Blue eyes looked up to meet me, slowly they drank in my appearance and a sexy, boyish smile grew wider on his lips.
“Hey.” I said unable to shake the smile from my own face.
“Hi.” He replied, smiling back equally as wide.
I took a seat opposite him and he gestured for my hand, my arm rested against the table as he grasped my fingers and soothed the skin with the simple trace of his thumb. His simple touch electrified every nerve in my body. The last time we held hands across a table like this was when we were captive in handcuffs, back when Liam was misunderstood and broken.
“I missed you.” He admitted.
“I missed you too, tell me everything! Do you still like your roommate?” I asked enthusiastically.
Liam let go of my hand and pulled himself back in his chair, rubbing the back of his neck. His manner changed slightly and his smile dropped, I was momentarily confused because I could tell something was bothering him.
“Reece is great, we get on really well, there’s not much to tell.” He shrugged nonchalantly but refused to hold my eye contact. “How about you?” He asked a little too quickly.
“She’s okay. Her names Lola, she’s sarcastic and blunt but I think that’s part of her charm.” I replied, still feeling a little weird about Liams reaction. I thought about asking him what was wrong but this was the first time we had seen each other in a while and I didn’t want it tarnished by negative feelings. He nodded his head and sucked up his Coke through a straw.
“How’s soccer?” I found myself desperate to move past our strange moment. Liam visibly eased and the mood lightened.
“Different. A new team means none of us are in sync with each other so finding out what works is tiring and frustrating but we’ll get there, that’s what the practices are for.” His blue eyes sparkled with the happiness on his face.
“The distance from our hometown suits you.” I pointed out, his smile wavered and he guarded emotions behind his blank expression. My smile dropped knowing I had said something that brought his attention back to old memories.
The waitress approached the table to take our order, she was a pretty little thing with strawberry blonde hair and perfectly symmetrical lips. She seemed overly friendly with Liam and when he addressed her personally I felt my eyes widen in surprise. Liam obviously noticed the startling expression on my face because he raised his eyebrows at me cockily. He looked amused and smug all at once, asking me silently if I was jealous. I narrowed my eyes to thin slits, not wanting to further grow his budding ego but when he released a little giggle I melted completely.
Liams phone vibrated against the table and I watched as he picked it up and flicked his eyes over the screen. A smile graced his lips and then he set to work replying almost instantly. Our table went quiet for a few minutes while he exchanged messages with whoever he was texting. His face was lit up like a Christmas tree with each incoming text message he received and it warmed my heart knowing he was happy.
The waitress put our food down in front of us and Liam finally pulled his eyes away from his phone.
“Sorry.” He said shyly, putting his phone away in his pocket.
“It’s okay, is it Jordan and the guys?” I asked out of genuine interest. His friends all went to different colleges scattered across the state.
“Nah, it’s my roommate.” He replied as he tucked into his fries.
“Oh.”
Things between Liam and I felt weird, like there was a whole ocean of words that we were not saying to each other. Instead the gaps were filled with small talk and polite gestures. He was stand-offish and perhaps a little awkward. I thought within time he would settle and things would go back to normal but we’ve been attending college for a month now and nothing has changed.
“I’ll give you a ride back to campus.” He offered once we were done.
I climbed onto the back of his motorcycle clutching the toned muscles of his chest through the safety barrier of his clothing. It ignited a spark of electricity through my body and the butterflies dusted themselves off and fluttered around.
We pulled into campus and I spotted the bright orange of Lola’s hair almost instantly. Liam parked up in the designated bike spaces and helped me off his bike. Lola approached us, focusing her attention only on Liams bike.
“This a Royal Enfield?” She asked, running her finger along the base of the seat.
“Yeah, you know bikes?” Liam seemed a little stunned and Lola brought her grey eyes up to meet his.
“A little, The Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production. Nobody I know owns one though, how does she run?”
“She’s getting a little tired now, I’ve had her a while but I can’t part with her. She’s been with me through some tough times.” He threw his bike one lingering look of love and I awkwardly stood beside him. Lola looked at me as if acknowledging I was there for the first time.
“Liv, your boyfriend is like super hot.” She nodded her approval at me and her candidness stunned me. Poor Liam squirmed beside me, his eyes widened three inches and his cheeks pinked, he didn’t know what to do with himself. I giggled under my hand.
“Liam, this is Lola my roommate. Lola, this is Liam my boyfriend.”
“You’ll let me ride it one day, right?” The dry humor in her voice made me question for a moment if she was talking to Liam about the bike or me about Liam.
“Nobody rides the bike but me.” Liam said curtly.
“We’ll see.” She said with a mischievous glint to her eye. She turned around and headed towards the dorm leaving Liam and I watching her figure disappear into the distance.
“She’s a character.” Liam said, rubbing the back of his neck.
I laughed and pulled him closer so he rested against my body, the familiar scent of our wood and fresh vanilla reminded me of all of the good times and in that moment I knew whatever hurdle we faced we would climb over.
Looking up to meet his face I gently rubbed my nose against his, sharing a cute Eskimo kiss because I didn’t want to lay on the PDA in the middle of my college campus. I felt the impact of his smile as his minty breath fanned out against my lips and as I pulled away he grabbed me closer, taking me by surprise. I slammed into his body in one rapid motion.
Within seconds he pushed his lips onto mine, stealing a kiss in the center of the college courtyard, not caring who was around. His lips clung to mine desperately, like he had waited a long time just to taste me again. His hands found my hair and he fumbled with the soft blonde strands that fell down my back. His tongue filled my mouth exploring every area that I had reserved just for him. Liam pulls away from me, that’s what he does but then moments like these come along to remind me that he’s not going anywhere. Liam was back safely in my arms and there wasn’t a single thing that could ruin that.
