“Baby, she loves you, just like I do. This works out great, so we can all be there to celebrate today’s win.” He winks.
I giggle at his cockiness. “That’s the most beautiful sound,” he says, kissing me quickly and rolling out of bed.
I slip on a pair of his sweats and head to the kitchen to make breakfast before they have to leave.
I’m standing at the stove, flipping pancakes, when I feel Liam step behind me and place his hands on my hips. “Can I help, baby?”
I look over my shoulder at him. “No, you just relax. You have a big game today.”
He rests his head on my shoulder and guides my hips back against his. I continue making pancakes while he holds me close.
“Mornin’,” Aiden mumbles as he slides into a chair at the table. “Ash, I just want to say you being with Liam, which leads to you being here all the time, which leads to you feeding us, has to be the best chain of events ever.”
Liam and I laugh as I serve them their breakfast and place the extra batter in the fridge for when Hailey wakes up. “You look rough, man,” Liam says as he slides into his chair next to me.
“I slept on the couch,” Aiden replies with his mouth full.
“Why?” Liam asks him, perplexed that he would sleep on the couch when he has a perfectly comfortable bed just down the hall.
Aiden shrugs his shoulders. I have a feeling it has something to do with Hailey. He’s very protective of her and he’s always watching her. I think Hailey has a thing for him as well. Every time I try to talk to her about Aiden, she changes the subject. I make a mental note to keep an eye out for more clues from these two. Liam and Aiden scarf down their food. They have to be at the field at nine. I hear Hailey moving around in the living room, so I get up to start on her pancakes.
Liam removes the batter from my hands and sets it on the counter. He then picks me up and sets me on the counter beside it. He steps in between my legs and cups my face in the palm of his hands. “Thank you for breakfast.” He kisses me. “I bought you a new hoodie to wear to the games, since it’s getting colder. It’s hanging in our closet.” He winks at me. He’s always referring to it as our room, our closet. I guess after last night and the decisions we made about our future, I should stop arguing the fact and embrace it. He kisses me again and it’s a good thing I’m sitting, he literally makes me weak in the knees. He rests his forehead against mine. “I love you, beautiful girl. I’ll see you at the game.”
Hailey walks into the kitchen, Aiden behind her. “Damn, make sure you clean the counter,” she scoffs. At that we all laugh. Liam kisses me one more time before setting me back on my feet, so he and Aiden can leave for the stadium.
When we arrive at the stadium, we find the seats the guys have reserved for us and their parents, front and center, right on the fifty-yard line. Of course, this also has us sitting right behind the team. Liam says he likes knowing I’m so close. I’m a little nervous for the game, we’re playing Duke, which means Liam and Aiden are playing against Todd and Jason. Neither Hailey nor I have heard anything from either one of them. I hope there’s no drama today in the game.
We win the coin toss. I feel the nerves in the pit of my stomach as I watch Liam and Aiden line up on the field. Both Todd and Jason are defensive lineman, so guess what that means. Yep, they take the field as well. Liam currently has the team in a huddle; I can only imagine what he’s saying to them about Todd and Jason.
At the snap, Liam shuffles his feet, throws his arm back, and launches the ball to Aiden. He catches it with ease, just before being smashed to the ground by two members of the opposing team. The hit is hard, and I stand waiting for him to get up. I feel a tight grip on my hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Hailey gnawing on her lip with worry all over her face. Aiden slowly gets to his feet and the crowd roars, as he throws his hand in the air waving. Aiden then points to our group and smiles. I relax, and Hailey releases the breath she was holding. There’s something definitely going on there.
The next two downs, Liam repeats the same play. He throws to Aiden who catches it, again with ease before being mauled to the ground. They’re now on the twenty-yard line, and Aiden’s getting the shit beat out of him. The line is doing a great job of protecting Liam, but I’m fearful for Aiden, he’s taken three hard ass hits. They break from the huddle and take the line. I watch, holding my breath, to see if we can get the first touchdown of the game. I watch as Liam swiftly hands the ball off to Aiden, who then starts to run. It’s at this point I realize they’re pulling a quarterback sneak and Liam still has the ball. I go psycho fan girl and begin to scream, “Run, Liam, you got this, baby!” That’s when others around me realize Liam still has the ball. The other coach yelling at his team to get the quarterback, but it’s too late. Liam glides into the end zone, touchdown! I grab Hailey. We’re jumping up and down and screaming. I belt out, “That’s my man!” Yeah, not exactly my finest moment, but hey, my man just scored a touchdown.
Hailey and I are still hugging and talking about how awesome the play was when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look over to see Mrs. Mac smiling widely as she points toward the field. Liam is running toward the sideline ball tucked under one arm, helmet in the other. I watch him as he nears, but doesn’t stop, instead he by-passes his teammates and heads straight for me. I watch as he hands his helmet off to a photographer and scales the wall. He climbs over the side and grabs me with his free hand behind my neck and kisses me, hard. The kiss is brief, but doesn’t lack once ounce of the passion we share. Liam rests his forehead against mine. “I missed you, beautiful girl.” He pulls me in for a hug and kisses my temple. “See you in about an hour, baby,” he says as he jumps back over the wall, takes his helmet back from the photographer, and waltzes back to the bench, like nothing happened.
Mrs. Mac leans in and bumps her shoulder into mine. “You make him happy, Allison. It thrills me to see him this way.”
I smile at her, tears in my eyes. “I love him.” I realize what I said and slap my hand over my mouth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not embarrassed of Liam or the love that we share, but holy shit I just blurted it out to his mom. I can feel my face heat with embarrassment.
Mrs. Mac just laughs. “He loves you too, Allison.” She smiles and turns her attention back to the game.
Chapter 30
Liam
I take some ribbing from the guys on the team for my display with Allison. What they don’t realize is she’s my world. They can rib me all they want, but at the end of the day my girl is coming home with me, and they’re going home alone.
We end up winning the game thirty-six to twenty-two. Not only am I coming off a win, but that fuckstick Jason broke his arm and will be out of the rest of the season. Serves the fucker right for what he did to Allison. Karma is a bitch.
Dinner at my parents’ is great, as always, only this year I have a little something extra to be thankful for. I watch Allison as she helps my mom in the kitchen and talks to my dad about football. I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s currently helping Mom and Hales wrap up the leftovers. Dad, Aiden, and I are in the living room talking about the game; only I’m not paying attention to the conversation, not when I can watch Allie.