I flip the light on in my room and choke back a scream. No one should be in my room, especially Liam, but there he is, sitting on my bed, looking like he’s been to hell and back. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Liam stares at his hands and whispers, “I broke up with Corah.”
“You did what?" I look behind me to Asher. He's still asleep. I don't want him knowing Liam is here, so I close the door. No matter how I look at this situation, it isn't good, but if I can keep Asher from waking, maybe I won't have to tell him about it. "Liam, you can’t.”
“She lied to me.” He looks up at me, eyes red and puffy. “She was never pregnant. She used her cousin's ultrasound because she was scared I was going to leave her." He pauses and shakes his head. "She lied to me, Lainey."
“Holy crap.” I sit on the bed and pull Liam into a hug. Big arms wrap around my waist, pulling me close, as his head rests against my chest. I thread my fingers through Liam's hair, waiting for the butterflies in my stomach to spring to life. They don't. The only thing I'm feeling is sorrow, because as happy as I am to hear that Liam won't be a father, I'm also heartbroken. No man should ever be put through something like this. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
He shakes his head and looks up at me. “She only came clean because she knew I’d eventually leave her. For you.”
“Liam…” I drop my arms to my slides and scoot back an inch. If he would have come to me a few weeks ago, before I found out about the almost baby and the need for an STD test, I might have felt differently. I cared for him so much, I thought I was in love. Now, I look at Liam and realize I do love him, but I'm not in love with him.
“I never would have stayed with Corah if it wasn’t for the baby. I was going to take you to prom." He takes my hand. I look down at our intertwined fingers, still shocked there's no zing of electricity. I tuck my lips between my lips to fight a frown and meet Liam's gaze again. "It was always supposed to be you and me, Lainey. What happened to us?”
"You hurt me." I pull my hand back and hug myself. The wounds in my heart from every time I was pushed aside and forgotten for someone else burst open. All the pain I've locked away hits me at once, pooling tears behind my eyes. "You were sleeping with other people behind my back."
"We weren’t exclusive. You knew I was with other girls."
I shake my head and wipe at my eyes before the flood gates break loose. "I knew you were doing stuff with those girls, but I didn't know you were doing that."
Liam snorts and leans back onto his hands. "What did you think I was doing with them? Cuddling and watching movies? I only did that kind of shit with you, Lainey."
"
I don’t know." I stand and pace across the room to my desk. That picture of Liam and I stares at me. I wish I could go back to that day, to when he was my moon and my sun, but now things are different. I'm different. "I never sat down and thought about it, but none of that matters." I turn to Liam and wonder, Did he even think about the shit he was exposing me to? Probably not. "We never used a condom, Liam. How many other girls did you do that with?”
"None," he insists, standing and crossing the room. He touches my elbow and looks me in the eye. "Only you."
I shake my head and step out of his grasp. Anger burns beneath my skin, scorching my insides. How dare he think I'm that naive. "Stop lying to me! That can’t be true if you thought Corah was pregnant."
"Fine", Liam growls, his heartbroken, caring demeanor replaced with irritation. "Do you want the truth? All of them. I fucking hate condoms."
My face pinches together in disgust. Tomorrow's phone call with my results can't come fast enough. "Get out, Liam. You disgust me."
"Don’t make me go," he begs, dropping down to his knees and holding my legs. "We can fix this. I can do better. I’ll let everyone know we’re together this time and I will only be with you. Please, Lainey."
My heart breaks because I did it. Liam finally sees me as someone worth having, but it's too late. I take his hands and pull him to his feet "I don’t trust you. You've got to work on fixing our friendship before I’d even consider being with you like that again."
"Fine." He wraps his arms around me and nuzzles into my neck. " I’ll do whatever you want."
"Thank you." I keep my arms at my sides until Liam realizes I'm not going to fall into his trap. There will be no cuddling that turns into kissing that makes its way into touching. He and I are starting over as friends. Nothing more.
Liam takes the hint and steps back, shoving his hands in his pockets. "So, that means you and Asher are over then. Right?"
Asher. I’d almost forgotten about him. I know things between us are fake, but it feels so real. I can't let what we have go until I know where he stands. I shake my head. "No. I’m not breaking up with him. Not until I know you’re serious and feel like this is something I’m ready to do again. Asher has been the perfect boyfriend, Liam. You have a lot of work to do if you want to take his place."
"You're joking.” He sneers. "You expect me to drop everything and everyone but you're still going to be with him? No. I’m not doing it."
I shrug not at all surprised. Or even disappointed. "You always know what to say to make me bend my will for you, Liam, but you fall short every time. Crawl back out the way you came and leave me alone."
I lean against the hood of my car in the school parking lot and watch Asher talk to Russell and a few of the football guys. He hasn’t noticed me yet, and for that I’m grateful. It’s not often I have the chance to appreciate his beauty anymore. Asher throws his head back and laughs. His smile is boisterous and reaches his eyes. Even though I have no idea what they are talking about, I smile too. I tuck my hair behind my ears because just watching him makes me nervous.
Asher looks up, mid-conversation, as if he can feel my eyes on him, and turns his head towards me. Our gazes lock and heat climbs my neck. I feel stupid. We’ve been fake dating for weeks, but now that Liam and Corah have called it quits, our time is almost up. They’ve kept their breakup under wraps all week, probably because prom is Saturday and they don’t want to risk losing the crown. I don’t think Liam cares much about being prom king, but I know Corah does. Liam may have his faults, but he's got a good heart. He won't ruin Corah’s dream just because she's a lying twat. Even if he should.
Asher and Russell do some bro shake and then he waves goodbye to the rest of their group. He walks over to me, hands in his pockets. My leg bounces as he crosses the blacktop. He smiles as he draws near and my heart flutters faster.
Asher sets one hand on either side of me, pinning me to the hood of my car, and leans in for a kiss, but it’s too quick. It doesn’t satisfy the ache in my stomach. “Hey, beautiful.”