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Chapter 35: Gia
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one night stand. Chapter 36: Liam
Shit.In hindsight, it probably would have been a good idea to have mentioned that I'm only twenty years old. At the very least, she should have heard it from me. Except, I knew it would cause problems. It's the reason I kept the information tightly under wraps. Like I have to give this girl another reason to break things off with me?I don't think so. She's always had one foot out the door.When Gia is wrapped up in my arms, everything is great. The difference in our ages is the last thing she's thinking about. But when we're apart?That's when uncertainty bubbles up inside her like a geyser, and she allows all those outside forces to dictate our future.It sucks.As wrong as it might have seemed, I was trying to give her more time to come to grips with our ages before casually revealing that I wasn't twenty-two. She's broached the subject before, mentioning the seven-year age gap between us.Yeah...it's not seven. More like eight and a half.With my birthday right around the
one night stand. Chapter 37: Gia
I shouldn't be sitting here, wrapped up in Liam's arms as if I belong buried in their comforting strength. When we're together like this, I forget all the reasons why this is wrong. My head is so messed up. Untangling myself from him is the last thing I want to do.Part of me thinks I should pull the plug on this relationship and walk away before I get entrenched any deeper. Before I get hurt. But the other half wants to stay burrowed in his arms forever and forget about everything that eats at me during the cold light of day.Somehow, we go from simply embracing to his mouth cruising over the bared column of my neck. The feel of his lips on my flesh makes my breath catch. I must be out of my mind.For goodness' sake, I told him that I needed time to think about our relationship. I should definitely not be letting him lick and kiss my body. When his lips are on me, I find it impossible to hold a coherent thought in my head. His mouth is lethal. He understands the effect it h
one night stand. Chapter 38: Liam
This is the last place I should be.Gia asked for space and yet, here I am, forcing myself on her. No matter how hard I try, I can't stop thinking about the woman. She never mentioned coming to see her brother's band play, but I'm taking a chance that she might show up. Then I can pretend that running into one another is a coincidence.Fuck. That sounds lame.Seriously, I'm not that guy. I have never been that dude. The one who can't take no for an answer. The one who chases after a chick because she's no longer giving him the time of day.I have no idea what it is about Gia that has me so bent around the axel. After nearly two months, I still can't figure it out. All I know is that she's unlike any other woman I've met before and I don't want to lose her. "What band is playing again?"Roan nudges my shoulder as my gaze sifts through the mob of people in the darkened club. Who knew these guys were so popular? Unfortunately, the thick crowd makes it more difficult to locate G
one night stand. Chapter 39: Liam
It's been five days since I ran into Gia and Coach at the club. Even though I've been tempted to reach out, to understand what the hell all this means, I have a pretty good idea. No one has ever accused me of being dense.With measured movements, I force the weights above my chest before bringing them down again, counting the reps in my head. I try to focus on my lift instead of Gia, but it doesn't work.Nothing I do evicts her from my brain.I don't understand what happened. I was under the impression that she was taking a few days to think about our relationship. Guess I didn't realize that meant dating other people in the interim."Hey, Garrison," Coach B says as he walks into the weight room. "You keeping up with your regiment?" He doesn't wait for a response. "Hard to believe the draft is right around the corner."His chipper voice has me swearing a blue streak under my breath.I've never had a problem with Coach Bauer. The dude is our offensive coordinator. He's damn go
one night stand. Chapter 40: Liam
"Hi, Dad," I greet. The front door slams behind me as I step into the living room. Even though it's the beginning of April, the weather is still frigid. My father doesn't keep the thermostat set any higher than sixty-four degrees to keep the energy bill down.Every little bit helps.The corners of his mouth curl up as his gaze settles on me. "Hey, I didn't know you were dropping by today.""I had some time and thought I'd see how everyone's doing." I settle on the couch and run a hand over my hair. The top has grown out, but I still have it shaved close on the sides.Concern flickers in his eyes. "Anything going on that I need to know about?" My dad is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Can't say that I don't feel the same way most of the time. I don't think I've ever sat back and taken a breath.I open my mouth to put him at ease when my brother stalks out of the kitchen. As soon as he sees me, he halts in his tracks. His lips flatten into a thin line as he pulls o
one night stand. Chapter 41: Liam
I jerk to my feet, popping off the worn couch. I can't wrap my mind around his bottled-up anger. "What the fuck is your problem?"Laughter bubbles up from his throat. There's an ugly twist to his lips that I find unnerving. I shake my head as my eyes narrow. I'm at a complete loss as to who my brother has morphed into.Is this the same happy-go-lucky kid who followed me around the playground? I can barely remember back that far. He's a different person than the one he used to be five years ago. If I could find my bitch of a mother, I would wring her neck for putting us through this."What the fuck is my problem? That's rich!" He shakes his head like I'm the butt of a joke.I clench my hands."Seriously dude? You have absolutely no fucking clue what's been going on around here." His eyes widen at the confused expression on my face. "What? You think because you pop in every once in a while that everything is under control?" His gaze cuts to my father. "Why don't you tell
one night stand. Chapter 42: Gia
"Ms. Monroe! Guess who I saw at the grocery store last night?"I smile down at Aiden Gibson. He's practically vibrating with all his pent-up excitement. Kind of like an overeager puppy.He's ridiculously adorable.Then again, they all are.With only two more months left of school, I'm amazed at how much my second graders have grown. Baby teeth have been lost with new adult teeth poking through in their place. They've shot up a handful of inches. Reading levels have been exceeded. Triple digit addition is no longer an impossible concept to grasp. And they've all learned how to treat one another respectfully. My little second graders aren't so little anymore.I can't help but look around and feel lucky to have been given such a great group of kids this year. As proud as I am, it's always bittersweet to hug them goodbye on the last day of school.Nostalgia swirls through me as I refocus my attention on Aiden. With a grin, I tap my finger against my chin. "Let's see," I muse,
one night stand. Chapter 43: Liam
"Hey, is everything okay?"My gaze slices to Sam who hovers at the threshold of my bedroom. Guess I hadn't realized I'd been staring off into space. There's a lot of shit on my plate and it's hard not to feel overwhelmed.I'm trying to work with the bank and buy more time but given the fact that my father didn't bother to respond to their previous attempts to contact him, they're not exactly sympathetic to our plight. Maybe if I'd found out a little sooner, I could have done something about it. We have little more than a week until my family is supposed to be packed up and out of the only home we've ever known.I don't understand what Dad had been thinking. And no amount of apologizing on his part makes the situation better.I shake myself out of those thoughts and shove my hands through my hair before dragging my gaze to him. "Yeah, it's fine," I say with a shrug. "Just some home stuff." I almost laugh.It's always home stuff.It never gets better.Doubt flickers across his ex
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