"I don't care," I answered simply.
Three simple words whispered across a quiet room was all the acceptance he needed. Those words were like the striking of a match.
He moved toward me so fast that I couldn't catch my breath before his lips were on mine. He captured my mouth, wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me toward him. His arm held my body against his and I could feel every coiled muscle. His kiss was hard and demanding. His tongue swept over mine and I moaned, helpless to my body's reaction to him. My hands clutched his shirt as I tried to take him in, take all of him, and keep it just like this forever.
"Liam," I moaned, trying to understand the emotions ricocheting through me. Now that I was finally allowed to touch him, there was a feeling of immense relief. It was as if my body was inhaling its first breath of air after a long dive.
"Kinsley," Liam responded with a husky moan of his own, and then turned me around and pushed me back toward the bed. My desire flared as his hard body shoved me back. My calves hit the mattress and then we were dipping backward in one clean sweep.
His weight was almost too much, but I liked it. He pinned me down as my dress bunched around my waist. We were speeding 200 miles per hour, not stopping for lights or pumping our breaks. His fingers dug seductively into the flesh of my thigh. I wanted him to leave marks so that I could prove to myself that he'd lost control with me, that this was happening and it wasn't just some lucid dream.
My head fell back as I pressed my body up to meet his. I could feel him against his jeans and I wished there to be nothing between us. Hot skin on skin as his mouth sought out fresh areas of my body.
My hands found his hair and I pulled and yanked just as I'd imagined doing every moment since I first saw him. He responded with small nips on my neck and chest. My dress was tugged down and I could feel his smooth jaw on the swell of my breast.
He had to keep going. I needed him to keep going.
But just as his hand skimmed over the top of my thigh to push my dress up, there was a loud crash against the door followed by drunken laughter. Mumbled voices echoed through the door, and in that instant, the magic was sucked out of the room like a giant vacuum. Liam jumped off me so fast that I would have had whiplash if I weren’t lying back against his bed.
"You have to leave, Kinsley. Now," he demanded, tugging his hands through the locks of his hair that had been mine only moments ago. Mine to tug, mine to tangle, mine to pull as his mouth kissed me.
He looked like he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life. His tortured expression made me regret everything we’d just done.
Was I a mistake? Did he not want this?
"What? Why?" I asked, propping myself up on my elbows so I could see him pacing around the room.
"Get out, Kinsley," Liam said again, his tone loud and harsh. He wasn't yelling, but he might as well have been. “We can’t do this. Leave, Kinsley. Now.”
His words felt like a slap in the face, and I had enough dignity to get out before he made it even worse. I had hope that he would come to his senses as I passed him and headed for the door, but I turned the door knob and bolted without him saying another word.
The drunken fool that had ruined our moment was still lying outside against the door. He was now completely passed out with a dopey smile across him face. I stepped over him, held my chin high, and tried not to wonder what would have happened if he’d chosen a different door to pass out against.
Chapter Nine
I was so anxious about practice Monday morning that I woke up an hour before my alarm and was the first one downstairs. I sat in the kitchen, nursing a bowl of granola and fruit, when Becca finally came down, wiping sleep from her eyes.
I'd avoided her like the plague the day before, not only because I was annoyed with her about the wax comment, but also because I didn't want to lie to her about what happened between Liam and I. I tried to push away the memory of his lips on mine. Stop it. They were not that great. It wasn’t the best kiss you’ve ever had and you are definitely not falling for your coach.
There, see that’s not so hard.
"Morning, Kinsley," she offered gently.
"Hey," I muttered, staring down into my bowl of granola. Yesterday had been terrible. I didn't want to think about Liam, but I couldn't help it. I knew he had feelings for me, and I knew we couldn't be together, but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt when he kicked me out on Saturday night. It felt like a personal rejection rather than a logical one, and I couldn't get that out of my head.