He shrugged. “Okay, so I have two flaws."
I smiled. "I can't believe you did all of this.”
"I hate not being able to take you on real dates, so I wanted to make it special," he admitted, then followed with, "I also just really like candy."
He flashed me a wicked grin and helped me up into the back of the car. Once we'd stuffed our faces, we pushed the food and drinks to the side and laid down on the blanket Liam had brought.
Somehow we ended up shifting around until he was leaning against the back seat and I was leaning back on his chest with his legs on either side of me. Okay, it wasn’t exactly an accident; I kept shifting back until he pretty much had to accommodate my body in his space. Oh, oops, how’d we get into this adorable position? Strategic planning, my friends.
His arms were wrapped around me, holding the blanket in place. As easy as it would have been to turn around, kiss him, and forget about the rest of the movie, I really enjoyed just sitting there together. It felt good to feel his chest rising and falling against my back.
Every now and then he'd ask me if I was comfortable or if I needed a drink, but I just shook my head, not wanting him to move a muscle for fear that the magic would be lost.
Chapter Sixteen
The blissful feeling of lying in Liam’s arms was long and forgotten when I woke up to someone ripping the blankets off my bed Tuesday morning.
Tara's voice invaded my consciousness.
"Get up and get dressed. You, Becca, and Emily have a special job this morning."
What the hell? Was I going to have to start barricading my door every night to ensure she couldn’t Edward Cullen me? It probably wouldn’t work; she’d just climb in through my window like the angsty vampire did.
I groaned and sat up, trying to blink away my sleep. Tara was joined by Sofie and another one of her evil henchmen. They all stared down at me with cunning smiles that made me wish I slept with a rifle beneath my pillow like an old southern veteran.
“Get up,” Tara ordered again.
Her tone was wearing on me, not to mention I thought we were moving beyond the whole high school bully situation. It seemed like she’d maxed out her asshole card, but apparently she needed another shot of evil to tide her over for a few more days.
Were we positive that she didn’t have any serial killer relatives?
I pushed myself off the bed and moved toward my dresser without saying a word.
"Meet us downstairs when you're ready, Bryant," Sofie muttered before she burst through the bathroom door to get to Emily's room. I cringed when I heard them yell Emily’s name to wake her up.
As I pulled on my workout gear, I dreamt about bringing the hazing issue up to Coach Davis, but I still wasn’t sure it was worth it. Everything would change if I ratted out the seniors. They’d make my life living hell, but they’d do it more subtly and twice as vicious as they already were. If I was going to tell Coach Davis, I had to be sure that it was worth the trouble.
So I made myself a deal. Today would be the last day. If they weren’t done after whatever they had planned for us this morning, then I’d bring the issue up to Coach Davis.
Becca, Emily, and I were shuffled into the back seat of Sofie's car in silence while the rest of the underclassmen were still asleep in the house. This was the second time they’d gone after the three of us, and I wasn’t dumb enough to think it was a coincidence. I guess Tara really did hate me.
The last time I'd been in Sofie's car was on my nineteenth birthday. I knew Tara wasn't going to be my friend that night, but I'd had no clue just how crazy she would actually turn out to be. If I could have gone back in time, I would have warned former-me to get the hell away from Tara as soon as possible... and maybe also to warn my Mom away from the front-bang trend. They don’t work for everyone!
There was a sense of dread lingering in the air as we headed to the field with the seniors. Tara had said they had a “special job” for us, but they couldn't really do anything to us, right? I mean if they even came close to breaking the law, I'd go to the police immediately. I wasn’t about to start digging graves for all of her victims.
"Since you three were so compliant this morning, I think we'll go easier on you than we were planning to," Tara said with a foreboding smile.