Heart of Redemption (Hearts #2)

5. Liam

Chapter 5

Liam

C all me Gordan Ramsey because I was on fucking fire tonight, well I didn’t cook… but I ordered people to cook and I tasted it, which is basically what Gordan Ramsey does nowadays… right?

Right by the beach, I had a table set out for us, candlelight dinner, music in the back, and a blanket draped over the sand with wine next to it.

I’m giving myself props due to the fact that I did set it up and I did think of the date… especially the finishing touch. I set a telescope next to the flowers I had bought her.

Margo walks in, complete awe all over her face, “No way you did this for me?” She whips her head back towards me with a bright smile.

It was like sunlight was created by her face when she smiled, she lit the whole fucking place up more than the candles did.

“Well yeah, I kinda like you.” I say sheepishly as she runs up to me, wrapping her hands around my neck with a squeal.

“Do you like it?” I laugh as she pulls back with widen eyes.

“Do I like it?!” She gives me an unserious facial expression that answered my question.

“I love it!” She turns around, running up to the flowers, “Are these for me?!” She picks them up like she already knew the answer.

“No, the flowers are actually for the woman I met at the bar, two nights ago.” I joke as she conducts me a still expression that made my body shake.

“I’m joking!” I place my hands up in the air to show my innocence.

“What are they?” She smells the bouquet, “I have never seen these before and trust me, I love flowers, and I receive them a lot.”

“Modest much?” I roll my eyes as I walk closer to her.

She ignores me as I bend down to smell the bouquet, “It’s a wild saffron crocus.” I explain, “It’s a flower that’s been dated back around the mid-second millennium BC, grown in Crete and Attica… I was told you can only buy it in Greece.”

Her jaw drops, “How much did this cost you!”

I laugh, “Don’t worry about it.” I pull her chair out, urging for her to take a seat. She stands there for a moment, looking at me in some sort of awe.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to leave our date when you haven’t even had an appetizer yet.” I give a playfully annoyed reaction as she smiles once more, taking her seat, I push her towards the table.

Once I take a seat, the appetizers come out and Margo looks at it like it’s a treasure chest, “I’ve been starving.”

“Good thing I’m a mind reader.” I mutter as she laughs, taking her fork and stabbing the crab cake.

“Really…” She looks around, “You didn’t do bad, Charming… I’ll give props when deserved and this… is beautiful.”

I can’t help but smirk, “You’re the breathtaking one.”

And there goes her expressional face, turning bright red, she looks down at the flowers on the floor, her hand begins to shake, “You are.” I stress as her face calms down to a neutral expression.

“What type of food do you like?” I ask as she ponders for a moment to think.

Her eyes light up as soon as she hits the nail on the head, “Probably mac and cheese.” I let my eyes squint as she bursts of laughing at my sour expression.

“What?!” She says with full defense.

I let my mouth drop lower, “You do understand that you live in the type of lifestyle that you can have caviar with the snap of your fingers, right?”

Margo rolls her eyes, twirling her fingers on the rim of her glass of champagne, “Well not the way Anna makes it, Adrianna is probably the best cook ever.”

I highly doubt that. I make a killer chicken risotto if you ask me, but I guess only time can show her that I will make sure to cook her a damn good meal.

I will make her the best mac and cheese ever, straight from fucking scratch.

“How about you, what’s your favorite food?”

I smile, and it’s almost like she can see it coming, “You’re pretty delicious.” I lean closer as she blushingly looks at the ground, “You are so cringy.” She voices.

I can’t help but laugh, a genuine one, that I think everyone on the fucking island could hear.

“But seriously, what’s your favorite food, I’m not the greatest cook but I can master one dish pretty well.” She reassures me with a slanted smile.

“I’m a pretty picky eater.” I shrug as her eyebrows narrow.

“Okay then… what don’t you eat?” She adjusts the question to a better and easier understanding.

“I don’t eat sushi, avocadoes, shrimp, olives, tofu, liver, beans, carrots, radish, brussels sprouts, raisins, turnips, and beats.” I list off as she takes a moment to sit back.

“Well, that’s a pretty long list.” She judges as I shake my head playfully, “Okay which one are you not okay with?” She asks.

I shrug.

“Avocados are amazing!” She stresses as I shake my head unpleasingly.

“Are all of these foods you just don’t like or are you allergic to some?” She asks with an insightful face.

“Why…” I lean back with a smirk, “Are you going to try and poison me, Raine?”

Margo moves closer, her eyes scanning mine with a challenge, “I think you want me to.”

I do.

Her face comes to a halt as her nose brushes mine, “You can’t hurt me unless your lips taste like kiwi.” I mutter as she pulls away suddenly.

“I didn’t know being allergic to kiwi was so common.” She looks at me, with a puzzling look.

“I didn’t think it was.” I answer as she goes on her phone, “Yes, Adrianna is allergic too. You guys could be twins.”

I laugh at how adorable she looked looking at her phone, the reflection mirrored her eyes like a luminating ocean blue.

“I guess we really could.”

Her eyes lift from her screen to my face, her gaze softens like I blew a flame off from inside her, “I’ve never seen this side of you Charming, it’s a good surprise I must say.”

“Ask any questions you want honey, I’m all yours.” I counter as she looks like she was about to be cozy in her seat.

“Favorite color?”

“Your eyes.” I leer as she rolls her eyes once more.

“Favorite sport?” She smiles as I let my eyebrows wrinkle, “C’mon you know it’s hockey.”

“Favorite singer?”

“Taylor Swift.” I let out before I had a moment to think about it. I slap my hand over my mouth as soon as it left my lips.

Margo’s face dropped as I shudder, “I didn’t say that.”

“You so did.” She counters with a wide grin.

“Whatever… you can’t prove it to anyone.” I let a smirk form on my face as she looked at me with disapproval.

“So, you really think you won’t sing along to a song if I put one on.” She looks at me with an evil twinkle in her eyes.

“I won’t say.” I pull my eyes away from hers, “But if you do, I ask that you play Taylor’s Version.”

“You’re such a swiftie and I didn’t know.”

I narrow my eyes at her, “And you’re the only one that knows so… keep it down.” I whisper as she laughs coolly.

“Anyways…” She ponders for a second, “You and Amelia Burns during junior year of high school in the dining hall during midnight?”

I shake my head denying, “Never happened but she got popular so whatever.”

“Sadie Andrews and you French kissing at church?”

I wink at her as she folds her arms together in front of herself.

“Madelyn Monroe, sex in the swimming pool during Ivy week?”

She got me there, but to be fair, Madelyn and I did like each other for some time before she told me she was more into women which in all honesty hurt me but, good for her for coming out.

“Truth.” I muster as she looked about done.

“You and me, this summer?” She calms her breath as I look into her eyes, “Is this real?”

I nod, slowly but surely, I nod, “This is so real.”

“But, what’s the catch?” She sighs.

“What?”

She begins to look around, “You know… The cameras… this is a prank, right? I mean really Liam I can’t believe that you just all of a sudden change your mind about relationships because of me.”

I fidget in my seat, suddenly my hands sweating, and I wasn’t sure if my face was showing the full nervous breakdown I was about to have.

“Margo.” I mutter, feeling my hands shake, “There’s no joke. There is no prank, no games. I can’t describe the way I’m feeling because I’ve never felt it before. All I know is that I’m feeling this way because of you.” I begin to tap my foot, as she didn’t form a new face for me to decipher.

“Liam, you’ve known me for years… are you telling me that after one night, you’re ready to just–– drop every girl you have connections with because of me?” She was asking in a way that she needs to hear a yes.

“It was a hell of a night.” I counter as she forms a smile.

“Liam, if I say yes, I don’t think you know what you’re committing to.” She says warily, “And if I do say yes, it is a commitment for both of us. I want a boyfriend, I want someone to want me and only me. I’m not doing the friends with benefits.”

She runs out of breath and takes a pause, “I am a girlfriend girl. I am not a friends with benefits girl.” She deepens her gaze, “I need you to know that.”

My eyes widen, “I understand.”

But I can tell that Margo was still unsure and I’m positive that she would always be wary of the idea of me and her.

Margo takes a look at the sky above us, a cold breeze brushing through.

“This.” She gestures to the both of us.

“If this is going to happen, it’s not just a summer fling, Charming.”

She forms a ridged posture, “You’re mine.” She bellows in a sharp tone.

I can’t help but form a smile, “I’m asking you to just… give me the benefit of the doubt Raine.” I look deep into her eyes, “What’s it going to take for you to trust me?”

She takes a second, “I don’t know.”

I nod, understanding, “I’ll wait forever for you to let me know.”

She grins… a small one but it was so visible, even if I wasn’t supposed to see it… I did and then… just then, her walls break, they come crumbling down to the fucking ground.

She rolls her eyes, looking behind her, the telescope sits nicely ready to be used, “And who’s bright idea was it to buy this?”

I stand up, laughing, holding out my hand for her to hold.

“It was all me.” I bow, “No need for appreciation, I know I’m amazing.” I reply as she pushes me off playfully.

Margo runs up to the telescope quickly, I stay back to admire her joyful laugh and her sunshine hair that stuck out at night.

“Look there’s a shooting star!” She aligns her eye with the telescope looking through and pointing at the shooting light.

I check my watch seeing that the time was 11:11 P.M.

I approach her slowly, “It’s 11:11,” I mutter.

She thinks for a moment, before saying, “I wish you the best.”

I send her a confusing expression, “You’re supposed to make a wish for yourself, Raine.” I explain as Margo shakes her head.

“You might do it that way… but every time someone sees an angel number and tells me, I always wish the person who told me the best.” She looks down at the telescope once more.

This girl is it for me.

“But the shooting star, did you wish for anything?” She whips her head towards me with a shimmering smile.

“Yeah, I did.”

She wiggles her eyebrow, “You want to tell me?”

I shake my head, “Well, Mrs. Wishing connoisseur, you out of everyone should know that you never tell people what you are wishing for… it might not come true.”

Margo forms a smirk, “Okay Mr. Brookshire… lets both act like you didn’t wish for me, we both know you’re obsessed.”

“Well, if you did wish for something, not pertaining to this…” I watched her as a smile fell on her lips.

I leer to myself, as she directs her attention back to the telescope.

“I would really like to own a cat one day.” She answered.

“What would you name it?’ I asked.

She looked up at the sky, then back down at me.

“Coco.” She grinned.

I didn’t know a lot of things… but one thing I’m sure about is that I am obsessed. There was no denying it.