35. Liam
Chapter 35
Liam
“ S amuel!” I greeted as his face stayed stern with the look of resentment.
“How is my favorite bouncer!” I added as he continued to ignore me.
I haven’t seen Finn in a long time, nor have I been in the bar.
“Is the runt here?” I asked as he took a second to look at me up and down.
“What is it?” I questioned as he did nothing but deepened his weary look.
“I thought Grayson said that you were in rehab or something.” He registered me with disapproval.
I rolled my eyes, “He’s overdramatic, I was in recovery from my torn ACL not for alcoholism.”
Samuel’s face changed from stern to skeptical.
“For the first time, you don’t look like shit.” He muttered as the comment set me back for a second.
“And you finally took my advice about that ugly V-neck you wore,” I laughed.
Samuel coughed with a sigh of impatience and annoyance.
“Yeah, the runt is here,” He finally told me as I winked at him, placing five hundred dollars in his pocket.
“Thanks for being the best.” I ended before walking through the double doors.
Slamming into a girl.
Her drink spilled on the ground, and without hesitation she fell on her knees to clean it up with a bunch of napkins that she pulled from her pocket.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” She apologized.
I also fell on both of my knees, which surprisingly didn’t hurt much anymore, “No, I’m sorry. I should’ve been paying attention to where I was going.” I coughed out.
“Let me help you with that.” I pulled more napkins from the side table and patted down the floor.
“Thank you.” She whispered.
I had looked up, and my eyes had been blessed with a mirage of light brown hair. She looked down and kept on patting the floor, which only accentuated her long eye lashes.
“Wow.” I abruptly mumbled as her eyes finally looked up and made contact with mine.
She had beautiful hazel eyes and a striking smile.
She quickly stood up and threw away the used napkins and grabbed the mop on the way back.
“You work here?” I asked as she tilted her head.
“Yes, I’m new.” She answered rather with a short tone.
I held out my hand, “My name is Liam.” I introduced myself as her smile widened.
“I figured,” She mopped the floor, “You’re friends with Chris.” She continued.
I scratched the back of my head as she laughed, “Don’t worry I’m not a stalker, he mentioned that you would be coming for Finn.”
She looked over at the booth with Finn sitting all by himself with a juice box.
“So, you’re the guy that Finn won’t stop talking about.” She placed the mop back down; her eyes scanned my body like an x-ray.
“Sadly.” I awkwardly laughed as he shook her head.
“Don’t worry, I’ve heard nothing but great things.” She led me over to the booth. Before I sat down, Finn pleasantly hugged me before he went back to sit on his side.
“Well hopefully, you’ll hear better things about me through dinner, Saturday night?” I asked in a courteous manner.
I couldn’t help but notice her cheeks turn a hue of red.
She walked away laughing.
I turned my head over to Finn who looked about over my attempts of flirting with the new hire.
“So, you’ve met Sabrina.” He sighed.
“Sabrina’s her name?” I smiled, interested in the next words that were about to leave Finn’s mouth.
“You can’t play with her Will; I actually like her.” He said with a sad grimace as I threw him a skyward of disbelief.
“What makes you think I’ll just be playing with her.” I folded my arms as he raised a single eyebrow.
“I’ve changed!” I tossed my arms.
“What about Margo?” He interrogated me as I huffed.
“What about her?” I scowled as he took a sip of his juice.
“Your first love, the girl you’ve been trying to win back for months?” He informed, “Does that help ring a bell?”
I couldn’t give a look at Finn other than the look of disturbance, at how much he just violated me.
“Margo and I are just friends, barely even. She told me to get over her and that’s what I’m doing. It’s nothing to get back at her, it’s not to make me feel better” I explained.
“This is me, asking a girl out because I think she’s pretty and I want to get to know her more. I can’t keep dwelling on the past when I know things have changed.”
“I’ve changed.” I sighed, “And so has Margo.”
Finn didn’t give up his skeptical look.
“We aren’t the same people who fell in love during summer. She’s getting married, which is the ultimate reminder of her being unavailable.” I continued to convince him as his eyes started to squint.
“So, you’re moving on?” He challenged.
Through the several weeks I’ve spent with Margo, I’ve realized the many ways she had power towards me. When in reality she shouldn’t, she wasn’t my girlfriend. Therefore… she had no business caring about me, more than just as my trainer.
But even that was about to end, I noticed that the more I pulled back from her, the more she started acting like my love interest again.
Which was something we were trying to avoid, she was getting close to me again and it was not my problem anymore.
I had to move on, and if I had to be a tad cold towards Margo to do that, I would.
“Yeah, consider Margo wiped from my heart.” I pressed as Finn nodded.
“ I got it!” I screamed as Margo and Ronni looked at me with happiness.
“Way to go Liam, I always knew you were going to be a quick recovery.” Ronni encouraged me as I smiled from ear to ear.
“It’s still a bit weak but once I get the hang of being on the ice again, I’m sure I’ll be good as new.” I explained as Margo walked over to me.
“Liam be grateful that your recovery was fast, you can’t wish for too much. Don’t rush your knee, but you are right, it will feel better on the ice in a few more practices or sessions.” She muttered.
“I think since your knee got injured on the ice, it feels different than stable ground.” She remarked as I took a seat.
Ronni’s phone began to ring, “Margo, way to go. You can write up his evaluation and can you close up for me when you guys are done.” She asked while walking through the door.
“Congratulations on your recovery Liam, and Margo I enjoyed having you as a PT, if you want to continue volunteering you should contact Coach Livingston.”
Margo nodded before Ronni closed the door.
The whole time Margo and I’s relationship hadn’t changed. I wasn’t quite sure how to explain it. We weren’t having sex, we weren’t fighting, I refused to flirt, and I just stayed quiet unless it was a question about my knee.
Don’t get me wrong, I still cared about her, but I had made sure she knew there was now a fine line with us. I had promised myself that I would no longer dedicate my life to just trying to get her back.
She’s engaged. That’s the bottom line. Unavailable.
“I know you’re excited, Charming but trust me, you still have to be a bit careful.” She reassured me once more before I started to take my skates off.
I shook off Margo’s touch as I sauntered over to put my sweatshirt on. I noticed two cups of coffee on the table, I looked back at Margo who made her way back towards me.
“I got you a vanilla latte to start the day. I know you like it.” She smiled at me.
One thing about Margo that I’ve struggled to overcome was how hard it was to not remember me being in love with her.
“I’ve decided to cut out caffeine from my diet, since I’ve been cutting, I wanted to cut out a lot of things to help with my recovery.” I added as she looked embarrassed.
“Oh okay.” She muttered.
I heard multiple voices from outside, “Great, your fan club is outside.” She fiddled with her bracelet as I couldn’t help but grin.
“Are you jealous?” I smirked towards Margo who rolled her eyes.
“Of what?” She laughed, “All the girls that throw themselves at you?”
“Precisely.” I searched Margo’s eyes.
I walked towards her, “You have nothing to be jealous of, Raine. You’ve pretty much given my heart a run for its money.”
“I’m not jealous.” Margo walked up to me; a question was waiting to be answered.
“That brings up a question I’ve been meaning to ask, though...” She lowered her tone as I tilted my head.
“Have you been going on dates?” She slurred as she fixed her sleeves, “Or like been… uhm… hanging out with other girls?”
I couldn’t help but smile at her jealousy, it felt great to be wanted by Margo once more. It had been a long time for her to show an ounce of hatred towards the girls that fawned over me.
“Careful Raine, you’re looking like you miss me just a little bit.” I whisper as her eyes widened.
“Nonsense, I’m with Ben and I’m very much happy.” She glowered while she walked away from me.
One thing I admired about Margo is that she stood her ground, but it was rare for her not to falter around me.
“How’s the sex?” I mused as her face dropped from my question.
“I don’t believe that’s any of your business.” She blurted with irritation.
I took a good look at Margo, and noticed she looked way more tensed up than all the other times that I would rile her up.
“He doesn’t satisfy you the way you want to be satisfied.” I grinned at her as she faced away from me, her face turned red.
“Ben satisfies me just fine .” Margo publicized.
I didn’t believe her one bit.
“Maybe you should practice that line in front of the mirror, so that you would believe it first.” I looked at anywhere else but her, “You know… before you try convincing me.”
“You’re infuriating.” She expressed as I bent down so I could meet her gaze.
“I thought that was the reason you liked me.” I joked with her.
“Exactly Liam, I liked you. As in past tense, it was a mistake.” She voiced.
I also understood that Margo was trying to break my heart throughout this process as well. She would mention Ben any time she got, just to shoot me where it hurt.
She would repeatedly go on and on about how much she regretted giving me a chance over the summer and how we were never meant to be more than what we were.
We should’ve just kept it as benefits. Margo was the best sex I’ve ever received in my life. And not to toot my own horn but I think that I’m the only man that’s ever made her orgasm that many times in one round.
Which I know she still reminisces about.
But what I really didn’t understand was why she was still sticking around. If she was so happy with Ben, why did she frequently avoid her house.
She says they have a blast when they’re around each other yet I know, no one’s ever made her laugh more than I could.
It was like she had something to prove to me. I had no idea whether she actually wanted to intentionally hurt me.
“So, you are over me.” I wondered as she took a second to respond.
“Absolutely.”
I went back up to my own original height, yawning, “Then yeah I’ve been seeing a girl.”
I hadn’t been with another woman since I’ve been with Margo, my first date with Sabrina was tomorrow night, so technically it wasn’t a lie.
“Then why haven’t I met her yet?” She looked at me with a face full of doubt.
“Well, why would you need to meet her?” I drawled out.
Margo’s mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out. It was like she thought she had a good response but went back on it.
She had no right to tell me who I could or couldn’t date. That’s where I think she pondered on because for a moment in time, she did have a right to know.
“I don’t need to meet her. I just would imagine if she was important enough, you would’ve invited her to hang out with the whole group.” Margo trailed off while picking up the other coffee cup.
“She’s met Chris.” I notified, “That’s all I really care about her meeting for now.” I continued as Margo stared at me with a straight face.
“Oh.” She mumbled.
There was a pause, like Margo had gotten a new perspective on things. She looked like I had just set fire on her favorite pair of Christian Louboutin.
As much as I would’ve liked to kiss her. I had to remember that I had come a long way, and getting one taste of Margo would set me all the way back to summer.
I couldn’t afford to have the same feelings I had for her again. Maybe I was in denial, because I knew from the bottom of my heart, Margo would always be it for me.
But of course, I knew I was wrong.
I could live with lying to myself for years if it meant that Margo was happy.
She couldn’t be happy with me, and I had to accept it.
Margo opened the door as a swarm of girls ran in. One in particular came up to me with a donut and a cup of coffee.
“Hey Liam, I got you a donut and a coffee.” The random girl choked on her own words as I smiled back.
“Thanks sweetheart, I appreciate it.” I took the coffee and looked back at Margo who gave me the deadliest death stare.
As the girl left, Margo shouldered me.
“Cutting caffeine from your diet, huh?” She sneered before dropping the vanilla latte that she got me into the trash can.
“You want me to say no to her?” I asked as Margo rolled her eyes.
“Do whatever you want Liam. I don’t care anymore.” Margo walked out of the door, not caring if I was following her.
It was for the best that she ended our relationship like this. Just two people who happen to know each other from mutual friends.