Sweet Poison *Updated every Friday @ 1PM*

Nine

I paused mid-sip. "What?"

"You mentioned that last time...right before you left," Liam said, his eyes on my lips as I licked at the floral-sweet flavor of my herbal tea before it dripped to the table.

That made me glance at his lips, wet with his steaming pick-me-up liquid.

I cleared my throat and averted my eyes. "You came here to ask me about that?"

"I came here to redeem myself for how I treated you."

"Redeem?" I frowned, shaking my head side to side as my gaze found his again. "But you didn't do anything to me."

Except brutalize my feelings and give me a healthy shot of reality.

Liam made strong eye contact with me. "Exactly."

I paused. Then.

Oh my god. I tucked my chin, so much heat rushing to my cheeks as I realized what he meant. He was talking about when he had me facedown in his bed, for those short three minutes.

He meant he hadn't made me come.

More anxiety rose inside me. Maybe a normal girl would have been turned on by his words. I was terrified.

"Don't feel embarrassed. If anyone should be ashamed, it's me. The truth is, it's been a while since..." He paused, laughing, maybe feeling awkward. "Well, it's obvious what it's been a while since."

"Now you're blushing."

"I came here to talk about you. Not me. And you still haven't answered my question, you know."

He was quickly serious again.

"It means my house parents think I have moderate to severe behavioral and emotional issues." I sighed, looking at him again. "Ever been to the Bronx Zoo?"

He paused as if trying to figure out the relevance of my curiosity, then nodded. "A couple times as a kid."

"Level Two like being one of those birds in the bird exhibit. Everyone comes and stares, but no one rescues you. No one sets you free and gives you a chance to show them you can fly too."

He stared back at me with a faint smile. "I thought when you mentioned your campus you were talking about a college or university."

I shook my head. "It's a group home for kids like me who don't have anyone who gives a shit."

"I'm sure there's no one else there like you."

He winked and it was actually charming. He was the type of guy who could pull off something corny like that.

"You're sweet."

"So when you said you come here because you can disappear...you meant that literally?"

"They keep me on a tight leash there."

"How tight?"

"There's twenty-four of us, twelve boys, twelve girls. We sleep in separate corridors. Boys aren't allowed in the girl's hallway or rooms. Vice versa. No touching is allowed, no sex. We can't have guests of the opposite sex stop by either. Ten-thirty curfew, eleven on the weekends. The house has motion sensors in the ceilings that alert the parents when anyone crosses a certain point at the edge of the hallways. More alarms on the outside door and windows."

"What are those for?"

"In case someone tries to run away or hook up with someone off campus."

Liam drank his coffee, didn't say anything for a while. I tried not to study his mouth, tried as hard as I could not to watch his throat as he swallowed. But I couldn't help myself. My attraction to him was relentless.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I knew you were young, but I assumed you were at least...legal."

"Back to this age thing again, huh?"

"Sorry, gorgeous. I thought you were at least eighteen when I put you in my bed."

"I will be soon."

"How soon?"

"A couple months."

I don't know what was wrong me, why I was so desperate to be intimate with him again. That was a lie. I would be eighteen until February of the next year.

I could tell by the way he stared at me he could see the truth in my lie.

"What? You want me to bring you a copy of my birth certificate to prove it to you?"

He chuckled. "No."

"I don't even have it."

"Damn." His blues went soft. "I'm sorry you..."

"You don't have to pity me. I'll be out of there soon. I'll get a job or something, be on my own."

He stared, sat back and sighed. "You're just a kid."

I shook my head at him. "I stopped being a kid a long time ago, Liam."

"Do you want to..."

"Do I want to what?"

That wasn't the right thing to ask. If I'd had any sense in that moment I would have hauled ass straight to the exit.

He hesitated before responding and the anticipation almost got me squirming in my chair. "You want to take a little walk with me?"

He chuckled and I knew that wasn't the question he'd wanted to ask. He wanted me back in that huge bed of his at the top of that tower high in the sky. That was beyond obvious.

"I think it's going to rain," I told him.

"A little summer rain never hurt, nobody, right?"

Technically, it wasn't summer for a few weeks; there was about the same amount of time between then and the new season as my high school graduation. But it was fine for the moment. I went with it.

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j'adore
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