The Rebound Agreement ✔

thirteen

[unedited; if you left a comment or two while reading, it would literally make my day]

The next morning I wake in Liam's arms as the sun is beginning to lift above the horizon. His arms are locked around me, both of my hands intertwined with his where they sit on my lap. His heart thumps softly against my cheek as his slow breaths rustle my hair lightly. Every so often, his prickly, unshaven chin shifts on my head where it sits.

He doesn't snore, yet a small whimpering sound escapes his mouth at every exhale as he sleeps. It's don't mind it. If anything, listening to it for a few minutes makes me like it.

I relish in the heat and comfort of lying against him, because I know that once he wakes, it will all be gone, and I'll have to be strong and resist the urge to throw myself at him and beg him to love me.

Because, deep down, I know that winning him over is a hopeless cause. His heart is as much Ambers as mine is starting to become his the longer I'm around him. I saw the text messages between them, and sometimes when he thinks no one's paying attention, the grimace that I've come to associate with memories of Amber flashes across his face. He still loves her.

As much as I could try to blame my feelings for Liam on the tendency I have to fall hard and quick for any boy that pays me attention, it feels like an empty excuse with Liam. And I need to get rid of any feelings that I have for him it's too late.

I know that I agreed to this stupid plan: be his girlfriend with the understanding that he'll never love me and I'll never love him, but it's so much harder in practice than words. Somewhere in the last month and a half, I stopped being in this for my benefits: keeping people off of my back about boys and getting to have some fun. Somewhere along the way, I started being in this for Liam.

And that's scary. Really scary.

His head shifts again on top of mine as he sleeps, his cheek coming to rest against my head. Procrastinating distancing myself from him, I lean into his chest further and close my eyes.

Too hyper-aware of my situation, I don't fall back asleep, and this is how Owen finds us when he comes: Liam sleeping with me snuggled up in his arms.

Owen knocks lightly on the passenger window, and I look up. Smirking, he looks between Liam and I before holding up the can of gas in his hands. Carefully, I slip out of Liam's arms, tucking the blankets back underneath his legs. I make sure to exit the truck quietly so I don't wake him.

He opens his giant arms for a hug and I quickly comply, squeezing him for a moment longer than usual. I need to be brought back to earth by the feel of someone's arms that aren't Liam's.

"You guys looked cozy in there," Owen says, smiling. With his left hand, he swishes the lanyard with his keys on it back and forth.

I force a smile, but refrain from saying anything. We wander to the other side of the car where Owen empties the contents of the gas can into the truck's gas tank.

"Okay, let's go," I tell him, starting to make my way to Owen's car. I cross my arms over my chest, rubbing them to keep the cold away. Liam's hoodie isn't enough to protect me from an early February morning.

Before long, Owen has blocked my path, and I quickly realize how hard it is to get around a huge Samoan guy that played rugby all through high school.

"What," I sigh, exasperated, putting my hands on my hips.

"You're going to leave your boyfriend asleep in his truck and disappear without even saying goodbye?" he asks, confusion spreading over his face. He studies me, and I don't like it when I realize that he sees right through me.