Two Wrongs

Eyes on the Prize: Allegra

I slowly blinked myself awake the next morning, barely able to move thanks to the giant forearm draped over my waist. Liam still dozed behind me, lightly snoring. He was so close his breath tickled against the tiny hairs on the back of my neck. I felt so small with his tall frame curled around me. Then again, compared to him, I was miniscule, but I loved it. I felt safe. I had missed feeling safe.

Liam and I had just passed out the night before. There may have been a bit of making out, a smattering of getting handsy, but in the end we were too drunk to take it much further and both ended up passing out, him in his boxer briefs and me in the giant hoodie I'd stolen from his car.

The more I was around Liam, the more I liked him, and even now, even in the quiet Malibu morning, I didn't WANT to like him. I didn't want to chance my heart getting blown to smithereens again. I didn't know if I could take it. After Trevor, after the loss of my parents, I'd built a steel cage around my heart. I even kept my brother at arm's length, but Liam... Liam was like a buzzsaw, chipping away at those bars like they were made of straw. I knew it wouldn't be long until I was completely wrapped up in the too-hot-for-his-own-good superstar, and it scared me. A lot.

I felt my pulse start to kick up. I was thinking too much. I always did. I planned out every possible scenario (and even some impossible) with everything in my life. Every class, every friendship, every possible relationship. I thought about it. And then I overthought. I overthought so much that I tended to ruin things before they even started, and I knew if I didn't go and take some deep fucking breaths, (and maybe some of the anxiety medication in my purse) I was going to talk myself out of my feelings for Liam before he even opened his eyes.

I tried to slip out from under his log of an arm without disturbing him, but it didn't work. His arm got heavier as he pressed down on my midsection and groaned. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

I laughed softly, glancing at his face over my shoulder. "I was gonna see if there's anything left for breakfast."

"Unless you're planning on licking the crumbs off the Hot Cheetos bag, I think you're shit out of luck," Liam stated before his jaw lowered, and he let out a loud yawn. He then opened his eyes and looked at me. "Now what's the real reason you were trying to escape?"

I felt my cheeks flush. Fucking caught. "What do you mean?"

"You know as well as I do there ain't any food down there. Tell me the truth."

"Liam..."

"You were running away from me."

"I was not!" I exclaimed, perhaps a bit too forcefully. "How can I run away? We're in Malibu. It's not like I can just walk back to my house."

"Mhmm. But you were."

I rolled my eyes and leaned against the headboard, stubbornly folding my arms over my chest. "I was just getting out of bed."

"Liar." Liam sat up and mimicked my position.

"You're awfully cuddly for a playboy movie star."

"And you're awfully shitty at trying to dodge the question."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I wasn't running away, okay? I just... I was trying to get some air so I could think. It was hard to breathe with your tree trunk fucking arm smashing my lungs."

Liam chuckled, his smile glinting even more than usual in the bright sunlight. Damn. How did someone even get their teeth that white? "I can give you that, I guess."

I turned toward him, and though he was smiling I could see the concern in his eyes. I reached out and brushed my knuckles against his shadow covered cheek. "I wasn't running, Li. I just wanted to think."