Anywhere With You (11 page)

I grab Jason’s wrist and squeeze as tight as I can so that he will release Allison. Once he drops her hand, I bring it to my chest and cover it with my own to comfort her. I then turn to Hailey, “What are you doing here with them?”

Hailey squares her shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “Todd and I have been out on a couple of dates,”

I pull Allison closer feeling her start to relax. “What do you mean dates? You’re better than this loser.”

“Really Hales,” Aiden asks his jaw it tense and you can hear the anger in his voice.

Todd has been pretty quiet up to this point, he goes to grab Hailey but Aiden releases a noise that could only be described as a growl and tucks her in tighter.

“Touch her and die asshole,” Aiden seethes.

“What is wrong with the two of you? We were just dancing!” Hailey shouts.

“Hales, your dating him?” Aiden asks her, barely able to control his rage.

“No, yes. No. We’ve been on two dates, this being the second one! GAH!”

“Well, sorry to tell you that this one is ending early,” I growl.

“Liam! You are not my ruler. I can date who ever I damn well please,” Hailey hisses.

I feel Allison grow tense. I lean down and whisper in her ear, “What about you sweetheart, do you want to finish your date?”

Allison meets my gaze, she doesn’t speak she just bites her lip as she turns to look at Jason. “You’re coming with me,” Jason growls as he reaches for her gain. This time he grabs her arm and jerks her towards him.

Allison yells out in pain or maybe it’s fear. Blitzen and the rest of our teammates are at our side in an instant. I hand Allison off to him, “Watch her!” With that I turn towards Jason and begin to unleash a rage I have never known. I am faintly aware that Aiden is doing the same thing with Todd. I can hear Hailey and Allison yelling for us to stop. I feel a tug on my shoulder, I look back to see Mike pulling me back, I glance over at Aiden and seen that Cole has his arms behind his back holding him as well. I glance down to see Todd and Jason both out cold lying on the floor.
Serves them right for touching my sister and my girl.

“I’m good, man,” I say flexing my fist. I can feel my knuckles already starting to swell. Mike releases me and I make quick work of getting to Allison and wrapping her in my arms. I glance over to see that Cole has also released Aiden. Hailey is currently tucked tight against his chest and he is rubbing her back soothingly.
They’re both safe.

My heart is racing, Liam and Aiden are casting blow after blow. Hailey and I are screaming for them to stop. I struggle against Blitzen yelling at him to let me go. He doesn’t, instead he tightens his hold. I look over at one of their teammates who I have yet to meet. “Stop them, please!” I cry.

The guy jumps into action and begins pulling on Liam’s shoulders. I glance over and there is another one who is holding Aiden with his arms behind his back. Hailey is standing right beside Aiden crying and yelling just as hard and loud as I am. The only difference is they don’t have her restrained.

Liam stands up and looks at Aiden who is being released from his hold. Hailey instantly throws her arms around his waist and hugs him tight. Aiden wraps his arms around her rubbing soothing strokes down her back. Liam moves towards me. He bends his knees to meet my eyes as he lifts my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “You okay, sweetheart?”

I can’t help it, I sob harder. Liam mumbles what sounds like, “Fuck”, and pulls me close.

Turns out the father of the guy who was restraining Aiden owns the place. Cole is his name.

“Hey guys, you need to leave. I can cover for you,” he motions with his head to Todd and Jason who are now both sitting up on the floor. “But you need to leave now.”

“Thanks, man,” Liam and Aiden say at the same time.

As we walk outside Liam grabs my hand and I wince from the tenderness. He stops me by sliding his arm around me. “Allie baby, what’s wrong?” he asks as he wipes the tears from my cheeks.

Aiden and Hailey are at my side. “Ash, what is it?” Aiden questions me.

Liam pulls me to his chest and whispers in my ear, “You’re safe, I’m sorry you had to see that.”

I sob harder. The sobs are due to the fight I just witnessed not the pain. Liam assumes otherwise.

Liam looks over at Aiden. “Fuck man, he was tugging on her trying to get her away from me.”

“Ash, we need to take you to get checked out.” He is trying to sooth me, keeping his voice calm but it isn’t working.

“Uh guys, if we all show up at the hospital they are going to get suspicious. Especially since my guess is Todd and Jason both need medical attention. Aiden you have blood all over your shirt. I don’t want you guys getting kicked off the team,” Hailey tries to reason.

Liam speaks before anyone else has the opportunity. “I’ll take her. Aiden can you take Hales back to our place, I’ll bring Allison back once we’re done.” He looks down to check to see if he was in the same shape as Aiden, luckily he was wearing a black shirt.

“It’s nothing. I don’t need to go to the hospital,” I interrupt them. “He just had a tight grip and it’s a little tender, nothing a few Advil won’t cure,” I try to reason. “I’ve just never witnessed anything like that before. My emotions are all over the place.”

Liam gently pulls my hand to his lips and places a tender kiss on my palm. “Allison, I am not taking no for an answer. I would never be able to forgive myself if it turns up broken and I didn’t make you get checked.” He lowers my hand and wraps his arm around my waist. “Please, let’s just let me take you and make sure that you’re okay,” he pleads.

Aiden looks at me for reassurance. “Allison, are you okay with that?” He uses my first name, not our nicknames we used as kids. I know he is trying to make sure that I am comfortable with Liam. I am. he would never hurt me, well not physically.

I sigh with frustration, “Yes, it’s fine. I’ll see you guys in a little while. Just know that this is not necessary,” I tell them.

“Liam,” I hear Aiden say but there is nothing but silence that follows. I look over to see Liam nod his head then place his hand on the small of my back.

Liam leads me to his SUV and opens the door. He helps me in the passenger seat then leans over and buckles my seatbelt. He looks up and our faces are mere inches from each other. Liam brings his hand to my cheek and caresses it with his thumb. “I am so sorry,” he kisses me on the forehead then shuts my door.

As I watched him make his way to the driver’s side I release a frustrated breath. Liam and Aiden are overreacting. My hand doesn’t hurt that bad and I have a feeling the ER doctors are going to think I’m vying for attention. Not that I mind Liam taking care of me.

Liam climbs behind the wheel, and then once he has his seatbelt on and we are on our way to the emergency room, he reaches over and places his hand on my thigh. The drive is quiet except for the sound of my heart racing. I am sure that Liam can hear it. The minor ache in my hand fades with the feel of Liam caressing my thigh. He goes back and forth from rubbing lazy circles to spraying his long fingers like he is afraid I will get away from him. He is driving me insane just from a simple caress.

When we arrive at the ER, Liam helps me from the car and wraps his arms around me possessively while he cradles my hand to his chest. We sign in at the reception desk and take a seat in the waiting room.
This is crazy.

“Let me see,” he says softly. He gently picks up my hand and brings it to his lips. He lifts his eyes meeting with mine. “Baby, I am so sorry he hurt you.” He swallows hard and looks away, “I can’t explain what it did to me to see you and Hales being with those two, their hands on you.” He turns back around and his lips meet my forehead. He pulls away and puts his arm around me pulling me to his chest. I sigh and relax against him.

“Liam, how many times do I have to tell you, I’m fine? It’s just a little tender. We don’t need to be here.

He places his finger over my lips to silence my plea. “Please,” he whispers. “For my peace of mind can we wait for the doctor to see you?”

“Fine,” I grumble. I feel him kiss the top of my head as I close my eyes.

I wake up to Liam cradling me in his arms as we walk into an exam bay at the ER. He gently lays me down on the table, as he stands beside me running his fingers through my hair. I open my eyes to look at him. “Hey.”

“Hey, you,” Liam says as he pulls the chair up next to the bed. He continues to run his fingers through my hair. “The doctor will be in to see you soon. Do you need anything?”

“No, thank you for waiting with me. I’m sure you’d rather be anywhere but here. Sorry.” I look away from him. I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes and I don’t want him to see my cry. The frustration with tonight’s events, are playing havoc with my emotions.

Liam runs his fingers down my cheek wiping away my tears. “Allie, I would go anywhere with you, there is nowhere else I would rather be.”

I would go anywhere with you
… What I wouldn’t give for those words to be true. The only problem is they are true for me. I want him plain and simple. I know it’s wrong to want someone who has a relationship phobia. I am setting myself up for heartache. Even though I know the outcome, I can’t control it. I refuse to act on it until he is ready to give me more. Deep down I know that will never happen, Liam doesn’t think he is capable of more. However, the heart wants what the heart wants, and I am slowing losing all of mine to Liam MacCoy.

Seeing her tears is breaking my heart. She actually thinks that I don’t want to be here. When I tell her that I will go anywhere with her, it is with those words that I know. I want to chance it. I want it all. I want to be hers and her be mine. She is the one and only person who has ever made me want more than one night, more than meaningless.

She focuses her big green eyes on me. “Liam …”

“Shh baby, let’s get you taken care of we can talk later,” I say as I kiss her forehead. As I am pulling away the doctor comes into the room.

“Hello Allison, I’m Dr. Lansing,” the doctor says as he sits down on the edge of the bed. “And you are?”

“Liam MacCoy, sir,” I say as I reach out shake his hand.

“Liam MacCoy from UNC?” he questions me.

“Yes sir, that would be me,” I reply with a wink at Allie.

“I’m a big fan, big game next week versus OSU. Season opener.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well then Miss Hagan, let’s get you fixed up. We can’t have our star quarterback worrying about his girl, he needs to focus on the big game,” he says grinning at Allison.

“Um, he’s …” Allison tries to speak but I interrupt her. I really like the sound of someone else calling her my girl.

“He’s right, baby. Let’s get you taken care of so we can get you home,” I tell her.

She looks a little confused but she smiles at me and nods her head.

After examining Allison, Dr. Lansing states he thinks it is just a bad bruise. He doesn’t even ask how it happened. He talks football with me the entire time, except for a few “does this hurt” questions to Allison. I am relieved though, because that’s all we need is the media to get wind of this. Dr. Lansing sends Allison for x-rays of her hand just to be safe. I of course, refuse to let her go to radiology without me. After about thirty minutes, Dr. Lansing informs us that his prediction is correct and that the hand is just bruised and swollen. He advises Allison to take Advil as needed for pain and leave the ice pack that the nurse gave her on for another thirty minutes.

I help Allison out to the Pathfinder and get her buckled in. She immediately begins to grumble about how she was right and that I “wasted my time” taking her to the ER.

I smile. “Thank you, for humoring me. I will sleep better tonight knowing that you really are okay.”

“Hmph,” is her only reply.
She’s even sexy when she’s mad
.

I shoot Aiden and Hales a quick text letting them know she is okay and that we are on our way after a quick errand. Looking over to find Allison asleep, I decide to stop at the all night pharmacy and pick up more Advil. While I am there I go ahead and buy a new ice pack and a few other snacks I know that she likes. When I return to my Pathfinder, she’s still asleep. I find myself constantly sneaking glances at her as I drive us back to my apartment. She’s so beautiful. She pulls me in like a moth to a flame. Smiling at my earlier admission, I’m going to try. I want all of her and I have never been happier. Convincing her that I am ready might take me a while, but I am determined and never give up on what I want.