Anywhere With You (21 page)

Let’s just say that last night sucked! It took me what seemed like hours to fall asleep and here I am wide awake at six in the damn morning. I’m so used to sleeping with my girl by my side that it’s not possible for me to get a full night’s sleep without her. I remember her telling me that she had to be up early to put in the turkey, so I decide to text her.

Me:
Good morning beautiful

I hold my phone tight against my chest anxiously waiting for her reply which comes rather quickly considering the time.

Allison:
Good morning. Missed you last night

Me:
I missed you too baby. Did I wake you

Allison:
No, I am up had to put the turkey in cant get back to sleep

Me:
Can I come over

Allison:
Please

I hop out of bed, pull on a t-shirt and sweats and head out. I open the door and run into a sleepy Aiden.

He looks at me confused. “Where are you going?” he asks still half asleep.

I show him my phone that has a picture of Allison on the screen. “Allie’s up, she’s putting the turkey on and can’t get back to sleep, so I’m going over to keep her company.” That is my story anyway. I know if I tell him that I can’t stand to be away from her a minute longer that he would razz me about it all day. Although by the look in his eye, he already knows the real reason.

“What time is it?” He asks rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“It’s a little after six.” I step to the left to walk around him and hear him chuckle behind me.

“Whipped bastard,” he laughs.

“Love sick bastard,” I call back to him. Might as well call a zebra a zebra and not a horse, I’m madly in love with the girl and want to be with her every second of the day.

Allison is waiting at the door for me when I get there. I immediately pick her up and hold her close. She buries her face in my neck. “I missed you,” I whisper in her ear.

She pulls away and I set her back on her feet. “Come in, I made coffee and cinnamon rolls.”

We end up in the den, her on my lap eating cinnamon rolls and drinking coffee. At a little after seven, Allie hears Gran starting to stir, so she goes to help her out of bed and into the den. While she does that, I make Gran a plate of fresh fruit and oatmeal and pour her a cup of black coffee. I have everything ready and waiting on the TV tray beside her chair by the time they make their way into the den.

“Liam … How did? How did you know?” Allison asks me.

I shrug my shoulders. “I listen when you talk.”

She carefully helps Gran into her chair then turns and launches herself at me. I catch her in my arms and hug her tight. “I love your hugs,” she whispers to me. She pulls back and touches her hand to my face. “I love you more every day, you’re amazing.” Then she kisses me.

She kisses me full on lips with tongue right in front of her Gran. I’m not sure how her Gran feels about intimate displays of affection and I don’t want to disrespect her, but there is no way I can tell Allison no. We will just have to ask for forgiveness later. Allison pulls away and smiles at me. I’m lost in her eyes, the emotion that I see. She finally breaks the trance when she pulls me to the couch and plops down beside me, never letting go of my hand.

“Allie girl, can you get me my medication?” Gran asks her. Allison nods, gets up and walks towards the kitchen.

I’m a little nervous, I just made out with this woman’s granddaughter right in front of her and now she is obviously trying to get me alone. I clear my throat and rub my hands together, my palms are sweaty.

“Liam,” her Gran says my name so softly I almost don’t hear her.

“Yes, ma’am?” Okay, now I’m really worried.

“You love her, you love my Allie?” she questions me.

I nod my head vigorously. “I do, more than I ever thought possible,” I tell her.

“Good, can you promise me something?” she asks. Her voice is laced with so much emotion, sadness or concern maybe. I can’t really tell.

“That depends, ma’am. If you’re going to ask me to stay away from Allison, I’m sorry I just can’t do that.” I’m not sure what she’s going to ask of me but I am sure that it has to do with Allison and me agreeing to stay away from her is not an option.

Gran laughs softly. “No, I see the way that you look at her and her at you. I would never take that away from either of you.” She smiles at me. “Although, after your statement my fear of what I am about to ask you is no longer palpable.” She reaches her hand out to me, so I stand up and walk over to her chair. I kneel down in front of her, taking her hand in mine, while her other rests on my cheek. “Take care of her for me, Liam. I’m her only family and well I won’t be on this earth forever. All Allie has ever wanted was to have a family.” She pauses and takes a deep breath. “I was never able to give that to her. After her parents died, it was just us. It has always just been us. I need to know that she will have someone who will forever be there for her when I’m gone.” She is looking at me as if she can see inside my soul. “Can you love her for me, give her the life she deserves?”

I have to fight the tears from flowing down my cheeks. Allison’s grandmother is asking me to love her forever, to give her the family and life that she has always dreamed of. I have to gather my wits before I can respond. “I love Allison with everything that I am. She has changed my life in ways that I never thought would be possible. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with her. I am honored that I have your blessing.” I lean over and kiss her cheek.

Gran nods, tears in her eyes. “I met my late husband and knew by the end of our first date that he was the one. Love like that is hard to find. I see that in the two of you.”

I hear Allison and Hailey coming down the hall. I nod my head letting her know that I will cherish Allison always and rush back to the couch. When Allison walks in she offers me her genuine
I’m happy
smile. The one that she reserves for me, I smile back. The old Liam would have been out the door and running for the hills after that speech. The new Liam is elated that I have her blessing. I want to go look at rings today, although I know that’s not possible. Allison and I have talked about the draft, but never what it’s going to mean for our relationship. To me, it doesn’t change things, I love her. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and I want her to go with me. I need her with me always. I’ve been afraid to broach the subject with her. Afraid, that I would be pushing things too far too fast but, after last weekend, my mind is made up. Allison is mine always and I will do everything in my power to show her that she belongs with me. I can give her the love and the family she has always wanted. My mind veers to a pregnant Allison and I have to readjust my position to hide the evidence of my erection. I want it all, with Allison.
Holy Shit!

The rest of the day goes off without a hitch. Hailey and Allison make dinner while Aiden and I keep Gran entertained. Aiden’s parents join us and his mom provides the dessert or should I say desserts. She really outdid herself, but Aiden and I graciously volunteer to take the extras back with us. Hailey and I clean up the kitchen while Allie and Aiden spend time with his folks and her Gran. We stay in the kitchen longer than necessary giving them all time to visit.

“So, how you feeling about the draft?” Aiden asks me later.

I shrug, “I’m nervous, man. How about you? Nervous?”

He nods “Yeah, I am. I mean coach says that you and I are in line for first rounds picks. It would be bad ass if we could all go to the same team.”

I laugh, “Hell yeah it would, but the chances of that happening are slim.”

Aiden clears his throat. “So, what about you and Allison?”

“What about us? I love her, man. You know this,” I reply defensively.

“That’s obvious dude. You’re different with her. What I meant is how do you think that the two of you will do with the long distance thing?” he questions.

I’m shaking my head no before he even finishes is sentence. “I don’t want to do it. I can’t be away from her for that long.” I hesitate before telling him more, but this is my best friend who was her best friend first. If anyone can tell me how they think she will take my suggestion, it would be Aiden. “I want her to come with me.” I hold my hand up to him to keep him for talking. “I know that it would be a lot to ask, but fuck man, she is the air that I breathe. I would support her and help her finish school or not she can just travel with me. She can do whatever she wants, just as long as I get to come home to her every night and wake up with her every morning.”

Aiden raises his eyebrow at me. “Wow,” is all that he says. Maybe it’s all that he can say. In the four years that we have been friends, I have never talked about a girl for more than one night let alone forever.

“Do you think she’ll come with me?” I ask him so softly that I’m surprised he heard me.

“She loves you, but it will be hard for her to be that far away from her Gran,” he tells me.

“I know man, I thought about that. I want Gran to come with us. I want Allison with me always and Gran is her family, I want them both to come with me.” This is something that I had decided earlier today when Gran gave me her blessing to love Allison with everything in me. She deserves the same and I would give those two the world if I could.

Aiden nods his head, “Then, yeah I think she’ll go with you.” He curses under his breath. “We better get drafted to the same damn team. I’m losing both my best friends.” He hesitates then he says, “Uh … what about Hales?”

“What about her? I assume that she’ll stay at UNC and finish out her degree.”

Our conversation is cut short when Allison and Hailey come walking into the kitchen. I can tell something is off by the look in her eyes. She walks towards me and I open my arms wide for her, welcoming her into my embrace. “What’s wrong baby?” I ask her.

“It’s time for us to go and I hate leaving her,” she speaks so low I can barely hear her.

I hug her tighter. It takes all the will power that I can muster not to tell her that when I’m drafted she and Gran can come with me and be together all the time. I know now is not the time, but seeing her sad is tearing me up inside.

Saying goodbye and leaving Gran always causes an ache deep in my chest. She insists that I go to college and experience life. I never really wanted to go to college. My parent’s life insurance left me enough money that I never have to work another day. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to be some spoiled princess blowing through money never having a job or responsibilities. I have dreams for my future, just not the same as other nineteen year old girls. I want a family of my own. My dream is to be a wife and a mother to surround myself with family and love. All the things I lost at the young age of ten. Gran did the best she could but growing up with your ill elderly grandmother as your only family, well it’s lonely.

When we arrive back at Liam and Aiden’s apartment, Hailey immediately crashes on her futon, Aiden crashes on the couch and Liam and I stumble to his room. We go through our routine of brushing our teeth and changing for bed. I of course am in one of Liam’s old t-shirts. We crawl into bed and Liam immediately pulls me to him. I rest my head on his chest while he holds me tight with one hand and gently strokes my arm with the other. He sighs deeply.

“What’s wrong babe?” I ask him never moving from my spot on his chest.

“Nothing baby, nothing at all. I just missed you last night. I barely slept and now you’re here in my arms, in our bed where you belong. I’m just happy,” he replies softly.

I sit up on my elbow to look at him. “Thank you for today, Liam. Spending the day with Gran, the house full of people, it’s what I always wanted growing up. Aiden and his parents would stop in after their family things, but really, it was only ever us.” I take my hand that is resting on his chest and bring it to his face, tracing his jawline with my fingers. “You made one of my dreams come true today. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I felt like I had a family.” I scoot my body up so that my face was mere inches from his, “I love you, Liam MacCoy, so much.” Then I kiss him. He immediately responds and moans as I slip my tongue past his lips. He rolls onto his side and pulls me close we are wrapped up in each other arms, legs entwined, lips fused, tongues battling as my heart is bursting with happiness and love.

We pull back from the kiss mainly due to the fact that we both need to catch our breath. Liam gently brushes my hair behind my ear, stroking his hands across my cheek. “Allison, I need you to know that I will always do everything in my power to make all of your dreams come true. You and your happiness are the most important things to me.” He pauses, staring deep into my eyes, neither one of us saying anything. It is almost as if he is searching for my acceptance of what he just told me. He must have found what he was looking for because he continues, “Baby, I want you in my life forever. I’m not proposing at this exact moment but I’m going to. I need you to know what this is for me.”