One Chance (22 page)

“Why not?”

“He’s on his last year of college then he’s going to go pro, and he’ll make it Hails you know he will.  Then that leaves you here for two years with him gone, traveling the country playing football.”

“I know,” I say looking towards the ground.

“Haley, you deserve a great guy who will put you first, Liam’s not that guy.”

“But,”

“But nothing.  Haley, he’s my brother; I love him, but what he’s doing with you isn’t fair to you.”

“It’s just sex though,” I defend.

“You and I both know it’s not just sex for you, but it is just sex for him.  You are setting yourself up for disaster Hails.”

“I can handle it.”

“No you can’t and I’m not across the street to help you.  I’m hours away; Kenzie is hours away.  You need to end it now,” he says all serious.

“I’ll talk to him.”

“Does he know how you feel?”

“What?  God no.”

“Then you need to stop it now.”

“I’ll talk to him.
  Why are you here so early?” I ask changing the subject.

“We decided to surprise you so we left after our last class yesterday.  We got here in the middle of the night
, so we slept at the hotel.  Kenzie’s still at the hotel.  I wanted to talk to Liam figuring I could catch him this morning before he has any classes and shit, but I didn’t expect to find you there.”

“Sorry,” I say with a shrug.

“It’s fine.  Let’s go back, do you want me to drop you off at your house?” he asks kindly.

“No, you and Liam need to have a talk and no fighting this time,” I say with a stern look.

“I hear you,” he says as we continue on our walk back.  By the time we get to the house, Liam is holding the door open for us to enter.  The small cut on his lip is almost nonexistent now.

“I’m going to get my things and head home
, so you two can talk.”

“You can stay,” Liam says surprising me.

“No, I think you two need to talk in private,” I say as I head towards his room.  He has my dress and things already in a neat pile on the bed, so I grab them and my shoes, put them in a bag and head back out to the living room.  Both boys are sitting, but neither is talking.

“Okay, I will see you both later.  Brody
, have Kenzie call me, Liam I’ll talk to you later.”

Liam nods his head and Brody shakes his.  I walk out the door and head home wondering what the hell just happened.

Walking into the house I’m surprised to find Quinn home, fast asleep.  I try to be quiet because it’s still early, so I tiptoe around and then decide to lie down for a little while longer.

“Why are you coming in right now?” Quinn asks, obviously awake now.

“Umm…had a small issue this morning.”

“What happened?” she asks as she turns to look at me.

“Brody showed up.”

“What?” she shrieks, “I thought they weren’t leaving until today.”

“Yeah, apparently they decided to leave last night.  Brody came over this morning to talk to Liam and surprise, surprise, he found me in bed with Liam.”

“Oh God.  What happened?”

“Brody walked out, Liam put some shorts on right as Brody busted back in throwing punches.”

“No he didn’t,” she says laughing.

“Sure did.  They argued, I yelled, finally getting them to stop.  I talked to Brody and then left, so they can talk.”

“Are you sure that was a good idea?”

“No, but they’re brothers, they can figure it out.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Liam

“What are you even doing here?  I thought you weren’t leaving until today.”

“We decided to leave early, so Kenzie could spend the day with Haley.”

“Then why are you over here so early in the damn morning?” I ask, looking at the clock seeing it’s not even 8:00 a.m. yet.

“I know you usually have class at nine, so I figured I could catch you before that.”

“About Haley?”

“Yes, about Haley.  I just never expected to find her in your damn bed.  How could you sleep with her?”

“Shit,” I say running my hands through my hair, trying to figure out how to broach this subject.

“Shit what?  Just tell me.”

“
Fine, but don’t get pissed off,” I say as Brody just nods his head for me to continue.  “I slept with her last year, I just didn’t know it.”

“What the fuck do you mean you slept with her last year?” Brody asks
, looking full of rage.

“She tricked me.”

“She tricked you?  Are you fucking stupid?”

“Fuck, alright I was drunk
, we talked, I told her she looked like someone from home, she told me her name, which she made up.”

“You’re trying to tell me you didn’t know Haley when you saw her?” he says annoyed.

“No, she had brown hair and green eyes.  She looked completely different.”

“You had no idea?”

“No I didn’t and when I woke up the next morning she was gone.  I thought I either fucking dreamed it or that she couldn’t have looked like who I thought she did.”

“So when the hell did you realize it?”

“At a party here. She came here with her friend and as soon as she mentioned her friend’s name it all came back to me.”

“You’re talking about Quinn?”
Brody asks.

“Yeah, she was with her the first night. I pulled Haley into my room and asked her about it, she told me I was a fucking bet,” I say bitterly.

“A bet?”

“Yes, a fucking bet,” I shout getting annoyed at the thought of it.  “
The girl who’s known me for years used me in a God damn bet.  I was pissed, beyond fucking pissed.”

“Which is when you became the asshole who fucked with her.”

“Yes.  I took it too far; I know that.  I never meant for her to get hurt.  I just wanted her to understand how it felt.”

“And the shit with Meg?”
Brody asks suspiciously.

“That shit I had no part in.  I wasn’t even here.  I swear I wouldn’t have let that happen
, if I had known.”

“So what now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You and Haley, what happens now?”

“I don’t know,” I admit.

“You need to know.  You
need to figure out right now what the fuck you want with her.”

“Why?”

“Because Haley isn’t just some random girl, asshole.  If you treat her that way, I will kick your ass.” Brody states, looking ready for round two.

“Why do you care so much?” I ask wanting answers.

“Because she’s one of my best friends.”

“Why don’t you tell me the real reason?”
I ask calling him out.

“I am.  She doesn’t deserve to be
dicked around.”

“I’m not doing that to her.”

“But you aren’t giving her what she wants either.”

“What does she want?”

“What the fuck do you think?  What do all girls want?”

“She never said anything.”

“Do you not know Haley at all?”

“Yes
, I know her,” I argue.

“Then what the fuck are you doing with her?”

“I like her,” I admit out loud for the first time to anyone.

“You like her, but you can’t give her what she wants.  What she needs.”

“Why not?” I ask angrily.

“Liam
, this is your last year here.  You’re about to go pro.  You’re going to be travelling around the country while Haley is here finishing school.  You can’t let her stay here pining away for you.  You can’t do that to her.”

“Shit,” I say as I run my hands through my fucking hair again, “I didn’t think about that.”

“Let her go now so she can find someone who can be there and give her what she wants.  She deserves that.”

“You’re right.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Yeah,
” I say giving in.

“Good.  Well
, I’ll let you get ready for your class,” Brody says as he stands to leave.

“I’ll see you
later.”

“Sounds good.  You’
re doing the right thing man,” he says before closing the door behind him.

“Fuck,” I yell pissed off as I head to my room.

Haley

I head to class and come home to find Brody and Kenzie waiting in the living room for me.

“Hey guys,” I say as I drop my bag on the floor, rushing to give Kenzie a hug, “God, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

“I’ll let you two hang out,” Brody says as he gets up and walks out the door.

I spend the afternoon with Kenzie
, filling her in on what I’d done with Liam and how it all began.  She was shocked at my antics, but supports me either way.  It’s also not hard to tell I’m in love with the boy, so if she had any negative comments, she actually kept them to herself for a change.

“Party tonight?” Rebecca asks from the hall.

“Absolutely,” Quinn yells in excitement.

“Do you want to go to a party?” I ask Kenzie.

“Sure.”

“Count us in,” I say happily.

We all get ready for a party this evening before heading out.  I text Liam to let him know I’m going to Chi Omega for the night.  We walk the short distance to the party and it’s beyond crazy by the time we get there.

“Holy hell
, this place is packed,” Kenzie says as she takes a look around as we head in.

“Sure is,” I say as I look around to see if Liam’s here.  I don’t see him
, though I’m not surprised.

We grab some drinks and before long Quinn and Kenzie are pulling me onto the makeshift dance floor to dance.  We shake our booties and have a blast before deciding to get another drink.

“Hey, Liam’s here,” Kenzie whispers into my ear.  Brody looks at me, but doesn’t say anything.

“Okay,” I state as I take a drink of my beer.  Usually he comes over to me, so we will see if tonight is any different.

About forty minutes later he does come over, “Hey Hails, can I talk to you?” he says looking anything but happy.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Alone,” he says as he grabs my hand and leads me to one of the bedrooms down the hall.

“What’s going on?” I ask as he shuts the door.

“I don’t know how to say this,” he says running his hands through his sexy blonde locks.

“Just tell me,” I say feeling suddenly nervous.

“We can’t sleep together anymore.”

“What?  Why not?”

“I met a girl.”

“Oh,” I say feeling l
ike he just ripped my heart out, “That was the plan all along right,” I say trying to hold it together.

“Yeah it was
, I just wanted you to hear it from me and not anyone else.”

“Who is it?”

“Her name’s Bree.”

“Well good for you.  I’m happy for you Liam,” I say with the straightest face I can.  “I guess I better get back out there then,” I say as open the door.  Liam doesn’t follow me out and I’m not quite sure why he doesn’t
, but I don’t bother to ask.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Kenzie asks immediately.

“Nothing, I’m fine, just need a shot.”

“Let’s go,” Quinn says immediately.  We head into the kitchen and pour tequila into the plastic shot glasses.  We down three shots before deciding to dance again. “What happened?” Quinn asks through a whisper.

“He found someone he wants to date.”

“No fucking way,” she says louder than intended.

“Yep.  It is what it is.  I’m not going to think about it right now.”

“Okay,” she says as a new beat starts up.
  We dance song after song. I can feel the alcohol coursing through my body and I’m thankful for the escape.  After a few more songs, I’m in need of a drink so we head back to grab another one.

“Are you alright
Hails?” Brody asks.

“I’m fine
, why?”

“You just seem like something’s wrong.”

“Nope, all good here,” I say as I tip my drink towards him.  “Probably going to head home after this one though.”

“Okay, we’re going to be leaving soon too,” he says.

“Hey woman, Mark and I are heading out,” Quinn says happily.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.  Have a good night,” I say with a smile.

“Are you going to be alright?  I can come home tonight,” she says now all serious.

“I’ll be fine.  Enjoy your night.”

“I’ll be home in the morning,” she says before heading towards the exit with Mark.