"I Surrender"

Chapter 8: Saturday... Again.

“Hey you, where have you been?” Liam enquires the second Fallon opens the oak doors to the bedroom, a multitude of shopping bags in her hands. She grimaces immediately, keeping her face hidden, knowing she is guilty of practically abandoning him all morning.

However, it was a necessary evil. The first phase of Fallon’s plan is already in full swing, as soon as she had comprehended that Liam’s strategy this whole time has been to tap into her defiant side of wanting what she can’t have, she’s been using it against him.

There are only subtle changes to her behaviour, like sitting in bed staring at her phone rather than putting her attention on him. It feels entirely unnatural to basically ignore her fiancé, including pretending she doesn't get butterflies every time he kisses her cheek when he exits a room. This morning was worse, waking before him and leaving their bed, resulting in him waking up alone.

It's especially difficult now, walking in to see him almost completely naked, clad only in his boxer shorts. Her eyes automatically scan his body, taking in his damp hair, then travel down to his defined muscles, her heart rate suddenly spiking.

“Um,” her eyes flick back up to meet his, mentally scolding herself for so obviously ogling at him, “I had to pick up my dress for the fundraiser tonight.”

Fallon walks straight past him without giving him a second look, heading into her wardrobe to dump the bags. She regrets making that decision when she hears Liam follow after her, clearly heading there himself to dress after his shower.

She figures that if she avoids eye-contact and busies herself emptying the bags, she should remain calm.

“Did you have a good time?” Liam asks as he opens a few draws, pulling out his clothes.

“Yeah,” she responds, her tone devoid of emotion.

“Good,” He continues, zipping up his jeans once he pulls them on, “I missed you this morning.”

I missed you too.

She resists the urge to turn and smile at him, walk over there and press her lips to his in the act of apology for letting him wake in a cold bed. In normal circumstances, she would have done just that; but these weren’t normal circumstances, and her time is rapidly running out.

“I just had a lot to do,” she explains, hanging up her short black dress for the evening and inspecting it.

“I can tell, you got your hair done too, right?”

She simply hums her reply as she scans her shoes, deciding which will go best with the outfit, but is quickly distracted by a body suddenly appearing directly behind her. There’s no time for her to react before Liam’s arms are encircling her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, “It looks great, by the way,” he mumbles lowly into her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine.  

All she wants to do is melt into his arms, lean her head on his shoulder, let his hands roam her body… But she knows she can’t. She has to resist before she lets those wandering hands of his go too far.

“Yes, I know,” she replies sternly, squirming out of his grasp to resume her previous activities, “and I’d like it to stay that way, so don’t mess it up.”

“Okay, sorry,” he responds, his palms up in surrender.

She’s skating on thin ice here; she can feel it. It’s more like she is spoiling for a fight rather than trying to act like she isn’t affected by him, which is not the way this was supposed to go.

“I just, want to look good for tonight,” she clarifies.

“In that dress?” Liam points towards the black mini-dress now hanging up, “You’ll look gorgeous no matter what your hair looks like.”