Mercy

Chapter 24

The warm sun washed over my body slowly dragging me away from sleep. I could still feel the permanent smile that seemed to be glued to my lips since the events from the night before. The hum of music from outside filled my ears. I finally pushed myself out of the empty bed and made my way over to the window. The view out the window had me slightly shocked; the entire patio was packed with people. Was there a party going on? I made my way over to the night stand and looked at my phone. “Holy shit! It’s noon!” I yelled out to myself. How had I slept so long? I ran into the attached bathroom and quickly jumped in the shower. I scrubbed my body with Liam’s soap and washed my hair as quickly as I could. Part of me was rushing around because I wanted to find Liam and the other part felt totally embarrassed that I had slept in so late. I quickly tugged on my bikini and checked myself out in the mirror. My eyes moved down to the still prominent bruising on my arm and without a second thought I grabbed one of Liam’s t-shirts and slipped it on over my suit – tying it up on the side so that my bikini bottoms were visible. After rechecking myself in the mirror I quickly headed down the stairs.

As I came down the stairs I was in shock at how many people were here. The entire house was packed with people and I couldn’t recognize any of them. As I stood their looking at the crowd I could feel my anxiety rear its ugly head.  My heart began to race as my eyes scanned the room for at least one familiar face; there across the room stood Lacy and Alex. Before I could even think about it my feet were shuffling across the room to where they were. “SAMMY BOO!” She yelled when she saw me coming. I could feel the anxiety ease some as she latched around me in a big hug. “What is going on here?” I mumbled in her ear before I pulled away. “Not sure, Liam was in such a weird mood this morning. He said he was in the mood to throw a party. “She shrugged it off like it was nothing. An odd feeling washed over me as I thought about what she had said. Was this his way of showing regret for last night?

“Earth to Sammy boo!” Lacy yelled as she snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Uh..yea…sorry what did you say?” I asked, trying to keep my focus on her this time. “I said they have a big table of food set up outside, want to go grab some food with me?” Although she said this as a question she had already linked our arms together and began to drag me out the door before she was even finished with her sentence. “Spill.” She said as we stepped onto the packed patio where there was an entire table lined with food. “I’m not sure what you mean…” I said as I began picking at the food on the table. She chuckled and nudged me, “Oh something had to have happened last night Mr. Tough Guy had that look like a kid on Christmas morning. Did you let him do some unwrapping last night?” She wagged her eyebrows suggestively at me. I choked on a bite of food as her words hit me like a ton of bricks. “Uh definitely not.” I wheezed and coughed trying to clear my throat. “Then what went down? Because boy hasn’t looked that happy in a long time.”

As I was about to open my mouth to respond I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist and suddenly I was drowning in his heavenly scent. He suddenly twirled me around so that I was facing him. “Good morning, baby.” His voice was deep and velvety. I could feel my legs tremble under my weight. My jaw dropped slightly, leaving me looking like fish out of water. A sweet smirk curled onto his perfect mouth as he watched my stunned reaction. Without another word he pulled me close, his lips colliding with such force I swear my heart nearly stopped. What started as a rough passion filled kiss ended soft and sweet almost as quickly as it had started. As he pulled away I stood there stunned and spinning from the kiss. I was so lost in the moment I didn’t even notice all the looks we were getting. “You alright buttercup?” He grinned, leaning in to plant a very soft kiss to my lips – snapping me out of my daze. “Uh..what? Yea…” I stuttered as I tried to recover. He let out a deep chuckle and draped his arm over my shoulders. “Ay, Lace. Having fun?” He asked. Holy shit, Lacy. I looked back over to her and she was still standing there with a confused look on her face. “Did I miss something?” She asked as her eyes moved between me and Liam. This was it, would Liam want to take us public since he doesn’t really date? My mouth felt dry as I looked up at him waiting for him to answer. He smiled sweetly down at me, giving my shoulder a slight squeeze. “She’s my girl.” He said, shrugging like it wasn’t that big of a deal. “What do you mean, your girl?” Before Liam could say anything Trenton walked over and whispered something into his ear. I looked back and forth between the two of them as the expression on Liam’s face dropped. He cleared his throat, leaving a chaste kiss to my cheek. “I have to go take care of some stuff. You ladies have a wonderful time. And you…” His voice trailed off as he leaned in, kissing my lips softly. “I will see you in a little bit.” He mumbled softly before pulling away and heading back towards the house with Trenton.

My head was still spinning from the encounter when I felt Lacy’s elbow jab hard into my side. “OW!” I yelped as she snapped me back into reality. “What was that for?!” I groaned as I grabbed my side. “His girl?” Her eyebrows raised with surprise. “Well…we kind of thought we might give it a try…” I say shyly as I look away from Lacy. I honestly don’t think I can handle seeing her reaction right now. “Well hot damn…” She muttered under her breath. With a slight renewal to my confidence I lifted my eyes back to look at her. “You melted the ice kings heart.” She spoke very matter of fact. Was she right? Was Liam some unattainable force that I have managed to capture. Suddenly I want to see him and wrap my arms around him. I try my best to shrug off the urge knowing that he is probably off dealing with some party issue. A small smile forms on my lips and I decide it’s time for me to have some fun and enjoy myself. Lacy and I grab ourselves a drink and head out towards the beach.

The sun was finally starting to disappear leaving a soft orange glow over the sand. We had laid out, played in the ocean and spent hours out on the sand. It had been the most fun I have had in a very long time. However, I hadn’t seen Liam since earlier in the day. Weaving myself through the still large group of partiers and make my way down the hall. The only place I figure he could be hiding out would be in the large office I had found him in the day before. As I lift my hand to knock on the office door I hear giggling from the other side of the door. My stomach turns sour and feels like it’s about to fall through the floor. Then I hear it, a girl’s voice saying his name. I’m unsure where the confidence came from but with one swift movement I lift my hand and push the door open.

There it is, my stomach plummets through the floor when I look through the door and see Liam and two girls sitting on the couch in the office. My heart breaks when I recognize the blonde seated to his left – Bianca. Suddenly I couldn’t breath, they all turned their heads to look and see who had just barged in and his eyes met mine. “Sam…” He said softly, as if I were a frightened animal that might attack. I slowly took a step back from him, tears pricking at my eyes. He inched closer to me slowly, the sound of snickering coming from the girls. “Sam…it isn’t what it looks like.” His voice was soft and kind but what I saw before me made me ache to my core. I violently shook my head and turned on the spot, running up the stairs and back to his room. My head was spinning out of control, I quickly locked the door- pressing my back firmly against the wood. He couldn’t even handle 24 hours. What was I thinking? I slowly slid down the floor, the tears finally breaking loose.

“Sam…” He called from the other side of the door. “Same please open the door and talk to me. I know what this looks like but I can promise you have the wrong idea…” Anger bubbles inside of me. How dare he tell me that, like I am in the wrong here. “Go away.” I spat, as I buried my face against my knees. “But Sam…” He started, I quickly interrupted the anger bubbling over and out. “I SAID GO AWAY!” I yelled, my throat dry and scratchy as I forced those words from my mouth.