A Cheat Among Liars

Chapter 8

I wake up the next morning naked in Steph's bed with about 15 missed calls from Liam. Uh oh. I completely forgot about him.

I clear the notifications from my phone and wake Steph up by gently stroking her hair.

"Morning babe," I say softly.

"Morning."

I smile at her and she closes her eyes.

"Do you mind if I make a call really quickly?" I ask. "My flatmate just gets a bit worried when I don't text him."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

I reluctantly ring Liam's cellphone and he picks up really quickly.

"Kate, where the hell have you been?"

"Hello to you too," I say. "I'm so sorry, I just forgot to text you that I stayed over last night. She was completely okay with it. Besides, it was late and I didn't really want to drive because of how tired I was."

I wasn't lying. I really was tired last night, after me and Steph had uh, y'know...

And "she" really was okay with me staying the night. I just didn't want to mention Steph to Liam or Meg to Steph because then I would have been caught.

"Well, at least now I know you're ok. I nearly called the cops because you didn't answer."

"Hey, no need to get mad. You know I'm safe here now."

"Yeah. Well, when you're leaving, text me."

"I will, don't you worry. See ya," I say.

"See ya later," says Liam, and hangs up.

I put my phone down on the bedside cabinet and sigh.

"Damn, that sounded rough," says Steph.

"He's just a bit overprotective, that's all."

"Fair enough," she sighs. "Breakfast?"

()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()

After a bit more kissing and Steph not wanting me to go, I finally got to my car and drove home, my mind filled with wonderful thoughts of Steph.

As I pulled over to the side of the road outside of our apartment, I immediately see Liam in the window rush to the front door to unlock it for me.

"Kate! It's been so long since I saw you."

"What? It's been like 24 hours."

"Well, it's good to see you again." He pulls me into his arms and hugs me. He kisses me on the head and brings me inside.

I'd almost forgotten what it smelt like, because Steph's smell was so strong. I could smell it on my clothes already (but probably because she was literally all over me for a while last night).

"I've got work in about half an hour."

"I know," I say, pouring myself a drink of water from the tap.

"Mm."

We stand in silence for a few seconds before Liam asks me a question.

"How was Meg's last night?"

"Oh it was good, we watched a few movies and reminisced about high school, y'know."

"Sounds like fun. Do you want something for lunch?"

"Uh, nah I think I'll have something later."

"Ok, don't say I didn't ask," as he pulls lettuce and roast chicken from the fridge.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()

I wave Liam off as he drives down the street to work. As soon as he's out of sight, I dive back inside and grab my phone.

I call Steph.

"Hey, Kate, what's up?"

"Well, my flatmate's gone to work, so I was wondering if you wanted to come around?"

"Yeah, sure. Let me just bring up Google Maps to try and find your place."

I wait until she says "yep! Got it."

"He's gonna be gone til 9, so there's plenty of time. Bring something to eat, if you like."

"Oh, sure! I can find something here."

"I'll see you in a bit, then," I say, trying not to sound too excited.

"Yep, see ya!"

She hangs up and I try to clean up a bit so I don't look incredibly messy.

Why am I so nervous?

It's fine. She's just never been around to my apartment before and it's a bit new for her. It absolutely fine.

Time seems to go so quickly before I hear the doorbell ring. I open the front door to see Steph in all her glory, standing on the front steps.

"Hey, come on in," I say, stepping towards the wall so she can walk inside.

"Ooh, nice place."

"Thanks."

I've made sure to hide photos of me and Liam that look like we're a cute couple because I'm pretty sure that Steph doesn't know about us. If she does, then she's keeping it pretty quiet.

"I bought some chips and hummus, I though you might like it."

"Oh, yum! Thanks for that," I say, inviting her to sit on the couch so we can eat and chat.

"So, last night was pretty fun," says Steph. "Wanna do it again?"

I look her in her deep blue eyes and reply with:

"Hell yes."

_____________________________

Boom!

Hmm, what's going to happen, I wonder?

I actually have no idea because so far I haven't written the next chapter but I'm thinking about what to include.

Hope you enjoyed!
~Sydney