I pull her toward me, finding the exit. Holding the door open, a little gazebo catches my eye. Sliding my fingers in with hers, I lead her to it. As we leave the concrete, she stops because her heels seem to dig in the grass. Without a second thought, I bend down and pick her up, and she squeaks, shocked.
“Is this okay?” Her minty breath, along with her sweet perfume, invades my senses. She nods and I walk us the rest of the way, setting her down when we get there. She looks up and begins to trace the stars with her pointer finger, and like all those years ago, I watch her. She smiles, and I hate that what I might say may ruin that, but I know it’s time to get it off my chest, and put this to rest ... for good.
“Look, Freckles,” I say, angling my body toward her. “I wanna talk about something that’s been on my mind for a while.” She sucks in a breath, and even though I hate how uncomfortable this is, we’ll never move past this unless we talk about it. “You were right.” Plain and simple. She looks at me suspiciously. “We don’t know a lot about each other anymore.” I sigh. “I knew twelve-year-old Bianca like the back of my hand, but these days, I’m still learning the new Bianca.” She looks up and I continue. “I’ve been learning about how muchyou love animals and that’s why you volunteer at the shelter. You really wanna become the best vet for them. Learning how even now you still love looking up at the stars and tracing the constellations with your finger.” She laughs at that, and I look at her, smiling. “Realizing that something happened in Philly, and it’s why you used to wear a lot of makeup at first. I could go on forever, Bianca. I know we have so much to discover about each other, and I know it was dumb of me to think we could push away those years apart. To think we could get over five whole years of no contact when we were attached at the hip.” Then, with a little bit of courage, I fully open the can of worms.
“That game, five years ago, was probably one of the hardest I had. I was still new, and Coach called me in since Andrew was injured. I was out of my mind nervous, I mean, it was all on me. The guys invited me out after the win, and I promised to be there for a bit, but then one thing led to another.” I sigh. “I’m sorry, I lost track of time, I wasn’t planning on standing you up.” She shakes her head, but I hold her hands as I look into her forgiving eyes. “I blew it, I know, and I’m so sorry you were waiting for hours for my call. But then, you said I was leaving you behind ... That I was replacing you with football when it was the only thing keeping me afloat after you left. I was like a robot for most of the day, yet our phone calls brought me right back. You lit up my life, and when you left, you took that light with you.”
She covers her mouth, a slight sob echoing, and I hate the sad look in her eyes.
“Then, we fought, and when I tried to talk to you, the phone call didn’t go through, and that’s when I knew ...” I trail off, inhaling shakily. “Some friend I was.”
She puts her hand over mine. “Stop.” I look up once again. “You’re not the only one at fault. I blocked you out of hurt because you didn’t talk to me for a couple days after. But when I undid it, I never got anything, so I thought you were done with me.” I shake my head, appalled that she thought I would ever be done with her. “I know that now, but I was hurt, Liam. You didn’t talk to me about anything you were feeling. I would always ask how you felt when I moved away, and you would always say you were so happy for me. I guess, I felt you didn’t miss me as much as I missed you each and every day.”
She sighs, turning to face me fully . “Then, on my birthday, I thought you’d forgotten about me, and I lashed out. I know what football meant for you at the time now, and I’m sorry ... I’m sorry I blocked you and you thought it was me cutting you off. I’m so sorry.” Her voice cracks and my heart splinters at that. Shaking my head, I wipe a tear from her cheek. I wrap her in my arms, hugging her even though we’re both hurting, and she tries to push me away. “Get off, Liam,” she begs, but I stay hugging her. She calms down and hugs me, fully embracing me. Her sobs echo in my head and I rub my hand up and down her back. I whisper that it isn’t her fault over and over. We were dumb kids afraid of getting our hearts broken. She sniffles, and I hope this hug conveys everything I feel for this girl.
My Bianca. My darling Freckles.
She pulls back and we look at each other, our hearts bleeding.
“Liam, I promise you with everything I’ve got, Ireallydidn’t mean to make you feel left behind. I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out like I should’ve. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for back then, and I’m sorry for right now.”
I nod. “I’m sorry I inadvertently made you feel that way too. It was neverevermy intention. And I’m sorry for acting like a jerk when we saw each other again. I was upset. I thought if I kept you at arm’s length, you wouldn’t hurt me again. Turns out, we were hurting each other,” I say, and she nods solemnly.
She leans against my shoulder. “Some friends we are, huh?”
I chuckle lightly, threading my fingers with hers like I used to always do. “On the road to being the best again.” She smiles, and I look down as she glances up at me. “You’re amazing, you know that?” Her smile widens. Her eyes are a bit red, her makeup stillintact, and even if it weren’t, she would still be the most beautiful girl in the world to me.
“I guess I am, huh?” she retorts, and we both laugh at each other, and at this moment, the fact is confirmed.
I have always been, and will always be, head over heels, irrevocably in love with Bianca Everly Harrison.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
BIANCA
We start to walk inside and I’m smiling.Trulysmiling. It’s like I feel free,freeof the pain I’ve been carrying for five years. Though as I’m walking, a familiar voice stops me.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t thelovebirds.”
I turn around to see Olivia leaning against the wall, a thin vape pen in her hand, and I scoff.
“Goodbye, Olivia,” I say, but as I start to leave, she grabs my hand, pulling me away from Liam. I try to pull back, but she doesn’t let up.
“Hands off,” he says, and she glances at him, then throws my hand back at me.
“Why do you care so much?” she spews. “She’s gonna be my stepsister, so I think I can do what I please. Besides, we don’t want Daddy to find out about this, do we?” My eyes widen as I realize how deep Olivia’s contempt for me really runs. Though, before I can even come up with a response, Liam beats me to it.
“I don’t care. You can tell him whatever your little heart desires, and that won’t change a damn thing. I’m actually sad that Bianca andMs. Kate have such shallow, spoiled people in their lives. But that’s none of my business.” He gets closer to her. “No matter what your dad says or does, I’ll never let Bianca go. She’s everything I want, and since the first multiple times weren’t enough:Leave. Me. Alone.” He emphasizes every word, and my whole body flushes with a pinkish hue as he gently pulls me toward the venue. “You okay?”
We walk through the doors and I nod and squeeze his hand. He squeezes back as we weave through tables, finding ours. I quickly let go of his hand and take my seat, only to see him frowning at me.
“Liam, where have you been?” Ana asks.
“Outside, but I’m sorry for getting here late,” he says.
“No problem, son. No problem at all,” William mumbles, and zeros his gaze in on me while smiling, causing me to look down, trying to avoid his eyes altogether.
“Ms. Kate, how are you?” Liam asks, and Mom makes small talk. Josh clenches his jaw. “Mr. Callaway, is it?” Liam asks even though he fully knows Josh’s name. “Nice seeing you again.” Liam looks solely at Mom, and I cover my mouth as I smile. After the pleasantries, waiters come around with the food, and we get ready to say grace. I interlink hands with Liam, and he smirks at me while I roll my eyes. His thumbs rub on the top of my hands as William does the prayer. His rings create goose bumps, shooting sparks up my arms. We dig in, and Olivia finally joins us, sitting next to Josh. She says nothing, but she has a face as red as a tomato. I look over at Liam and he smiles, winking at me. Olivia looks up at me, and the usual annoyance or displeasure is replaced with pure and utter hatred. She leans over to Josh, and then he looks at me, anger covering his features.
