"You should ask him out," I say.
"Me? Mara, Ben is just a friend, I don't think he sees me like that..."
"Do you wear those glasses just for show, Kelsi? Seriously? Come on, I won't be there tonight, and Bonnie is working the night shift. Be a strong independent woman, ask him out. Take him somewhere."
"What if something happens to you?!" she protests.
I roll my eyes, pushing the exit door.
"Kelsi, I'm a grown ass witch, and I'll be with one of the strongest werewolves in the city. If anything does happen again, you or Ben won't be able to do much about it. Come on, just forget me for one night, have fun. You deserve it, and I feel like Ben could use it too."
"Really? Is something wrong with him?" she asks, suddenly all worried.
I laugh at her expression, but the familiar sound of a bike suddenly rises in the parking lot. Oh, Moon Goddess, the fire in my stomach is back again. I'm so nervous to see Liam again... Something inside me can feel him like a magnet I'm attracted to. I want to run across the parking lot to him. Instead, I take a deep breath and control my pace, barely hearing Kelsi who says goodbye and takes the other route. I wait on the side for him to come to me. He's got his helmet on, for once.
He stops the bike right in front of me and I'm so nervous, I could faint. My heart's threatening to burst out. Act cool, girl, you're a cool ass witch...
"Hi," I mutter.
He stopped the bike an inch away from my feet, and it's closer than I can take. His leather-gloved hands reach up for his helmet, and when he takes it off, shaking his wet hair, I don't think sweat has ever been that sexy.
"...Hi," he says, with those destructive sky-colored eyes.
Oh, I'm so done for.
Is it because we haven’t seen each other in a while? I’m much more nervous than usual, and at the same time, I’m ridiculously happy. Liam, coming to get me in the university parking lot with his bike. I could get used to that. I can feel all the stares around us, and even some girls whispering. He’s definitely attracting a lot of attention. Whatever their relationship to werewolves is, no one can say Liam Black isn’t hot as hell. However, I’m the only one he’s looking at. Yeah, I could totally get used to this…
“...I missed you,” he suddenly mutters.
I blush even more if possible, completely taken by surprise. How can he be that straightforward? I wasn’t ready for that! Breathe, Mara, breathe…
“...Same,” I hear myself mumble.
That’s all I can come up with at the moment. There’s just too many emotions at once. Shit, I can be the most badass witch against some jerks, but when it’s Liam facing me, I’m reduced to a shy teenage girl unable to come up with a full sentence. Moon Goddess, there should be some adaptation period or training when you get paired with a guy like this…
I take a discreet deep breath and try to calm down.
“Thank you for coming,” I say.
“I didn’t think your class would end early.”
I don’t want to tell him it ended early because I got kicked out, that’s still something I have to work on. I simply nod, realizing he would have been fine waiting for me. I’m actually a bit glad he didn’t, I don’t think I could endure all those girls staring at him. Wait, am I really the jealous type?
“So, uh… how were your classes?” he asks, a bit awkward.
“Boring.”
My short and honest answer isn’t helping. He nods. We barely exchanged a couple of texts today, just enough to let him know when and where to get me. We stay silent for a long minute, both a bit unsure what to say. I’m happy to see him but… it feels a bit like we can’t let go of what happened the last time we saw each other. I don’t know where to begin though. How do we clear the air between us?
“Mara, can we… just go and talk somewhere?” he asks first, mirroring my thoughts.
I nod and glance around. Indeed, we’re catching a bit too much attention around us. I don’t know if it’s Liam, his bike, or me… but a little crowd is gathering and from my previous experience, I really don’t want to stick around.
I nod and he offers me the helmet. However, my eyes still go down on the bike.
“…Can I drive?”
“Heck no!”
