Relinquishing Liberty (Second Chances)

  “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how did I end up in your bed?” I chewed on my bottom lip nervously, waiting for his response.

  “You fell asleep in my arms while we were still sitting on the beach. You looked so peaceful lying there, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you up. So I carried you inside and placed you in my bed. But you don’t need to worry, sweetheart. I slept on the couch.”

  To my surprise, I was actually a little disappointed he hadn’t made an attempt to crawl into bed with me. I already fell asleep in his arms once, it would have been nice to spend the rest of the night there. I guess he was serious when he said he wanted to take things slow.

  “Well, I appreciate it, but you didn’t have to sleep on the couch. There’s more than enough room for the two us in your bed.”

  “True, but I don’t think I’d get much sleep knowing you’re lying in bed next to me. Besides, you snore like a grizzly bear.”

  “I do not snore!” I smacked his arm, making him laugh.

  “Nah, you don’t snore, babe. But I did go in there to check on you, and you must have been dreaming about me because I could have sworn I heard you say my name.”

  Oh shit, was I really dreaming about him last night? It’s a shame I can’t remember it; I can only imagine what kind of dream I would have about Shayne. My dirty thoughts were pushed aside when I heard music playing in the other room. When I recognized “Alive” by Adelitas Way I realized it was my phone ringing. I dug it out of my purse and groaned when I saw Maddie’s name appear across the screen.

  “Shit, Maddie’s probably wondering what the hell happened to me.”

  I checked my phone and sure enough both Maddie and Brett had blown up my phone with numerous voicemails and texts.

  “Oh God, everyone probably thinks you murdered me! I’m surprised Maddie and Brett haven’t sent out a search party for me yet.”

  Shayne apparently thought that was hilarious because he was practically doubling over from laughing so hard. “I know I don’t have the best reputation sweetheart, but I’m pretty sure no one thinks I’m a murderer.”

  “Ugh, I am not looking forward to going back to the apartment.” I sank down into my chair sulking.

  “Well it’s about time for me to head to work anyway, so I’ll give you a ride back now. Wouldn’t want to keep mommy and daddy worrying.” He rolled his eyes and continued laughing as he turned to grab his keys off the table.

  If he only knew the irony of that statement.

  When we got back to the apartment, he hadn’t forgotten his manners. He came around to open my door and helped me down from the Jeep. He was about to lead me to the front door, but I stopped him before he had to deal with Hurricane Maddie.

  “It’s probably best if we say our goodbyes here. I don’t want you to have to deal with the wrath of Maddie. She’ll probably be worse than Brett.”

  “All right, sweetheart. Well, thank you for spending a wonderful evening with me, even though there were a few hiccups along the way.”

  He dipped his head down towards his chest, but I reached for his face before he could look away. I stood on my tiptoes as I pulled his mouth down to mine. His warm, soft lips were eager as they moved in tandem with mine. I could taste the blueberries from the muffin he scarfed down earlier, enhancing the taste of Shayne that I was already developing an addiction to. He nibbled on my bottom lip playfully before pulling away. I could see in his eyes that he was hungry for more, but I knew he had to get to work.

  “I had a lovely time, too. Thank you, Shayne.”

  “You’re very welcome. Is it all right if I call you later?”

  “Yeah, I’d like that. I have to work tonight, but you can call me after ten.”

  “All right, I’ll talk to you then, sweetheart.”

  He took my hand and brushed gentle kisses against my fingertips before making his way back to his Jeep. I stood in the parking lot as I watched Shayne drive away, secretly hoping to buy some time before I had to deal with Maddie’s inevitable rampage.

  As soon as I entered the apartment, I was thrown backwards as Maddie lunged at me like a spider monkey. We both toppled over, and I shoved Maddie off of me so I could catch the breath that was knocked out of me.

  “Liberty, I was so fucking worried about you! Where the hell have you been!? I called your phone at least a million times!”

  “Yeah…I saw that…this morning,” I struggled to say, still trying to catch my breath after being knocked over. “You and Brett…both blew up my phone.”

  “Well geez, what do you expect? My roommate never came home, never answered her phone and no one had heard from her. I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere! You have no idea how close Brett and I were to sending a search party out to look for you.” I have no doubt that they would have, too.

  “I’m sorry, okay? Apparently I unknowingly fell asleep, so I had to stay the night. It’s really not that big of a deal.”

  “Stay where?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You know where. With my mystery man, as you like to call him.”

  Shoving my shoulder with all the strength her little body could muster, “Well next time, call me to let you know you’re not planning on coming home. I don’t care if you’re in the middle of fucking some hot piece of ass, at least text me or send a smoke signal. Something, woman!”

  “Oww! Okay, okay! I’ll call next time. It’s not like I was planning on falling asleep there.” I rubbed my shoulder to alleviate the pain. I had no idea where that tiny girl got her Hulk strength.

  A smirk slowly stretched across her face. “So, how was it? Did it hurt? Did you use protection? Are you going to see him again?”

  “Seriously, Maddie, I told you I wasn’t going to have sex with him on the first date! I’m still getting to know him. But to answer your last question: yes, we are going to see each other again. I really want to give whatever this is between him and me a chance, and he does too.”

  “Well that’s disappointing; I was hoping to get some juicy details out of you after being out all night. Please tell me he at least slipped you some tongue.”

  Blushing, I told her all of the details of my night with Shayne: from him making me a picnic on the beach, to our passionate make-out session, making sure not to leave anything out. Yes, I even told her about my first climax. Maddie’s eyes lit up at that last little tidbit of information.

  “So let me get this straight,” she said as she cleared her throat. “After consuming mass amounts of wine, you took on the role of a dominatrix and pounced on your sexy mystery man by dry-humping the shit out of him until you had a mind-blowing orgasm?”

  “Um…not so eloquently put, but yeah, I guess that’s what happened.”

  Maddie pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. “I’m so proud of you. My little Libby-Poo is growing up so fast.”

  “Libby-Poo?”

  “Whatever, it sounded cute at the time. Oh, just to forewarn you, you might get an earful from Brett later at work. He was really worried about you, Liberty. I’ve never seen him that distraught before. Like, ever.” The way Maddie’s face twisted told me he must have been a lot more than just worried. It was a strange feeling to have people care about me enough to be so concerned. For so long, it had been the other way around.

  “Lovely. I look forward to it.” Not.

  God, I did NOT want to have to face Brett. I felt horrible that I had burdened them over worrying about my whereabouts the previous night. Knowing Maddie, she was probably over it by now, but Brett was a different story. I knew how he felt about me, but I just couldn’t reciprocate those feelings for him. It would ruin everything. Maddie and Brett had become like family to me here in Savannah, and even though I’ve only known them for a few weeks, the thought of losing them tore at my heart. I wanted to make it up to him, I just wasn’t sure how yet. Leading Brett on was definitely not part of my plan, but then again, when did anything in my life ever go according to plan?

  When I first arrived at �
�AJ’s”, I could tell it was going to be a long night. The tension in the air was so thick that you’d need a Ginsu knife to cut through it. Brett barely said two words to me since I walked through the door, so I knew he was pissed. I really couldn’t blame him, but it still hurt to be ignored. I was going to wait until there was a lull in customers before I could pull him aside and force him to open up to me. I continued dropping off drink orders to him at the bar, but didn’t get much more than a nod in acknowledgment. I was fed up with his silent treatment, so I told Brittany, the other bartender working tonight, that I needed to borrow him for a few minutes. She gave me suggestive smile as she wiggled her eyebrows up and down. I just shook my head in amusement before dragging him by the sleeve behind me. There must’ve been something in the water because lately everyone seemed to have sex on the brain.

  I took Brett outside, hoping some fresh air would alleviate the strain between us. His jaw was clenched, and I could see the muscles in his neck were pulled tighter than a rubber band, ready to snap at any second.

  All night I had gone over the speech that was now drilled into my head, but I never got the chance to say the words. After barely hearing a peep out of him tonight, I was surprised to hear Brett speak up first.

  “I knew this was going to happen. I warned you about him, Liberty. I fucking warned you.” His acidic words were sharp and cut straight through me.

  I was taken aback by his harsh tone. Brett had never once spoken to me like that before. He was always the one making me feel better, but tonight he wasn’t holding anything back. At that point, protecting my feelings was the least of his worries. I took his hand in mine, hoping the physical contact would calm him down.

  “Brett, I’m so sorry I made you and Maddie worry last night. I really am. But as you can see, I’m perfectly fine.” I waved my hands up and down in front of me to show him I was still in one piece. “I guess I didn’t realize how exhausted I was, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in Shayne’s bed. When he noticed I had fallen asleep, he didn’t want to wake me, so he let me spend the night. It’s not like I was planning on it.” I huffed out an irritated laugh. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t let either one of you know, but I haven’t exactly mastered the art of texting or calling in my sleep yet.”

  Apparently Brett was not finding any of this humorous. He ripped his hand away from mine with such force he nearly took my arm out of the socket.

  “You were in his bed!?”

  “I don’t see the big deal, Brett. I’ve slept in your bed, too. It didn’t mean anything.”

  “Yeah, but we weren’t having sex!”

  “Why does everyone keep assuming I had sex with Shayne!? I. DID. NOT. HAVE. SEX. WITH. SHAYNE! It was our first date for fuck’s sake! God, do you think I’m that much of slut? Huh? Do you really think so little of me?” Tears were quickly pooling in my eyes as I got more and more worked up. I held a special place in my heart for Brett, but it was slowly beginning to crack. I don’t know how much more I could take. I felt like I was losing him.

  Brett approached me with caution as my tears began to break through the levee. He slowly reached up, using the edge of his sleeve to soak up my tears.

  “Liberty, I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I can’t help that I worry about you. It’s just in my nature. You see how much I worry about my sister, and she’s way more out of control than you. Not that you’re out of control or anything, I’m just not so sure about your taste in guys.” He released a low chuckle.

  “Gee thanks, Brett.”

  “You know, Maddie told me that she shared her secret with you; you’re the only other person she’s told. After that happened, I made a promise to always protect her no matter what. It’s just…Liberty, if anything ever happened to you…I swear, I’d never forgive myself.”

  “Brett, I appreciate your concern. I really do, but I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.”

  “I know you can. I guess I’m just a little overprotective sometimes.” He smiled, looking down at his shoe swirling around in the sand.

  “Ha! Ya think?” He was beyond overprotective. He might as well keep Maddie and me in a plastic bubble.

  “I guess I have to work on that, huh?”

  Pinching my thumb and index finger together, I replied, “Just a smidge. And for your information, I happen to think I have awesome taste in guys. I know you don’t really care, but I actually had a great time with Shayne on our date.”

  Brett rolled his eyes at me. “I’m sure you did. If you don’t mind me asking, why were you in Shayne’s bedroom in the first place? I mean, I get it, you were exhausted and fell asleep, but how did you end up in his bed?”

  “Well, that’s where the night got a little fuzzy. I guess we were still outside on the beach when I fell asleep, and Shayne must have carried me in and placed me in his bed.”

  Brett eyes widened and the visible strain in his neck returned. “Jesus, Liberty, are you saying you don’t remember any of that? Fuck! For all you know he could’ve slipped you the date-rape drug!”

  “Okay, now you’re just overreacting. He would never do that. He was actually really sweet the entire night.” I smiled as I replayed our evening together in my head.

  “Yeah, until he got you into his bed…”

  “Enough! I don’t want to hear you bashing him anymore. I know you don’t like him for whatever reason, but he really is a nice guy, and I’d like to give him a chance. Oh, and for your information, he slept on the couch.”

  “Fine. I’ll try to keep my comments to myself. So what’s the deal with you guys now? Are you dating? Is he your boyfriend?” He spat out with annoyance in his tone.

  “I guess you could say we’re just dating. We didn’t put a label on it or anything…yet.”

  “Yet.” A grin spread across his face. “So he doesn’t have a leash on you?”

  “Um, no. I’m not really into that…ya know, wearing collars and leashes. I always thought that was a little taboo.”

  Brett burst out laughing. “You know what I meant. You’re not committed to him?”

  “Officially? No.” But I wanted to be.

  “Hmm…” He rubbed his jaw with a wicked grin on his face, and I could see he was contemplating something. Now that had me worried.

  “I’m such an idiot. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier.” His face lit up like the Fourth of July; he was practically glowing with excitement. Somehow his mood had done a complete one-eighty from when we first came outside.

  “What?” I gave him a quizzical look trying to convey my apprehension to whatever crazy epiphany he just had.

  “We should go out on a date.”

  What!? “Ha. You’re funny. Seriously.”

  “No, I am being serious.”

  “Brett…” I did not like where this was going.

  “What? C’mon, Liberty. You know I like you a lot. I mean, what’s not to like…you’re gorgeous, funny, smart; you’re like the perfect trifecta! In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been sending you signals for weeks now. And feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you might just like me a tiny bit, too,” he said with a devious, lopsided grin. “Technically you’re still single, right? So…what have you got to lose darlin’?”

  What have I got to lose? Simple: everything.

  What the hell was I thinking?

  I had no idea how I let Brett weasel me into going on a date with him, but before I knew it, I was agreeing to this silly charade. I knew I didn’t share the same feelings for Brett and yet, for some reason, I still just couldn’t say no to him. I’m not sure when I became such a pushover. I guess it was after AJ died because from that point on, I let my parents walk all over me. Well I promised myself it was the last time I was going to let that happen. Hopefully when it was all over, Brett would realize we were in no way compatible. I cared more about keeping our friendship intact than anything else. I just hope I wasn’t making a huge mistake.

  I had to warn Maddie ahead o
f time about what was going down. I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression because in my opinion it wasn’t even a real date; I was only going through with it because I didn’t want to disappoint Brett. She knew how strong my feelings were for Shayne and that I in no way wanted to jeopardize anything between us. This “date” with her brother was going to be a one-time thing.

  Maddie wasn’t thrilled with the idea of me stringing her brother along, but she knew just as well as I did that Brett wouldn’t give up. He was very tenacious about getting his way. All she asked was that I promise not to hurt her brother because otherwise she would never forgive me. Okay, I guess that was putting it mildly; her exact words were, “You break my brother’s heart, and I will shove my foot so far up your vagina—”. At that point, I cut her off because I more than got the point. I reassured her that would never happen, but if it did, she had free reign to shove her foot wherever she pleased. I would never in a million years do anything to hurt my family and they were my family now.

  It was Saturday afternoon, and luckily, based on our work schedules, it was the only time Brett and I could get together. A lunch date was the perfect plan; this way it felt much more casual, like two friends who were just grabbing a bite to eat. We agreed to meet at Alessandro’s, a small Italian bistro that I had been dying to try since I arrived in Savannah. I told Brett I had some errands to run earlier in the day so that I could drive separately. The less it felt like a date, the better.

  Brett had arrived first and was already sitting at a table on the patio in front of the restaurant. When he saw me approach him, he stood, biting his lip and shoving his hands forcefully in his pockets. He suddenly looked very shy…maybe even a little nervous. Okay, seriously, who the hell is this and what has he done with Brett? Not once had I ever seen Brett look anything remotely close to being shy or nervous. This was a totally new side of him.

  “Wow, you…you look really great, Liberty.”

  I looked down at myself. I was wearing an old pair of jeans that were ripped at the knee and a t-shirt that read, “I’m not short, I’m fun size”. I had my hair pulled back in a messy bun and only applied the minimal makeup that I wore on a daily basis. I hadn’t really put much thought into how I looked today. What was the point? But now it was as if Brett was seeing me in a whole new light.