Back to Life (11 page)

I
grinned and lightly kissed him on the lips. “Then I’ll sleep in it every
night.”

He
grinned at me, and we walked out of his apartment together. It was actually a
short distance to my apartment from his, so we decided to walk since it was a
nice day. When we got to my apartment building, I turned to him as I got my key
out. “So, do you want to come up for a second?” I asked.

“Actually,
I think I’ll let you go ahead. I bet you and Marissa have a lot to talk about.”

I
smiled. “We do. See you tonight?”

“Definitely.
Is seven o’clock too early to pick you up?”

“Seven
sounds perfect. Thanks for a great night, and an even better morning.” I said.

Grinning,
he pulled me into a quick kiss. “Any time,” he said, and I giggled. “See you
tonight.”

I
waved at him and unlocked my door. I raced up the stairs, not even bothering
with taking the elevator. So much had happened since last night…I had to talk
to my best friend. I unlocked my front door, and called out, “Marissa! Brody!
I’m home!”

I
heard Marissa running down the hall way from her room. “Oh my god, Rory! Where
have you been?” she said, hugging me.

“I
texted you early this morning. I was with Liam,” I said, and she grinned at me.
“I didn’t want to come home and interrupt anything between you and my brother.”

She
went from happy to sad in no time flat when her face fell. “Oh, you wouldn’t
have interrupted anything.”

“What?
Why the hell not?” I asked, leading her over to the couch. “Is Brody here?
Because I’m going to kick his fucking ass!” I swear to God if he fucked this
up…

She
sighed. “He’s not here. He got called into surgery at about five this morning.”

“So,
what happened?”

She
looked down at her hands. “I just don’t know. I mean, all this time it seemed
like he didn’t even know I was alive, and treats me like one of his buddies,
and then last night…last night when he kissed me had to be the single most amazing
moment of my life,” she said. “It was everything I ever imagined. I thought
that it was just for show to get those girls to go away and that he’d stop, but
he didn’t. He kissed me like he’d been holding back for a while. When we
finally stopped, he asked me if I wanted to go back to the apartment and talk.
I went to find you and tell you, but I saw you kissing Liam and didn’t want to
interrupt,” she said, a weak smile on her face.

“Okay,
so, what happened when you got back here? Come on, I’m dying here!”

She
sighed. “He told me that he’d actually been thinking of asking me out for a
while, especially since he got to New York, but he’s afraid he’s going to ruin
our friendship if it doesn’t work out. He told me that kissing me last night
was amazing, and that he loved it, but that he wouldn’t let it happen again.”
She had tears forming in her eyes.

“Oh,
Marissa, I’m so sorry.” I pulled her into a hug. “I love my brother very much,
but sometimes, he can be a fucking idiot. I’m going to talk to him,” I said.

She
pulled away. “Rory, don’t bother. I love Brody so much, but I have been
thinking a lot since he left. I am a good girl, and if he doesn’t want me, then
I’m done pining for him. I want to find someone that wants me and isn’t afraid.
There is risk in any relationship, and if he’s not willing to jump, I’m not
willing to wait for him to.”

“Marissa,
you can’t give up on him,” I pleaded.

She
looked at me, and a sad smile spread on her lips. “I just have to.” Before I
could object, she changed the subject. “Okay, now on to you. You spent the
night with Liam. Girl, this is huge!” she said. “Did you sleep with him?”

“No,
I didn’t. But, after this morning, I would have if he’d offered,” I said.

Her
eyes got wide. “Oh my God! Tell me everything! What happened after we left last
night?”

“Well,
after he kissed me, we went back inside and played pool for a while. We had a
bet going that if I won, he picked up my tab, and if he won, he got to take me out
on a date tonight,” I said, realizing that he actually got what he wanted, in a
roundabout way. “I of course kicked his ass.”

Marissa
nodded, slightly smiling. “Sure.”

“When
we were ready to leave, he was going to bring me back here but I thought I might
walk in on something between you and Brody, so I asked him to take me to a
hotel. He said no, and brought me back to his place instead.”

“And?
Then what happened?” she asked.

“Well,
he helped me out of my clothes. Not dirty, I swear,” I said when she smiled.
“He let me borrow one of his tee shirts to sleep in and the next thing I knew,
I woke up alone in his bed. When I got up I went out to find him, and he was
still sleeping on the couch. He looked so cute, and he was so sweet to let me
have his bed, so I decided to make him breakfast. We ate, which led to a little
talking, which led to us making out on his breakfast bar. It would have gone
further but his mother called.”

“Does
she know about you two yet?”

“No.
I haven’t seen her in three weeks, and he apparently hasn’t told her anything
either. But, she’s about to find out tonight.”

“She
is? Why?”

“Because
Liam asked me to go with him when he has dinner with his parents tonight.”

Her
face lit up. “You’re meeting the parents?”

“Well,
technically, just the father. I already know his mother and I love her.”

“So,
does this mean you two might get together? Like for real?”

“I
don’t know, Marissa. It’s still so new, but I like him a lot. He said he wants
me there with him tonight because he needs me to keep him calm. He and his dad
don’t get along at all.”

She
put her hand on mine. “You can relate to that,” she said. I hadn’t spoken to
either of my parents since after Mason’s funeral, and after the things my
mother said to me, I didn’t plan to ever again. “So, what are you going to
wear?” she asked.

“Something
fancy, I think. It’s his mom’s birthday today, and they are rich as hell, so we
are probably going somewhere expensive.”

“Well,
all you own are rocker tees, jeans, and skimpy dresses you’d wear in a club. Let’s
go see what I have in my closet,” she said, dragging me off the couch and into
her room.

“Marissa,
I’m a hair stylist, for Christ’s sake! Why couldn’t I do my own hair?” I
whined, while she ran the flat iron through my hair.

“Because
as beautiful as your hair is, you always wear it either up or down with curls,
and I think if you want to make an impression, you should wear it sleek and
straight. Step out of your comfort zone for one night,” she said. Marissa
played dress up with me all afternoon. She’d painted my fingernails and
toenails, did my makeup, picked out my clothes and shoes, and now was doing my
hair. Since I was going to a swanky rich restaurant, she wanted to class me up.

“Well,
you’d better hurry up. Liam’s going to be here in five minutes!”

“Relax,
girl. I’m almost done,” she said, setting the flat iron down. She picked up a
beautiful black flower clip and slid it into the side of my hair, and stepped
back, smiling. “Now I’m done. Go look.”

I
stood up and walked over to the full length mirror and gasped when I saw
myself. I looked so pretty! Marissa was right about my hair, it looked awesome
straight. The black flower set it off beautifully. She picked a black, one
shoulder dress that was cut asymmetrically at the length and paired it with
black strappy rhinestone heels. Even my makeup looked awesome. I wore a tinted
lip gloss, and she had made my eyes all smoky using white, gray, and black eye
shadow. I turned to Marissa and smiled. “Marissa, I look amazing, thank you!” I
said, walking over to her and hugged her.

“Anytime,
Rory. I want you to be happy, and Liam is your key to that, I just know it. You
deserve this so much,” she said.

“Okay,
stop it or I’ll cry off my makeup,” I said, and we both laughed. At that
moment, the front door opened.

“Hey,
girls, I’m home,” Brody called.

Marissa
looked down. “I think I’m going to read in my room,” she said. Before I could
protest, she hugged me one last time and said, “Have fun tonight. You look
beautiful. Call me if you aren’t coming home, okay?” She quickly walked away
and went into her room, closing the door.

I
sighed and walked out of the bathroom and into the living room. “Hey Brody.”

“Hey
Rory, wow! You look beautiful, little sister. Where are you going dressed up?”

“Liam
is taking me out. It’s his mom’s birthday and he asked me to tag along since
his dad is coming too.”

“Yikes,
hope it goes well. Liam hates his dad more than you hate our parents,” he said.
He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. After popping off the top,
he took a drink. “So, meeting the parents, huh? You must like him.”

“What’s
not to like?” I asked, smoothing my dress. “Liam is gorgeous, sweet, funny, and
not pushy. He’s different,” I said.

He
walked over to me and wrapped me into a hug. “He seems to be different with
you. I know how he was back in college, and while I love the guy, he was a
total man whore. But, I’ve never seen him actively go after a woman before. The
way he looks at you…he sees you like we all do. You’re beautiful, inside and
out, and you deserve to be happy again.”

“What
is this, make Rory cry her makeup off night? I haven’t even gone out yet!” I
laughed and pulled away from him. “And while you are making your little speech,
I’m going to turn that right around and throw it back at you, big brother.
Marissa.” I said.

He
shook his head exhaustedly. “Don’t, Rory. Just don’t.”

“Oh
no, don’t you start. What the hell is your problem? She loves you, Brody! Why
are you going to hurt her like this?”

“I
don’t want to hurt her, Rory. That’s why I am stopping it before it starts. I
shouldn’t have kissed her last night. It was a mistake.”

“It
wasn’t a mistake, and you know it. Stop being a pussy and go in her room and
get her! If not, you really are going to lose her forever. She told me she’s
giving up on you.”

Hurt
shot across his face. “She did?”

“Yes,
and I’m telling you if you don’t snatch her up, someone else will. She’s
beautiful and a total catch. You could do a lot worse.”

“I
know,” he said, exasperated.

“Tell
me something. Did you like kissing her?” He nodded and smiled a crooked smile. I
walked closer to him and punched him in the chest. “Brody! Seriously!” I
shouted, and pointed at Marissa’s bedroom.

He
threw his hands up in the air. “All right! I’m going!”

Just
then, I heard the intercom buzz. I glanced at the clock on the wall. Seven o’clock…he
was right on time. I pressed the button to let Liam up and soon there was a
knock at the door. I looked at Brody again and glared at him until he started
off toward Marissa’s bedroom. Smoothing my dress one more time, I opened the
door. There stood Liam in a crisp black suit, white button down shirt, and a
red tie. He looked gorgeous. “Liam,” I breathed.

His
eyes were wide and he looked me up and down. “Rory, you’re so beautiful,” he
said, taking my hands in his.

“Thank
you,” I said. I squeezed his hands. “Are you ready for this?”

He
blew air out through his mouth. “No, not really. But having you with me will
help.”

“I
hope so.”

“Are
you ready?”

“I
am, just let me grab my purse,” I said. I walked back in and peeked down the
hall.

Brody
was knocking on Marissa’s door. “Marissa? It’s Brody. Listen, can we talk for a
second?”

Just
as I grabbed my clutch purse I saw Marissa open her door and she held the door
open, inviting him inside. Please make this work, I thought to myself. “Ready,”
I said, taking his hand and walking out the door. Here we go.

Liam

After
making a quick stop at a store to buy my mom a present, we arrived at Noir et
Blanc early. While Rory and I waited for my parents to arrive, I thought of all
the other places I’d rather be. I can’t believe I agreed to come to this
tonight. Being at this restaurant and seeing the snooty people dressed to the
nines reminded me of all the things I’d run away from. I hated this life…the
rich, snotty people that only cared about money. I was ashamed to even be
associated with people that acted that way. I had tried my entire adult life to
distance myself from all of this. Thank God Rory came here with me…this girl
was special. She wasn’t like all these trampy society women. She was confident,
intelligent, self sufficient, and captivating. I know she had to be nervous
being here, but it never showed on her face. I was in awe of her.

She
had her hand in mine, rubbing it comfortingly when I looked up and saw him. My
father…dressed like American royalty in his Armani tuxedo. He’d gone gray since
I last saw him, and he had shaved his signature beard and just had a nicely
groomed mustache. When his eyes found me, I actually thought I would die of
shock because he actually looked happy to see me. I looked over at Rory, who
squeezed my hand. “You can do this, Liam. Just breathe,” she whispered to me.