Consumed (15 page)

He wanted me as much as I wanted him and the chemistry we share is indescribable. No matter what happens from here I know that nothing will keep me from being with this man. If he will have me, I am his.

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I
wake the next morning with a start. Memories of the night before come flooding back like a tidal wave. My day with Liam, the Eiffel Tower, the way he kissed me before we parted as if he was fearful he would never see me again. It's all so much to take in and yet I want it and so very much more.

I take my time getting ready for the day. With no real plans I shower and dress in a pair of Kristina's yoga paints and a pale pink t-shirt. I make my way to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat and am surprised to find Kristina already awake. Her tall, lean frame pressed against the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee in her hands.

“Well good morning.” She chimes when she sees me enter.

“Don't good morning me.” I snap out playfully. “Thanks to you I had to spend my entire Saturday with the man of my dreams.” I smile widely at the last part.

She catches it immediately, a squeal coming for her lips as she sits her coffee mug on the counter and skips happily to where I am standing just three feet away. “I knew it, I knew it!” She sings, pulling me in for hug. “So you had fun then?” She asks dropping her hold of me.

“Fun doesn't even begin to describe it.” I say, the smile on my face growing wider.

“Oh no, you didn't.” She fakes mockery. “You slept with him. You did, didn't you?”

“If you mean had the most intense passionate sex of my life on top of the Eiffel Tower, than yes, I guess I did.” I joke watching her eyes widen with my confession.

“The Eiffel Tower? How in the hell did you manage that?” She gasps in complete jealousy.

“Not really sure. Someone Liam knows. They let us up after it was closed. Oh Kristina, it was like a fairy tale.” I say dreamily, for a moment losing myself to the memory.

“Let's go grab some breakfast. We have no food and I want to hear every dirty detail.” She laughs, dumping her coffee into the sink and grabbing her purse. I follow, slipping on my tennis shoes before we exit.

I spend the rest of the morning tucked away in a little family diner called
Mimi's Cafe
filling Kristina in on everything that took place yesterday. She was so excited for me she could barely contain herself and I have to admit it felt really good to have a girlfriend to share these kinds of things with.

By the time we exit, it's late morning. The sun is scorching and I immediately wish I had gone with shorts instead of pants. Kristina and I say our goodbyes as she has plans to go shopping with her mom and I make my way back to our apartment, determined to spend the day lounging in front of the television.

As I make my way back, my phone signals an incoming call. I scramble to remove it from my purse. An unknown number displays across the screen and I immediately answer it in hopes that maybe it's Liam.

“Addison, it's Grayson. Don't hang up.” Is what I hear instead. I breathe out a sigh of aggravation but for some unknown reason I don't end the call.

“What do you want?” I snap, not trying to make friendly talk at all.

“Look I know that you are really angry with me. I feel awful about everything. Can we meet up somewhere for coffee or something? I really need to see you.” His voice is soft and pleading, something far from the normal Grayson that I am used to.

“I'm sorry Grayson, I really don't think that's such a great idea.” I answer immediately.

“Please Addie, just one cup of coffee.” He pleads.

“I can't today, maybe another time.” I do my best to pacify him.

“Monday? Come on Addie. Please.”

“Fine, Monday.” I agree really just wanting to end this conversation. I don't care what he wants, I just want him to leave me the hell alone.

“Great, I will meet you in the lobby at noon.” His voice takes on a more chipper approach. “I can't wait to see you.” He adds in a more serious tone.

“See you then.” I say indifferently before ending the call.

Leave it to Grayson to put a damper on my perfectly peaceful morning. Not really feeling up to going home all of a sudden, I continue walking with no real destination just simply losing myself in my mind.

It is hard to keep up with how quickly everything has changed but I don't regret a single moment of it. When Grayson ended things I thought my world had ended. Now I see it really is only just beginning. I have Liam to thank for that. Not to mention some pretty awesome friends.

My phone starts ringing again just as I reach the bike trails where I used to spend almost every day running. I make my way to a bench off to the side and retrieve my phone from my purse just as the ringing stops.

The missed call message shows it was my mom. Realizing it has been over a week since we last spoke, I click the number to call her back. She answers on the first ring. “I was beginning to think you had disowned us.” She lashes at me, not harshly, but enough to get her point across.

“I know mom, I'm sorry. Things have been so busy. How are you? How's dad?” I ask.

“Everything is good. Dad is spending a lot of time in the garage recently. He bought himself a new toy to fix up. It's the biggest piece of junk yet.” She whines clearly not understanding my dads constant need to buy old cars and rebuild them, something he has done since I was young. I used to love sitting out in the garage with him, handing him tools, and listening to old Johnny Cash songs. Those are some of my fondest childhood memories and the thought of him back at it again makes me wish that I could be there with him.

“Cut him some slack mom. You know how much he loves it.” I remind her. “How is everything else, anything new?”

“Well that's actually why I am calling. Aunt Kelly is coming in next week and was really hoping to get the chance to see you. You really do need to visit. We miss you like crazy dear and with Grayson out of the picture there should be no reason not to.”

“I wish I could mom but I have work. I am extremely busy with a big charity event that's in a couple of weeks. It's really not possible for me to take time off right now.” I say apologetic.

“Kelly is going to be so disappointed.” She lays the guilt trip on me.

“I know mom. Will it make you feel better if I promise to come visit you the weekend after the event? I can fly out on Saturday morning and stay a couple of days.”

“That would be amazing honey. Your dad will be thrilled.” She says, the excitement clear in her voice. I really do need to get out to visit them and it probably isn't a bad idea to just get away for a few days.

I promise to let her know as soon as my flight arrangements are made and by the end of our conversation she is perfectly happy. I make an excuse about needing to get some housework done and quickly wrap up the phone call.

After hanging up I stare down at my phone for a few seconds, lost in my own mind. I don't know if I should be worried or relieved that Liam has not tried to contact me yet today. Regardless I can't help but feel more than a little disappointed. I mean it was after all the best night of my life.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Liam's voice breaks me from my haze. I look up, sure that him standing there, a wide smile across his face, is a figment of my imagination. “Care to join me? It's a beautiful day for a walk.” He says holding his hand out to me.

I take it without hesitation and let him pull me to my feet. I twine my fingers with his, loving the feeling of his skin against mine. I want to question him on how he found me. How he always seem to know where I am. But in this moment I don't want to ruin it. I just want to enjoy being here with him. As great as this all seems, I still have the nagging feeling that I better enjoy this while I can because it's only a matter of time before it all comes crashing down. Nothing this good ever turns out to be true.

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A
s we make our way hand in hand down the long winding bike trail, I take the opportunity to learn about the man that has so quickly swept me off my feet. It's time like this that I realize how little I still know about him and how unsettling that is for me.

“Question nine.” I say breaking the silence. He lets out a small laugh.

“By all means, ask away.” He says keeping a slow leisurely pace at my side.

“You said that you spent most of your childhood in Italy. Tell me about that.” I say not really asking a specific question.

“There's not much to tell.” He says growing quiet as if considering what exactly to tell me. “My mom is a lawyer, dad is in politics. I don't remember much of my early childhood. I know that my parents weren't around much and a lot of my younger years were spent in the care of a nanny. My grandparents had a field day when they found out that my mother had allowed me to be raised by a complete stranger and insisted on me moving to live with them. My parents didn't hesitate and sent me off to them. I was six.” He says, his voice remaining indifferent even though I can tell it bothers him.

“Did you like Italy?” I ask wanting to keep the conversation going. I am grateful for every piece of information I can get from him, hoping that the more I get, the more I will understand the person he is and the past he came from.

“Italy is beautiful but living with my grandparents left a lot to be desired. Where my parents were uninvolved and pushed me off on anyone that would take me, my grandparents were the exact opposite. They were extremely overprotective and rarely let me do anything that didn't include them. I went to a private school and had very few friends because they were very selective about who I spent my days with. My grandparents came from old money and old traditions and expected me to act a certain way. I did my best to fall in line, any life was better than a life with parents who wished I didn't exist.” He breaks off as if lost in thought. I can see his internal battle raging but that doesn't stop him from continuing.

“I lived a very sheltered life for a good portion of my teens. That is until Ronnie convinced my grandparents to let me return to the states with him when I was sixteen. He used the excuse that my mother wanted to see me even though I knew it wasn't true. My grandparents reluctantly agreed to let me go for a couple of weeks but once I was gone, I never went back. Since my grandparents did not have official custody of me and my parents could care less about my whereabouts there was really nothing they could do about it. Ronnie took me under his wing. He showed me what life was supposed to be like, what it meant to really live.”

“What happened to him?” I ask when he falls silent, losing himself in a memory. I can only assume that he is gone just based on how our last conversation he referred to him as past tense.

“He died when I was nineteen, heart attack. He left me everything he owned, everything. Here I was a young guy with money to burn and women willing and ready to do anything I wanted. I lost myself for a very long time. I lost myself in the Vegas lifestyle, the girls, the alcohol, the gambling. It wasn't until recently that I realized I no longer recognized the person that stared back at me in the mirror, every part of who I was has been erased over the years, one day I just realized there was nothing left.” He gives my hand a light squeeze and then leads me to the bench where we sat the first time I ran into him here.

I digest his words and everything he has told me. The drinking, the girls? My stomach twists in the worst sort of way when jealousy rears its ugly head. I know I have no right to be jealous but the thought of him with another woman makes my blood boil and it's a thought I am having a hard time stomaching.

“And your parents, where are they now?” I ask taking a seat next to him on the bench. The trees that surround the trail offer just enough shade that the heat is bearable. I still have not become accustomed to the Nevada heat.

“Haven't seen them since the funeral. They wasted no time in letting me know what a disappointment I was. My grandparents barely spoke to me. I guess they never really got over me leaving and never coming back. My dad and I got into a bit of a tiff after the services. He said that I was just like my uncle Ronnie and that I was destined to be a life long fuck up. Took me about ten seconds before I punched him square in the face. I'll never forget the look on my mother's face as she tried to stop his nose from bleeding. Serves them right.” He says on a gruff laugh.

“That sounds awful.” I say rubbing my thumb across the back of his hand that is still joined with mine. He turns towards me giving me a weak smile.

“I would do it all over again if it meant that I would find you.” He says, letting my hand fall to reach up and tuck my hair behind my ear, away from my face. Instantly I can feel my heart go into overdrive. The look in his eyes, the words, it's almost like he has been waiting for me. Waiting for me to come along and make his life worth something. It's a ridiculous thought and one that I am sure isn't true but I want to believe that's what he's telling me.

“What about your parents, you still close?” He asks turning the tables on me.

“Very. Well I mean we were, I guess we still are though we don't see each other often and I am really awful about calling. My mom is one of those gossip queens. She always has to know everything about everyone. Her and the neighbors were always whispering about other people in the neighborhood. She's ridiculous really but she loves me and she's a good mom.” I pause for a second before continuing.

“My dad is the best. He's quiet and keeps to himself. I never understood how he put up with my mom's dramatics but he does. He always stands by her even when he disagrees with her. He's rebuilding a car, something we used to do together when I was a kid. My mom is having a fit about it.” I laugh.

“You built cars?” He eyes me suspiciously.

“Okay so I didn't actually help with the car part. More than anything I just liked hanging out in the garage with him. I promised mom I would visit here in a couple of weeks. As much as I hate flying, I am looking forward to seeing them, especially my dad. We have always shared a special bond. I think it's because I am so much more like him than I am my mom.”