Author: Kirsty Moseley

“Hey, Sar. What’s up with you? You haven’t been sniffing those herbs again have you?” I teased. This was a running joke, Sarah had bought some ‘herbs’ from a friend of hers and lit them in her room to cleanse her aura or something. It had ended up being weed and she got high, running down her street half n**ed whist calling everyone on her cell to come and see the parade. She never lived it down.

“Ha ha! No, I’ve just spoke to Ashley who said that the pot for Liam’s ass is now up to $1860! Can you believe that? So, I’m going to give it a shot when he comes out of practice,” she said, bouncing on the spot and looking around for them.

I almost choked. $1860. Was that a joke? Holy crap! That means over ninety girls are going to be begging my boyfriend for sex, offering it to him on a plate and I’m scared to let him touch me. Maybe this isn’t going to be as fun as I first thought.

About five minutes later, the boys came out. “Hi, Liam. Wow, you smell good,” Sarah purred seductively as she leant in close to him.

He looked at her, a horrified expression on his face. I bit my lip, hard, so I didn’t laugh. “Hi, Sarah. Listen, you might not have heard but I have a girlfriend, so….” he trailed off, shrugging.

“That’s OK, I don’t mind sharing,” Sarah purred, putting her hand on his chest to make him stop in front of her.

He looked a little annoyed. “Sarah, seriously I’m not interested, OK.” He moved her hand and got into the car, frowning.

I smiled apologetically at Sarah because she looked a little defeated. “There’s twenty bucks I’ll never see again,” she pouted.

I laughed. “Hey, when I win I’ll give you your twenty back.” I winked at her teasingly, making her laugh as I climbed into the car.

Today was one of the days that Jake worked, so Liam always dropped him at the gym where he worked Monday to Wednesday evenings. Then Liam usually drove me home. “Shit, man, I think I’ve been hit on more times today than I ever have been. What the hell is that about? I tell people I’ve got a girlfriend, and all afternoon people have been begging me to fu-” He abruptly stopped talking, looking at me in the mirror as if he’d said too much. I laughed, bless him, he had no idea nearly a hundred horny girls were trying to sleep with him for a bet! “What’s so funny, Angel?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me in the mirror.

“You want to know why you’ve had all that extra attention today?” I asked, smirking.

“Yeah,” he answered, looking a bit apprehensive.

Jake turned to look at me from the front. I smiled. “Well, there’s a bet going around amongst the girls as to who can sleep with you first. The first girl to get you, wins the pot. It’s pretty good money,” I stated, still smirking. Jake burst out laughing, and Liam almost swerved the car into the other lane because he was so shocked.

“They’re doing what? Don’t they know I have a girlfriend?” he shouted, obviously really pissed off. His outrage seemed to make Jake laugh harder.

I nodded. “Yep, that’s why they’re doing it. They don’t like the idea of you being attached, seeing as you’re such a player, so they want to be the next one to sleep with you.” I shrugged dismissively, pretending it was no big deal when I was actually worried sick about it. How long would he be able to resist all of this attention for?

“How much is the pot?” Jake asked, amusement still clear on his face.

“Over eighteen hundred dollars.” I laughed. Liam nearly swerved us off the road again and Jake’s mouth dropped open. He looked at Liam with a look of pure pride in his eyes. “Yep, twenty bucks each. So that makes about ninety girls wanting to be the next one you screw, Liam.” I smiled at him in the mirror. He looked horrified, and honestly, a little scared.

“Holy shit, man! You know, you should just choose someone and screw them and split the money!” Jake said excitedly. Liam gave him the filthiest look in the world, like he’d just suggested skinning a puppy or something. Jake held up his hands apologetically. “Kidding. Jeez, I’m kidding!” he said quickly, but I could tell by his face that he was actually serious.

“So, that’s why Sarah just hit on me outside the car! Who the hell else is in on this, Angel?” Liam asked, sounding really annoyed about it.

“Well, Jessica’s arranging it. All of the cheer squad, most of the seniors, me, Ashley, Nadine,” I replied, listing off the people that I knew, but Liam cut me off.

“You?” he asked, with wide eyes.

I nodded, laughing. “Well yeah, eighteen hundred bucks is a lot of money. Mind you, it was only at two forty when I put in, but still, I like to gamble,” I joked, giving him a sexy smile in the mirror.

Jake looked like he was going to explode. “You? No freaking way! What the heck are you thinking?” he shouted at me, making me flinch. I hated to see Jake angry.

“Jake, it’s a lot of money I just thought, you know, it’d be a laugh. You never know, I may get to lose my virginity to the famous Liam James,” I teased, waggling my eyebrows at him.

Jake started to laugh, looking relieved; he obviously thought I was joking. I smiled and looked out of the window; I wasn’t good at lying, if he asks me if I was joking then I would have to tell him the truth. “Jeez, Ambs, you scared me then! I thought you were serious.” Jake laughed, slapping Liam on the shoulder proudly. “Eighteen hundred bucks that’s awesome, Liam. I wonder how many girls you could bang in one night, if they all thought they were the one to win the bet.”

I gasped. Oh crap! Great Jake, put that in his head, I’m sure that’s all he needs to hear since his girlfriend’s not willing to give it up! “Damn it, Jake, I have a girlfriend!” Liam cried, sounding a little exasperated.

“Yeah I know, but come on, girls are going to be pretty desperate to win, I bet you could get them to do anything,” Jake smirked, waggling his eyebrows.

“Jake, just stop. I don’t want anyone else; I’m crazy about my girl. I’m not going to screw it up with her,” Liam stated proudly. He smiled at me in the mirror and my breathing started to slow down as my panic started to recede. Trust. I needed to trust him and stop assuming the worst all of the time.

We dropped Jake off at the gym and Liam drove us home. “You put in twenty bucks betting you would be the next one to sleep with me?” he asked, smiling at me cockily.

“Actually no, the bet is to be the next one to nail you.” I shrugged, giggling.

He laughed and gripped my hand as we drove. “I can’t believe that this is happening. I thought that once people knew I wasn’t interested, that they would all leave me alone, not have more girls after me! I’m really sorry.” He frowned and kissed the back of my hand softly.

“Don’t worry about it; it’s not your fault. I guess that whole trust thing is going to be needed a lot from now on, huh?” I joked, smiling a half smile, pretending I wasn’t worried about all of the girls that would be throwing themselves at him for the foreseeable future.

We reached my house and he parked in his drive. “Hey, want to come in? We can tell my parents we’re together. I told them I have a girlfriend and my mom almost died, I swear,” he said, chuckling and nodding towards his house with a hopeful expression.

“Wow, the whole meet the parents thing already?” I joked, pretending to be scared. “I mean, what if they don’t like me?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist and putting my face in his chest, faking horror. He laughed and so did I. The idea of Liam’s parents not liking me was seriously funny. They already thought of me as a daughter. Liam was an only child because his mom had some problems when she gave birth to him, which left her unable to have more kids, so she loved me and always said that Jake and I were part of the family. I loved them too; they were great people, kind, funny and thoughtful. Actually, just like Liam, though it just took me a long time to see past all of his bravado.

Chapter 11

He pulled me into his house, holding my hand, smiling excitedly. “Mom? Dad? You home?” Liam shouted, looking into the empty lounge.

I could hear voices in the kitchen. “Yeah, honey. We’re in here,” Pat called.

Liam smiled happily and dragged me to the kitchen. Pat was baking cookies and Rick was busy trying to eat the cookie mix straight from the bowl, making her laugh and hit his hand with the wooden spoon. I chuckled at the scene. They were always like this, she was the perfect housewife and mother, and he adored her and Liam, which was really sweet.

“Hey, Amber. Long time no see,” Rick said, grabbing me into a hug, which made my heart race.

“Hey, Rick. Hi, Pat. How are you?” I asked cheerfully.

“We’re great! Amber, I would hug you but I’m covered in cookies, honey.” Pat frowned, holding up her hands in evidence.

“Yeah, I can see that! They smell so good,” I said, eyeing the already baked ones on the plate on the counter. She passed the plate to me and I happily took one, smiling. “Thanks.”

“Hey! You said I couldn’t have one because they were cooling,” Rick whined, pouting, making me laugh; she picked up a cookie and tossed it at him with a wink.

“Um guys, I was wondering if you wanted to meet my girlfriend. Maybe she could have dinner with us tonight?” Liam suggested, putting his hand on the small of my back.

A grin spread across Pat’s face. She looked so happy that I actually thought she was actually holding back tears. “Oh, Liam! I’d love to meet her! I still can’t believe you have a girlfriend. You spent all this time saying that there was only one girl for you and now you’re finally able to move on and actually date someone!” she cooed, practically bursting with excitement and pride.

“Yeah OK, Mom, tone it down a bit, huh?” Liam mumbled, rolling his eyes.

“So, what time is she coming? Have you met her, Amber? Is she nice?” Pat asked, beaming at me. I looked at Liam, unsure what to say. This whole situation was laughable. And did she say that Liam had always said there was only one girl for him?