"Oh, she's here!" Liam said, pointing to where Becca was exiting the back of Penn's house. I could barely see her through the tall shrubbery that outlined Liam’s porch. She was wearing the blue dress and she looked absolutely stunning. The sunset silhouetted her from behind and her bright blonde hair shone against the vibrant backdrop. She'd slipped her shoes off so she could walk in the sand, and the second she saw the sight before her, her hands flew to her mouth and she froze. Tears burned the corners of my eyes as I watched her step closer to the ring of unlit, poopy candles.
Liam's arm stretched across my shoulders and he swept the tear from my cheek without saying a word. Penn was talking to Becca, but we couldn't hear what he was saying. I assumed he was telling her how much she meant to him. Then he paused his speech and Becca threw herself into his arms. I had to fight the urge to cheer for them. They were finally getting their happy ending and I knew they both deserved it.
"I'd assume that was a yes, don't you think?" Liam asked.
Penn and Becca were kissing, his arm was slung low around her waist, pulling her against him with fierce intensity. It was our time to leave.
"I think so," I said with a giant smile.
Liam mirrored my smile and then pulled me through the back door into his house.
"What about those chocolate covered strawberries now?" he asked as I finished off my glass of champagne.
"How about we skip the strawberries?" I asked with a suggestive gaze.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I felt the wind rushing past me as I pushed myself to pick up the pace. I was beating my previous times, but it wasn't good enough. My sprints needed to be faster and my skills had to be perfectly honed if I expected to make it onto the Olympic team.
I'd been training every day, harder than I had in my entire life, and I knew I had a fighting chance at getting an invitation for tryouts. There wasn't a woman in America training harder than I was. Becca would join me on most days, and we'd push each other past our limits. Everything had fallen into a routine. She was staying at Penn's house in Malibu more and more often, and I was leaving my things at Liam's house whenever I stayed there. We'd drive to practice together, stay after to continue training, and then head back to Malibu afterward. Liam and Penn would get home around the same time and we'd cook dinner, hanging out together a few times every week.
I hadn't officially decided to move in with him, but it seemed like eventually I'd wake up one morning and all of my crap would be at his house. Liam thought he was being sly, transitioning various things slowly so that I couldn’t protest. One day he'd cleared out half of his closet. The next, I had a few drawers in the bathroom to leave all of my stuff. Tomorrow, I’d have monogrammed towels and he’d say “Oh, weird how did those get there?”
I wasn’t finding the energy to fight him about it anymore. I’d start school in a few weeks and we’d have even less time together, so it made sense for us to live together. I think I just liked making him work for it a little bit. And yeah, the day I came home to find a slew of various make-up and every type of shower essential possible, I knew I was milking this cow for all it was worth. Shhh.
"All right!" Becca yelled, "I'm exhausted, that's enough for today."
I finished my sprint, running past the net and exhaling a heavy breath. I rested my hands atop my head as I started my cool down. We didn't have long before we had to head home and get ready. Liam and Penn were taking us out for Mexican food to celebrate the end of summer. All of our schedules would get crazier in the next few weeks. I’d either start school as planned or I’d hopefully receive my letter for the USA Soccer Association any day inviting me Olympic tryouts. Fingers crossed. And maybe my toes, elbows, eyelashes, and legs, too.
“I’m going to eat every single taquito they have on the premises,” Becca declared as we headed off the field.
“That’s disgusting.”
She scowled at me. “Don’t you dare judge me. I’m starving.”
“Taquitos are gross. Let’s order like ten plates of nachos.”
“That’s my girl.”
…
The next two weeks passed as if time was moving at 4x speed. Everything beyond soccer, Liam, my friends, and family fell completely by the wayside. I forgot what TV was, I hadn’t cracked my laptop open, and I swear there were cobwebs surrounding my makeup and high heels.
But I loved every second of it. I loved training alongside Liam after we both finished our team practices. He pushed me to become better, and I tried to do the same for him. I’d finally made the final transition to move in with him and I loved coming home to his house every day. I couldn’t feel the exact moments when our relationship began growing into something more, but one night as we laid in bed recounting our days and cuddling around one another, I realized that this was it.
He was it.
I buried my face against his chest and I kept my thoughts to myself. After all, we’d only been together four months and I was still nineteen… a baby in the eyes of most people.
Early the next morning, I woke up to my phone vibrating on the nightstand beside Liam’s bed. I rolled over and reached blindly for the traitorous device, hoping in vain that my spidey senses would kick in. Nope, nothing. I had to actually blink my eyes open like a real person.