The One For Me by Layla James

sometimes.”
    “Sometimes?”
    “I said shit that one time.”
    Liam throws his head back and laughs. “When you can count on your fingers how many times you’ve cussed, you cannot say you cuss.”
    I laugh. “I’m not as good as you think.”
    “How do you know I think you’re good?”
    “You wouldn’t have agreed to this. You know being with me will give you a break with your teachers. Someone like you just doesn’t date someone like me.”
    Liam makes a small sound in his throat that I don’t know what it means. “That’s not true…” he stops. I am hanging on his words. I want to shake them out of him. But his lips are shut tight.
    “What is true?” I ask.
    He closes his eyes, shaking his head. “Nothing.”
    Agh! I look out over the ocean. I can’t look at him. What was he going to say? I change the subject. “I think we should try and find your Mom.”
    Liam is too quiet. I look over at him. He is staring at me. His grey eyes so…beautiful. “No,” he says , shaking his head back and forth.
    “No? Why not ?”
    “I don’t want to,” he says, trying to stand up. I grab his arm, pulling him back down. He stiffens at my touch.
    “I know it’s scary, but just think about it. We might fin d something. We might find her. That would be great right?”
    “ Yeah, but w hat if she doesn’t want to see me?” he whispers.
    That’s the reason. He is scared. “Look at you,” I say; poking a finger at his chest, “you’re awesome. There is no way she would not want to see you.”
    He smirks, bringing a dimple up on his cheek. “I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?”
    “Don’t push it.”
He laughs. “Maybe,” he says, hesitantly. “Maybe.”
    “That’s a start.”
    He throws a piece of napkin at my face. “So, little bear, about this dance…”
    I throw the napkin back at him. “We don’t have to go to that thing,” I say. “Jen just wants to live out her dreams through me. Her parents are like drill sergeants.”
    “But, little bear, what would people say if Avalon High School’s newest couple didn’t show up for the Homecoming dance?”
    I smile. “You want to go?”
    “Never been, first time for everything, right?” He digs his fingers into the sand.
    “Right.” I know I’m smiling like a Chester cat but I can’t help it.
    Liam rolls his eyes, reaching up and pouring sand on my hair. “Hey!” I yell. I pick up a hand full and sprinkle it on his head.
    He looks back up at me, shaking his hair, sand flying everywhere. “You better run,” he says.
    I yelp out, jumping up running away from him. The sand is weighing m e down, but I dig harder anyway . I get to the water, when Liam wraps his arms around my waist, swinging me around. He is moving toward the water. “No,” I yell. “Please.” I’m laughing so it’s coming out in gasp. “No!”
    Liam walks knee deep and tosses me into the water, my head dunking under. “Shit!” I yell. “It’s cold.”
    Liam is smiling. “Well, not such a goody-goody, today, are we? You are getting close to counting on two hands now. ” He wiggles his fingers in front of him before offering me his hand. I try to pull him down with me, but he laughs, pulling me out, effortlessly.
    My clothes are drenched. I look down. My shirt is stuck to me and I’m freezing. Liam’s eyes meet mine. “Um,” he says, shaking his head. “Here,” he takes off his shirt, handing it to me. I take it. I turn my back to him; slip my wet shirt off and into his warm one.
    He is standing behind me, hands in his pockets. My eyes travel down his chest. Oh, shit. I want to run my fingers down his wash board abs. He is tan, hard and…I’ll say it, sexy as hell . I will myself to stop checking him out right in front of him.
    “See something you like?” he asks.
    “Yeah,” I say.
    Liam cocks an eyebrow.
    I step toward him, mouth close to his. When he reaches for my waist, I push him down into the water.
    “I’m gonna’ beat your ass,” he yells, as