Danielle and Kathleen's mouths dropped open. "Because he has good taste," Kathleen answered dryly. "It's obvious to the rest of us what Michelle is; you're the one that refuses to see it."
"I see it now," Sera whispered.
But too late. She always saw things too late. She had truly thought that Michelle was her friend; she had trusted her. But, after everything that had happened tonight, she knew that her trust had been misplaced, yet again. Just like it always was.
And now there was Liam. She didn't know what to make of him, or the way that he made her feel. She hated feeling this way, it only led to suffering. She found herself torn between wanting to see him again, and hoping that she never would. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself as her body trembled with her torn emotions.
***
Liam walked back into the frat house. The music had been turned down; the lights were dimmed to give the house a more romantic vibe. Although, how anyone could feel romantic in the jumbled mess of garbage, and the stench of beer, he didn't know. However, some people obviously did. He could hear more than one couple having sex in the dance room, and knew that the thumps over his head weren't drunks falling down.
"Hey, how'd it go?"
Liam turned as Mike came strolling in from the back room with a cute brunette tucked under his arm. She grinned up at Liam drunkenly as she leaned heavily against Mike's side. Jack and Doug followed behind him; a redhead was under Jack's arm, and a brunette under Doug's. "Fine," he replied absently.
Mike flashed a drunken smirk as he leaned against the banister. "Told you so."
Liam scowled at him. "Told him what?" Jack asked happily.
"About Sera."
"Oh," Jack replied, his forehead furrowed. "You shouldn't have even bothered to try, she doesn't give it up."
"I didn't try!" Liam barked. "And don't talk about her like that."
He was even more astonished than they were by the hostility in his voice, and the sudden tension that filled him. Mike lifted a blond brow questioningly, but didn't say anything. Jack and Doug both stared at him with expressions of shock.
"Well," Doug was the first to recover. "There are some girls back there who are more than willing."
The brunette giggled as she wrapped her arm around Doug's waist. Liam couldn't help the sneer of revulsion that curled his upper lip. He looked away from her, his gaze traveled down the hall to the back living room. He could hear voices coming from there, most of them female. For a minute he was tempted. He was still partially erect from his time with Sera and he wouldn't mind having someone relieve him.
Growing hard again just at the thought of Sera, he took a step toward them, and then stopped. He suddenly realized that he wasn't in the mood for one of those girls, that he didn't want them. Frowning, and suddenly very annoyed, he turned back around and headed for the stairs. His emotions were a rioting mess that he couldn't even begin to fathom right now.
"Where ya going?" Jack slurred.
"To bed," he muttered.
"Are you serious man? There are plenty of girls back there!"
"Hey," Mike snatched hold of Liam's arm before he could escape. "You all right?"
Liam's jaw clenched as he gazed at his friend. Mike's eyes searched his face in bewilderment. "No," Liam responded as he pulled his arm free. "I'm not."
He turned away and stalked up the stairs.
CHAPTER 3
Sera had slept in later than she'd planned, and now she was in a rush. She had to do research for her history report before meeting Kathleen and Danielle for lunch. Kathleen had still been sound asleep when she'd left the room; Sera silently envied her lackadaisical lifestyle, and carefree attitude. For once, she wished that she could be more like Kathleen, and still be buried beneath her blankets.
She shrugged off thoughts of Kathleen sleeping comfortably as she climbed the stairs to the library. She walked through the maze of hallways until she came to another set of stairs and climbed them. There were only a handful of people in the large room. Most students were still sleeping off Friday night, and it was only the truly uptight ones, like her, that were here.
She smiled at the librarian, who was used to seeing her, and headed for the back. The history books took up the last twelve rows, and she lost herself within them. Pulling down an armful of books on the bubonic plague, she headed for the beanbag chair in the corner. Slipping into the comfy chair, she opened one of the books, and began to read.
"How's the book?"
She started and jerked back as someone slid onto the bag beside her. Her eyes widened in amazement as Liam smiled at her and leaned over her shoulder to look at the pages. Instantly her heartbeat sped up as she gazed at his bent head. "Interesting topic to read first thing on a Saturday morning."
"I always like a reality check in the morning," she said, smiling happily and still a little dazed by his sudden presence. "What are you doing here?"
