Addiction

--Prologue--I'm Game--

It was late on a Friday night and my best friend Nikki had somehow convinced me to go out even though I knew my mother would lecture the living shit out of me if she knew I was going out and drinking with her. I didn't plan on doing anything stupid tonight, I didn't even plan on drinking that but I knew my mom wouldn't even want me at the house the party that I was at right now.

"Come on Liv, let's get our dance on," Nikki persuaded as I stood awkwardly in the corner of the room where I had been hiding since we got to the party.

Nikki was my best friend since we were five years old and while we had spent most of our lives attached at the hip, she was much more outgoing and popular than I was in high school, it helped too that she was the middle child with two older siblings who taught her how to sneak out and take her to parties. I, however, was the oldest child, the only child until I was fourteen actually, and everything from going to high school to prom to going on a date in high school was uncharted territory for my parents.

"I don't know," I sighed, "I feel so awkward."

"That's what this is for," she said, handing me the water bottle she'd been drinking out of that definitely didn't have water in it.

"You're going to be the death of me," I sighed, taking the water bottle from her hands and taking a swig, "God Nikki, are you trying to make me black out?"

Nikki's older sisters also taught us how to drink, Nikki more than myself. My mom eventually figured out after a few times I lied and said we were sleeping over at Nikki's house that we were actually hanging out with her older sister so Nikki did more drinking than I did in high school.

"Come on Liv, let's dance!" she said, completely ignoring my worries and pulling me into the middle of the dancing crowd.

I didn't mind being out with friends, but I didn't take the time to look for people that I already knew because I hardly wanted to be here anyway. I wasn't in the mood to be smashed up against a bunch of strangers, let alone a bunch of sweaty, drunk, and dancing strangers but here I was. I'd had hockey practice that evening, the last night of tryouts and I was tired and grumpy and not wanting to drink, putting me in a bad mood. Had I actually been drinking I might've actually wanted to be there dancing with a bunch of people I didn't know.

At some point during my awkward adventure into the middle of the crowd, I managed to bump into Liam Simpson who managed to spill his drink on me, the Liam Simpson, the star of the men's club hockey team who had the most perfect sideways grin, green eyes, and the perfect length brown hair that was just long enough to flow out from the bottom of his hockey helmet. I was about to bite his head off until I saw that it was him.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry," he said.

"It's fine," I said, "I needed an excuse to get out of here anyway," I laughed, trying to make my way away from him before I said anything too stupid, only to have him follow me into the kitchen.

See I had been on a couple of dates and had a boyfriend in high school, but I wasn't exactly smooth or confident talking to guys, especially ones who were hot and older than me like Liam Simpson.

"But you've barely been here an hour," he said with his smoldering green eyes and a sly grin that made my knees buckle underneath me.

You could say I had a thing for Liam Simpson, but it was more like a 'you're nice to look at' thing rather than an 'I want to date you' thing. Besides, he had a bitchy girlfriend who would probably try to rip my face off if I got anywhere near him.

"I'm not feeling it tonight," I replied, grabbing a paper towel and attempting to get the liquor off my shirt, "I'm not a party girl, or at least a party with random people girl."

"Oh really?" he laughed, "What kind of girl are you then?"

"The, stay in and watch a movie or read a book and eat takeout on a Saturday night and actually have a meaningful conversation type," I replied, trying to walk away.

"Then let's go talk," he said after a minute, casually stepping in between me and the doorway.

"How about you go talk with your girlfriend," I said, the last thing I needed was a reputation that I was the girl that hit on other people's boyfriends and left parties with other people's boyfriends, that would not go over well with my mother and I knew she'd be bound to find out some way or another. I knew enough people around here from growing up in town and having my mom work here when I was in middle school that I knew whatever reputation I made for myself would end up getting back to her.

"We broke up last week," he said.

"Sure," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Seriously, we got in a fight and we broke things off," he said, "So, there's no reason we couldn't leave here and maybe go for a walk or something and just talk."

"What did you have in mind?" I asked.

Was it bad I was excited he broke up with his girlfriend? Low? Lila Coleman, his girlfriend, was an absolute bitch and already hated me. I'd been following hockey here in Aladine since I was in middle school and Liam Simpson happened to be an all star on the team. Sure, I thought he was pretty damn attractive and kind of sat there in awe as he scored goal after goal and made beautiful move after beautiful move. The best was when he'd score and flash this dazzling grin and his green eyes would be glistening as he skated by. It was all innocent though, sure I had a secret crush on him but that was never going to make me do anything stupid. His girlfriend, however, seemed to think otherwise and had despised me for about a year now. He followed me on Instagram and Twitter and would occasionally like the stuff I posted, which I'm sure pissed her off immensely.

"We could go sit by the fireplace outside the student center and talk?" he suggested.

"And you're not lying about your girlfriend?" I asked.

"I promise I'm not lying," he said, "Are you game or not?"

"I'm game," I said, letting him lead me out of the house by the hand.

If I only knew what I was getting into.

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