The Deal Breakers

Part 6 | Not So Funny Story

My lungs burn from running when I reach my dorm building and I have a small coughing fit by the main entrance. A few girls walking into my building make sure I am okay when they notice I have tears sliding down my cheeks and I wave them off as tears from the coughing. I fumble with my backpack as I frantically search for my phone and I hit Liam's speed dial number when I find it. It rings until it goes to voice mail and I am immediately pissed off. Why aren't you answering, Liam and why won't you let me install friend finder on your phone?!

I wonder if Harper is in class when I text her asking for Colin's number. I think they exchanged numbers after their brief fling this past summer. Liam was supposed to hang out with him today at his house so I don't know why he wouldn't be answering. Harper quickly responds with Colin's contact information and I send a million XOXOs back to her. I punch Colin's number into my phone and am ecstatic when he answers on the second ring.

"Hi Colin, this is Ellie. So sorry to be calling but I am looking for Liam." I can hear waves in the background and it clicks that they are at the beach. I should have known. He puts me on hold as he calls out to Liam and it takes a few seconds for Liam to come on the line.

"Hey baby, is everything okay? Why are you calling Colin's phone?" The waves behind him are loud but I don't want to shout for everyone around me to hear. I can't tell Liam what I know over the phone but I have to make it urgent enough for him to drop whatever he's doing and come over.

"No Liam, I am not okay. I need you to come and pick me up from my dorm right now," I tell him as urgently as I possibly can.

"I am down at Zuma beach El, what's going on?" He asks and I throw my hand up to my forehead. I am going to explode if I don't release this information soon. Topher was right when he said I wouldn't be able to keep this information to myself.

"Liam I need you. Please come and get me. Please." He can tell I'm on the verge of tears from the wobble in my voice and I hear him tell Colin that he has to go.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes Ellie, I'll call you so you can buzz me into your dorm."

"No Liam, we need to go to your house. Don't bring Colin."

"Okay, I'm coming. Stay put baby, I'll see you soon." The line goes dead and I'm sure he's freaked out that I am so upset and being vague. A million thoughts are probably going through his head but I'm sure his dad visually assaulting his girlfriend isn't one of them.

I take a deep breath and settle onto a cement bench in the grassy common area. I go over what I am going to say to Liam in my head over and over but I don't know if Liam is going to be thrilled or horrified that I found his dad. I found the piece to the puzzle he was trying to solve all summer and I don't know what to do with it. Maybe Liam knows who Topher is, he just wasn't ready to tell me. Liam hasn't mentioned a Topher vision in a while and he has always been secretive about it when he does. He did seem genuine last night when he said he didn't know any relatives that could be professors. I think he would have mentioned it if it could've possibly been his dad.

I try and remain calm as I play around on my phone and a honk in the distance interrupts me from scrolling through Instagram. I see Liam's BMW at the end of the lot and I cram my phone back into my backpack as I make my way across the parking lot. My tears have stopped but I still feel like I'm going to throw up when I see Liam.

"Hey El, what's going on?" He asks as soon as I throw my seat belt on and he grabs my knee with his hand. His hair is still wet from the beach and he is only wearing soaked trunks. I immediately look away from his glistening chest as I am mortified about the things Topher saw in his classroom.

"Let's wait until we get to your house before we talk okay?" I beg and he is doing a good job of staying out of my head. I don't know what Liam's reaction to finding his dad will be, so in case he has to barf, I'd rather it not be while driving. 

His eyes dart to me while driving down the main hill and I watch the color suddenly drain from his face. I wonder what he thinks I'm going to tell him. And then I think about the most logical thing that guys think of when a girl is completely freaked out and behaving as I am.

"Oh god Liam, I'm not pregnant if that's what you're thinking," I reassure him and every muscle in his body relaxes. His knuckles are white from the grip he has on his steering wheel and he exhales loudly, "Jesus Ellie, I honestly thought that might be it. You just haven't talked to me since last night and then all of a sudden you call me completely panicked and you didn't want Colin to be around. I thought maybe-"

"No, Liam. No babies here," I say with a light laugh as I watch him punch in the code to the gate to his driveway. He parks and practically jogs to my side of the car. I slide out after he opens my door but I can't look at him. I can tell he's in a hurry to get to this conversation since I have a hard time keeping up with him as he leads us into the back and we quickly cross the length of the swimming pool to his front door. I shut the door behind me and he walks to grab me water from his fridge. I plop down on the corner of his bed and he grabs some clean clothes from his dresser, "I want to get out of these wet trunks so give me five minutes to shower okay?"

I nod to him as he closes the door to the bathroom and he wasn't lying when he said five minutes. Steam pours into the room as he opens the door and I inhale his soapy, Old Spice smell. He pulls on a clean white cotton shirt and a pair of red gym shorts and swiftly walks over to where I am sitting.

"Okay Ellie, what happened to you today?" He asks while tucking my hand into his. One glance into those sparkling blue eyes and I am instantly hyperventilating. Liam immediately scoots closer to me and pulls me into his chest as I try and calm my shaking hands.

"Were you late to a class and got harassed? Or miss the Nordstrom sale again?" He questions and I want to laugh because I'm so embarrassed that that's what he thinks I would be so upset about. He's trying to lighten the situation so I take in a deep breath to calm my beating heart. Where do I even start?

"Remember my class list from last night? And how we laughed that I had a professor named Greysor? Well...not so funny story Liam...it turns out that you are related to my professor after all." I gauge Liam's reaction before continuing and he nods to me to continue. "So, it turns out that my professor's name is Christopher Greysor."

"Okay," Liam says slowly and I grab onto his hands.

"Umm, Liam I don't know how to say this so I'm just going to bluntly tell you. Your dad is my professor," I confess and Liam pulls away from me. I want to know the thoughts behind his furrowed brow but his head stays closed.

"But my dad's name is John. Christopher was my grandfather," Liam calmly says and I don't know what to share next.

"There's more Liam. In class I figured out that Topher is short for Christopher," I say slowly and Liam leaps off the bed and walks toward the kitchen. He puts his hands on the counter to steady himself while keeping his back to me. I let him process in silence and after a few moments, he pulls the door to the fridge open and I see him grab a beer off the bottom shelf.

"What time is your first class tomorrow, Ellie?" He asks and I am confused at the change in subject.

"Ten, why?" I ask and I see Liam pluck another beer from the fridge, "Here. We are in for a long evening."