Life is Liz (LiL, #1)

Chapter 65: I Love You Too

"You gotta wake up, honey. Your ride will be here soon."

Jesus, how could somebody be so awake this early in the morning? I groaned. I really cared about Sam, but right now I was very close to committing murder.

Since hiding myself didn't work I went on the offensive. My body made a 180 turn and my arms encircled Sam's torso. I received a kiss in return.

"You're not much of a morning person, are you?" He asked, brushing my hair out of my face.

"You're too much a morning person," I replied, trying my hardest to get all words out of my dry throat. Some seemed to stick to my vocal chords like toddlers to their mommy's skirts.

His lips pressed against my hair before he tilted my head up a little. Sleepy me didn't protest.

"Open your eyes, baby girl."

It took me three tries before I succeeded and even then the only thing I saw was a blurry face. His blurry face.

"That's it, look at me. Try to keep them open or you'll fall asleep again." Easy for him to say. He wasn't the one who'd only slept an hour.

"How d'ya sleep?" I tried my best not to slur like a drunken sailor.

"Like sleeping beauty."

I managed the smallest of smiles. "Good to hear."

For a moment, it was silent as he grinned down at me and I attempted to keep my eyelids from falling shut.

"Hey, can I borrow your wrist for a second?"

When he reached for it I didn't stop him, curious myself. He had some kind of pen in his hand and touched it to my skin. The black ink tickled a little. I watched him in awe and wonder as he drew some kind of symbol onto my left wrist. It only took him a few seconds before he pulled his hand away and left me to marvel at the sight of the symmetrical design. Two arcs interlaced to form a triangular shape.

"It's called trinity knot," he explained. "Some irish guy came into the parlour last week and wanted Bram to tattoo that symbol onto his chest. Apparently, it's a classic Celtic design."

"It's fascinating," I said, gaze never leaving the black ink. "What does it mean?"

"Seems like it has many different meanings. If you ask a Christian they will say it's the symbol for Father, Son and Holy Spirit or Earth, Sea and Sky." He traces the knot languidly. "However, as it represents an uninterrupted life cycle it also shows a wish of longevity." His thumb halted his journey on the inside of my wrist. "And some other cultures say the endless intertwining curves stand for eternal love."

I swallowed soundly. Eternal love? Was Sam guilt tripping me? Or did he actually feel this strongly towards me? If so, I'd had no goddamn idea whatsoever that his feelings ran that freaking deep.

Shit!

Wide awake, I mustered up all the courage that I had then and forced myself to look into his eyes. "Thank you." I pressed my lips against his, gently but firmly, willing the guilt to go away.

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Sam tensed once the doorbell rang. "Come on," I said and reached for his hand.

When I opened the door and Ryan came into view I didn't know what to feel. Seeing him standing there looking straight at me as if I was the only person on the planet with so much goddamn longing in his eyes my heart gave a squeeze. He looked like hell. Eyes bloodshot with bruises underneath, skin sickly pale in the early morning light and posture slouched as if all strength had left him.