King of My Heart

THIRTY-FOUR

April

A strange surrounding welcomes me as I open my eyes. Before I can start panicking, I realise I am in Liam's room. The details of last night are hazy which means I got way too drunk.

The last time that happened was three years ago, when I finished my first year of med school and went out to celebrate. I remember waking up in Anna's house, not knowing how I got there.

According to her, I was way out of control and she and Chris had to practically drag me back home before I ended up doing something I would most likely regret in the morning. That was the last time I drank that much. Until last night.

I don't understand what happened. I had no intention of getting wasted and now I can't even remember what happened. I'm just surprised I'm not hungover.

"You're welcome."

"Thanks, Jade. Finally putting your newfound strength to good use."

"Hey there, lightweight," Liam walks out of the bathroom dressed in blue jeans and a black sweater.

I hide my face in the palms of my hands. "Oh, God. What did I do last night," I mumble.

"Nothing much. Just sucked my face in front of Zara to 'mark your territory,' and told Tyler he could watch," he responds, casually.

"Now the first one I had no problem with but inviting Tyler to watch was a bit much, even for me." He scrunches up his nose at the last part.

"Oh, and you jumped in the pool while yelling 'I'm the king of the world,'" He adds, chuckling.

"Oh no," I whisper to myself as I bury my face in a pillow to hide my embarrassment.

I look down at myself and notice I am not wearing my own clothes. I am suddenly aware that I am only wearing a shirt that looks like it belongs to Liam.

"Oh, my God," I almost shout. "Did we," I trail off, too ashamed to finish that sentence as I glance at Liam.

"Relax, nothing happened," he assures me, walking over and sitting down on the bed next to me. He cups my face in the palm of his hand as he brings it closer to his.

"Besides," he whispers, his face inches from mine. "When you finally let me claim you — and you will," he adds confidently, "It won't be something you forget so easily."

My eyes widen at his words but he just laughs it off.

"Now get up. I'm waiting for you downstairs for breakfast," he commands.

He kisses my forehead and leaves the room while I still try to get over the embarrassment from what I did last night.

Finally mustering the strength, I manage to get out of bed and walk over to my room.

Removing Liam's T-shirt encapsulates me in his scent and I stop for a few seconds to relish in it. There were a lot of different ways I could have imagined last night to have ended but getting hammered and barely remembering any details was definitely not on my list.

I hop into the shower and enjoy the feeling of the warm water trickling down my skin. I try to be quick since Liam mentioned he would be waiting for me. Once I'm finished, I brush my teeth and put on some sweatpants and a purple T-shirt with a hoodie that I leave unzipped.

I rush down the stairs, focusing on my feet, and barely stop an inch before bumping into Liam who has appeared out of nowhere at the end of the staircase. He steadies me with one hand as I manage to balance myself on the last stair. The gap in our heights is almost closed from this level and I am brought face to face with him.