I watched Liam and Brett from the sidelines, standing next to my teammate Nolan. The team was completely quite as Brett ran towards Liam. Brett tricked him into thinking he was running to the left side before he changed his mind and ran to the right side. Liam missed Brett completely and ended up falling to the ground. Brett pulled his lacrosse stick back before he flung it forward, letting the lacrosse ball fly straight into the net, scoring a goal. The guys on the sidelines "Oooh-ed", completely impressed by Brett's trick.
"Perfect split dodge," Brett explained the play to us with a smirk on his face. He walked backwards until he reached the middle of the lacrosse field. He picked up the ball with his stick and started running towards Liam again. Liam charged towards Brett, only to be shoved to the side with Brett's shoulder, making him stumble to the ground again. Liam quickly looked up and saw Brett make another goal.
"Perfect rocker," Brett said as he walked by Liam. The guys were impressed by Brett's lacrosse skills.
"Just remember to cover your back, especially if your opponent's a dick," Liam explained to us as his eyes never left Brett's.
"You got some pretty big cleats to fill with Scott leaving. You ready for all of this?" Brett asked Liam.
"I managed all summer," Liam answered, causing me to roll my eyes as I let out a small scoff.
"Summer's over."
With my werewolf hearing, I could hear Liam panting heavily as he stared at Brett. I didn't need my werewolf senses to know he was getting angry. Everyone on the sidelines could see it. Liam was pissed Brett was kicking his ass on the field in front of everyone. As captain, he shouldn't be this bad. Maybe if he got his head out of his ass and used his werewolf powers, Liam would give Brett a challenge.
The entire team stayed quiet as we watched Brett running towards Liam again. Brett shoved Liam to the ground, his legs flying in the air before his back hit the hard ground again. The guys "Oooooo-ed"again. Liam grunted and huffed as he slowly got up from the ground. His anger was only getting worse by the second. I had no doubt he would be shifting any minute. Even though we weren't speaking to one another, I knew he was having trouble with his shift with everything going on in his life.
I turned around and saw Mason and Brett's sister, Lori, sitting on the stands, watching Brett and Liam on the field. They were talking about the first game starting in a couple of weeks before I looked back at Brett and Liam on the field. They somehow ended up inside the goal's net with Corey. When they untangled themselves and got up, Liam's breathing was getting heavier by the second. He walked back to his position and if looks could kill, Brett would be a dead man.
Brett was back at the center of the field. He picked up the lacrosse ball with his lacrosse stick again and ran towards Liam. Except this time, Liam bent down and threw Brett over his shoulder, instantly sending him to the ground. Liam picked up the ball and ran towards Corey, whose eyes grew wide with fear. Liam flung the ball to the net, making Corey fall back and the ball going inside the net.
Brett quickly got up and ran towards Liam. "There he is! There's that IED I remember. What's it stand for?" He asked.
I heard Liam's heart racing against his chest. My eyes flickered from his chest to his eyes, which turned gold as he gripped the lacrosse stick tight in his hands. He was seconds away from shifting and I knew I had to do something before anyone on the team would notice.
"Intermittent Explosive Disorder?" Brett asked Liam.
Suddenly, I was mad as I walked towards them. I don't know what Brett's plan was, but him taunting Liam wasn't helping. Being a werewolf himself, he should know better than to try and provoke an angry beta with anger issues.
"That's enough, Brett," I said as I shoved him back and stood between them, creating some distance between the two.
"Aww," Brett cooed, "Liam's little girlfriend is here to protect him."
"She's not my girlfriend." "I'm not his girlfriend," Liam and I said at the same time.
"Oh, that's right. She's your best friend," he smirked before his eyes landed on me. "In that case, can I ask her out, Dunbar?"
I crossed my arms to my chest as I stared at Brett. I had no idea what he was doing, but I didn't like it. I could practically feel Liam's anger radiating off of him. Even though I should have played along with Brett and purposely hurt Liam, because he deserved it, I couldn't do it. Deep down, a part of me didn't want to hurt him because I still cared about him.
"No," Liam gritted between his clenched teeth.
"Why not?" Brett asked.
"Because I said so," Liam answered as he took a step forward.
"Liam-" I said as I placed my hand on his chest, stopping him from getting any closer to Brett.
"What are we in 3rd grade?" Brett chuckled at Liam's childish answer. "That's not a good enough reason."
Liam let out a low growl, his eyes turning yellow once again. I turned around and placed both my hands on his chest, holding him back. "Liam-"
Liam looked over my shoulder and ignored me as he stared down at Brett. "Because I'm in love with her!" He snapped loudly.
"Oh snap!" Someone from the sidelines whispered, but us three heard it loud and clear with our werewolf hearing. Soon the guys were talking about how they've always known Liam and I had a thing for each other. Some assumed we had already been dating or sleeping with each other.
My hands dropped from Liam's chest before I turned around to look at Brett. I hated him for taunting Liam and making him admit how he supposedly felt about me in front of everyone when I knew deep down nothing was going to happen between us. Now the guys were starting rumors about our "friendship".
"You know what? Fuck you, Brett, and your need to always push our limits just to try and prove a point!" I snapped before I walked off the lacrosse field. I quickly brushed the fallen tears from my cheeks, hoping no one saw them.
"Y/N!" Liam called after me. I could hear him chasing after me, which only made me walk away from him faster.
"Go away, Liam," I said over my shoulder once I reached the double doors to the locker room building.
"Y/N, please," he begged as he stopped the door with his hand, preventing me from going in.
"What?! What do you want?!" I snapped as more warm tears formed in my eyes.
"You!" He answered without hesitation and with complete honesty.
I shook my head, letting him know it wasn't that simple. "Liam-"
"I want you, Y/N," he said more softly, yet with a hint of pain in his voice. "You have no idea how fucked up I am without you. I thought," he paused for a second and let out a deep sigh as he ran his hand through his sweaty matted hair. "I thought Hayden moving was the worst thing that happened to me, but it wasn't. It was you walking out on me. I'm literally nothing without you, Y/N."
"Liam-" I whispered as tears fell down my cheeks and my heart racing against my chest with his words.
He stepped forward before his hands gently cupped my cheeks. He wiped my tears with the pad of his thumbs. I tried not to crave into his warm touch, but I couldn't help myself.
"Why else would you defend me from Brett? Huh?" He asked as he lifted my chin and looked directly into my tear filled eyes. "Because I know deep down you still care about me," he whispered.
I bit my lip before I spoke, "I'll always care about you, you jackass... I'm in love with you."
Liam's lips formed a small smile, "And I'm in love with you."
I shook my head. "Liam, I would be a rebound-"
"No, you wouldn't be," he leaned in and captured my lips with his. This time it wasn't forceful like the other day in the locker room, where he seemed like he was trying to prove a point. It was gentle, nice, and slow. The kind every girl wished her first kiss would be like, pure bliss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sunk into the kiss as he released the butterflies in my pit of my stomach. He pulled me in closer as I deepened the kiss before he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. His lips were so soft and gentle as our lips moved in perfect sync. It wasn't rushed or rough. It was sweet and slow, just like how I imagined our first kiss would be like. It was perfect.
When the burning sensation in our lungs was too much, we broke the kiss. Liam rested his forehead against mine, his warm breath fanning against my lips as his chest quickly rose and fell against mine, trying to catch his breath. "Now tell me that didn't feel like a rebound. Tell me what you felt was real," his lips ghosted against mine.
My heart was still racing against my chest as my hand slid down to his chest, just above his rapid heartbeat. I look down at my hand and traced a heart with the tip of my finger.
"I love you, Y/N. I always have. It just took me a while to realize that," he whispered, almost in a apologetic tone.
I took a deep breath before I looked up at Liam, immediately locking my eyes with his sapphire eyes. "I love you, too, Liam... Just..." I trailed for a second, "Please don't break my heart again."
"I promise if you promise to do the same," he whispered back.
"Promise," I sealed with a kiss.