The Good Girl Plays the PLAYER

Chapter 30

'Go away, go away, please for the love of god don't let him embarrass me', I plead internally, not looking at him and pretending he's not there, but he is there and I can feel his intense glare throwing daggers at me. "Are you sure you don't know this guy?" Steven asks curiously and Liam's huffs at the mere sound of his voice. I can feel the heat rise in my cheeks from sheer humiliation and can't believe what is actually happening here. Why is he here? How did he even know I was on a date? I've told no one apart from Sydney and I know she wouldn't snitch, so why is this all happening to me? I place my hands on my knees, staring at them and nod shyly back at Steven, who is waiting patiently for an answer.

"He's a friend of my brothers" And as I say this, I turn to face Liam, giving him my dirtiest look ever. "What are you doing here?" I ask bitterly through gritted teeth and a hushed tone, not wanting to make a scene. "I'm here to take you home obviously, or have you forgotten that you're grounded?" He says with that damn smirk on his face. I pull faces at him, angry ones, trying to silently say, 'NOT ANOTHER WORD', but will he be smart enough to understand or do I need to knock the stupid out of him? I think in his case it would be the latter and as much as I'd like to smack him one, I can't.

"We're almost done here mate and I can take her home" Steven interjects, trying to be nice, but let's face it, his kindness is completely wasted on someone like Liam. "One, I'm not your mate and two, do you make a habit of buying alcohol for underage teenagers? She's seventeen and like hell she's going home with you! Come on you, let's go!" Liam barks back, causing an unnecessary scene with that hot temper of his. "It's blackcurrant juice you moron and I'm not going home with you!" I say defiantly, angry that he can't seem to have any propriety whatsoever in the surroundings we are in. We are in a damn restaurant, a busy one at that and everyone and I mean everyone, is staring at us and it makes me feel uncomfortable, embarrassed and humiliated to the point that I want to bury my head like an ostrich. "Oh... um... well, you still need to come home with me" He says stumbling with his words, realising the blunder he just made.

It's obvious that I need to handle this situation privately, I just feel bad for having to leave my date here, alone. "Excuse me Steven, do you mind if I leave for a moment to have a word with him in private? I'll be right back, I promise" I say while standing up from our table, glancing over at Liam again, shooting daggers of my own. "Are you going to be alright?" He asks worriedly.

"She's safer with me than she will be with you! Fucking twat!" Liam snaps and I step on his foot, hard for talking back at him in that way. "Ow! What was that for?" He yelps. "Stop being an ass in front of everyone!" I growl and turn to face my date to apologise. "Sorry about this, he was raised poorly and lacks manners. I'll be fine though, so don't worry okay?!" I smile and nervously chuckle, trying to lighten up the mood but the tension around the three of us is now palpable. I grab Liam's wrist and drag him outside of the restaurant, walking a little further away down the street, so that we were out of sight. When I feel that we have gone far enough, I come to an abrupt stop, spinning around to face him and let the rage that has been building up from the pit of my stomach, explode.

"Is this your revenge for the whole makeup prank?" I yell, fisting my hands by my sides, my nails digging into my palms as I try very hard to not slap him. There is a time and a place for everything, but this was seriously out of order. How could he humiliate me like that, in front of Steven and all those strangers?

"No!" He answers in an innocent way, making me feel even angrier. "No? No?" I then laugh, and it's not the happy kind of laugh, it's the angry, I'm fed up with you kind. "Are you actually kidding me? Then what is your problem? Why are you here?"  I ask stepping forward, staring at him dead in the eyes, waiting for his explanation. He looks back at me nervously, as if intimidated by me, but that can't be right, he's not the type to fear anyone, least of all me. He looks away from me, threading his fingers through is hair, which I've come to recognise as a nervous habit of his and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he looked panicked, maybe even scared.