Chapter 5
Cassie
Where was he? Was she at the right bar? Cassie turned and looked at the door to the bar. She was willing it to open. She was willing Liam to walk through it. She cursed at herself for not taking down his number. If she had, then she’d be able to call him, find out why he was late. What if he wasn’t coming? What if he’d set her up for a laugh? Cassie found herself on her feet. If this was a joke, then why she was still waiting there? She wasn’t going to be made an idiot out of all night.
The bar door opened. “I’m so sorry I’m late,” Liam apologized smoothly walking over to Cassie.
“Oh, it’s okay,” she downplayed the fact that she’d been about to leave. “I’ve just got here myself,” she lied outright.
“Do you want me to get you a drink?”
“Sure,” Cassie nodded. “I’ll just have a beer.”
“A girl after my own heart,” Liam joked, before he turned to the bar and called for the bartender’s attention.
Cassie watched him curiously. There was something about him, and she wasn’t quite sure what it was, that took ownership of wherever he was. He had confidence. He had good looks. He had good manners. He was the poster-boy for what a captain of a football team should be like. He got the two beers from the bartender and passed one over.
“How are you enjoying St. Bernard’s?” he asked, when they’d sat down at a table. “It must be hard transferring over for senior year?”
“It’s alright,” Cassie shrugged. “I’m looking forward to the classes starting. At the moment I just feel in the way.”
“Living with Lucy that bad huh?” he asked tipping his bottle to his lips.
“It’s not great.”
Liam gave her a knowing kind of look. “She’s not the easiest girl in the world to be around. I’m not sure she knows that everybody else on the planet wasn’t put here with the sole purpose of serving her.”
Cassie laughed. “I know right,” she agreed lifting her own bottle to her lips. “It’s like she’s got the whole school under her thumb.”
“That’s exactly how it is,” Liam nodded seriously. “You’ve just transferred here, but I’ve been dealing with that for four years.”
“So, you know Lucy well then?” Cassie asked him curiously.
“Sure, I’ve seen her around.”
“Are you friends or something?” Cassie asked him, because he seemed to be keeping something from her. She wasn’t sure what it could be or why he’d feel the need to hide anything from her, it wasn’t like her opinion of him mattered.
“No, I wouldn’t say that,” Liam laughed. “Anyway, have you got some questions for me?”
“Sure,” Cassie sighed. “Listen, I’m going to be straight with you,” she met his chocolate brown eyes. He held her gaze longer than she thought he would. There was an awkward hide of silence at the table. “I’m not really into sports,” she tore her eyes away from his. “So, I’m not really going to ask you a tonne of football questions. Is that cool?”
He nodded. “Why are you doing sports coverage if you’re not into sports?” he asked her curiously.
“I think that Lucy got to the editor on the paper,” Cassie told him seriously. “I went in there today and she seemed to really hate me. It’s not even like the room thing is my fault. If the school had given me somewhere else to stay then I would have gone,” she vented.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Liam cut into her words calmingly. “Don’t let her get to you. If she knows that you’re cracking she’ll only push harder.”
“Sorry,” Cassie felt stupid. It wasn’t like Liam even cared about her problems. He was the captain of the football team. He lived in an entirely different world to her. “So, what first got you into football?” she asked him, so the personal part of their conversation could end, at least for her.
“Oh, straight in with the deep questions,” Liam smiled at her. “I guess it was my dad. He works away a lot and I never really got to see him much. But, when he came home, he’d always make time to throw a ball around with me in the back.”
“That must have been hard?”
“Is that a question for the paper?” Liam peered curiously at the small reporters’ notepad, she was clutching close to her.
“No,” Cassie shook her head. She felt stupid again. She’d veered from her list of preapproved questions. It wasn’t the reader’s curiosity that was fueling her, but her own. “Sorry, that was just me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Liam had another drink. “I guess it was hard,” his shoulder lifted slightly and then fell quickly. “He’s busy though, you know? I wouldn’t have half of what I have without him. So, I can’t really complain too much.”
Cassie nodded. She had no idea what it would be like growing up with an absent parent. Her dad had always been home each evening after work. It wasn’t until the year before that he’d really seen his creation take off. Cassie had noticed that he’d had to travel more, but it hadn’t bothered her too much. She was already grown up. It was different. “So, how did it feel carrying your team to the championship?”
“I didn’t carry the team,” Liam told her quickly with a look of surprise. “All the players on my team are good. They all have skills and it’s those skills that get them out onto the field. It was great scoring the winning touchdown though. When the crowd erupts and whistle blows,” he leaned back from the table with a happy look on his face. “There isn’t really anything that compares to it.”
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