Free The One For Me by Layla James Page B

There is a silence. “You’re…you,” he says. I’m not sure what to think about that. I don’t say anything. “ Katy, w hy Hayden?”
    “What?” I ask.
    “Why Hayden? Why did you date him?”
    I bite my lip. I try not to think about it. “He did used to be charming, Liam. He wasn’t always an ass.” I sigh. “ I thought he was so…dreamy. I’d liked him for so long. Then he asked me out. I couldn’t wait to say yes. I’d been planning our wedding for years.” I laugh.
    Liam smirks . “How many kids did you have planned out?”
    I giggle. “After our New York wedding, we were on our feet, we would have four children. Two boys and two girls. Because, everyone can plan what gender their children are. ” I laugh.
    Liam whistles. “That is a lot of kids.” Another silence. “Did he li ve up to what you thought he would ?”
    I twist a piece of a dark brown curl on my shoulder. “At first, yes. It was perfect. He would walk me to class; bring an umbrella out to my car when it was raining. He took me to meet his parents. Then…” I trail off.
    Liam rolls over on his side, facing me. His dark hair falling into his grey eyes. “Then what?”
    “ It happened.”
    He shrugs his shoulders. “What’s it? The break up?”
    “No,” I whisper, ashamed. “I kind of…gave it up.”
    Liam is quiet. “Gave what up?” he asks. I know he knows.
    “ It, my v-card.” My face feels like someone set fire to it.
    “Oh,” Liam finally says.
    Oh? Is that all he is going to say? Oh? “Yeah,” I say, twiddling my fingers together. “Then the break up happened. Not but a few weeks later. ”
    Silence.
    “What a hot dog?” Liam sets up, quickly, looking anywhere but at my face.
    “ Um…s ure,” I say.
    Liam jumps up, all too quickly, walking toward a hot dog stand on the pier behind us. I sink into the blanket. Jeez, Liam can be so weird sometimes. I’m sure he is just as uncomfortable talking about that as I am.
    I try to relax but all I’m seeing are pictures of Hayden and me. His touch, his lips, all of him. I shake my head. I shouldn’t have told Liam that.  He jumped up like I set fire to his pants.
    “Here ya go, one dog for the lady.” Liam sits down, handing me a hot dog.
    We sit in silence for a few minutes eating. “Your dad seemed upset today.”
    I scoff. “Yeah, right.” I pick a piece of the napkin holding my hot dog off, throwing it to the ground. “He doesn’t care about us. He is an abandoner.”
    Liam is staring at me when I glance up. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
    I nod. “Sure , I do. He is just leaving me,” I whisper. “Like I’m nothing. He doesn’t care anymore.”
    “At least he told you bye,” Liam whispers.
    My heart thumps an extra beat. Like Liam’s mom done him. “Um…I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that.”
    Liam bumps his shoulder into mine. “It’s okay; it was a long time ago. I barely remember it. ”
    “It still hurts,” I say. I mean it as a question but I already know the answer.
    “It does.”
    “Have you…have you tried to contact her?”
    “Don’t know how,” he takes a bite of hot dog, “don’t know her address, where she we nt, her cell phone or anything. I don’t even really know if she is alive.”
    “You know her name, right?”
    “Yeah, Mary Beth.”
    “Last name?”
    “Well, it was Erickson, but I’m not sure if her and my dad are eve n officially divorced or not. I guess they would have to if Dad married the Barbie Clone. He never talks about her. He never told me why she left or where he thought she might have gone.”
    “You asked him anything about her?” I take the last bite of my hot dog.
    He shakes his head. “Nope, I did when I was younger. He ignored me. Now, he is never home and bitch queen is always there. So, I just stopped asking. ”
    “She is kind of a bitch,” I say. “Just saying.”
    “Talking dirty today,” Liam says, smiling.
    “I cuss