(No) Strings Attached Ch. 01

Alexis's lips twitched as she fought a smile. "No, dick. You invited an android on my trip."

"An android?" Tyler asked with a laugh. "I always thought of Liam as more of a cyborg, myself."

"What the fuck is a cyborg, nerd?"

"Like a human with robot parts," I explained helpfully. I watched Liam jog back to the car and start filling the tank.

Tyler groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. "That is way oversimplifying it, but thank you."

"We can't all be nerds," I said.

He groaned again. "When the two of you get together, I swear to God."

Liam returned a few minutes later, his dark clothes made darker due to the rain. We drove on, making it to the hotel just as the real downpour commenced. The four of us bolted into the hotel lobby, dripping all over the polished floor. Alexis whispered something to Tyler and the two got into another quiet argument that I ignored until Alexis tugged on my arm.

"I'm sharing a room with you, okay?"

My eyes flicked toward Tyler who hadn't had a chance to hide his disappointment yet. "That's okay, you don't have to."

"Right, you're going to share the room with the cyborg?"

Liam gave her a flat look. "Do you even know what a cyborg is?"

"Of course I do," she huffed.

"Right." He looked at Tyler. "Why is your girlfriend calling me a cyborg?"

"She thinks you're an unfriendly dick, which you are."

Liam just nodded like that was a perfect explanation. Then he shrugged and said, "I don't mind sharing a room with Claire."

"Of course you don't mind, because Claire is an angel," Alexis said. Liam looked me over, and although his expression didn't change much, I got the distinct impression he disagreed. She turned her attention back to Tyler and said, "I will have a full-fledged bitch fit if you give me a hard time about staying with Claire."

"Claire can make up her own mind, remember?" I cut in. "Let's just get our rooms and get something to eat before I pass out."

It took another ten minutes of Alexis wearing me down before I finally agreed to getting a room together, and I was secretly relieved. As guilty as I felt about being a bit of a cockblock, at least on the first night, I wasn't ready to sleep in the same room with Liam. Luckily, the rooms were next to each other so at least Alexis and Tyler didn't have far to go to hang with each other.

We brought our bags upstairs and got ready for dinner. Alexis wanted to head to the Strip District, a collection of restaurants and shops just outside downtown Pittsburgh. She googled some restaurants and read some options aloud to me. We decided to head to Bar Marco, a nice-looking Italian restaurant and wine bar.

"You look hot," Alexis commented just before she knocked on the guys' door. "Like a cuter Jennifer Lawrence."

I looked down at my rather prim jeans and cream-colored blouse and then back at her sexy red dress. "I don't know how to take that considering I look nothing like Jennifer Lawrence, but thank you. You look hot, too."

I was about to tell her she looked like a sluttier Emma Watson, which I knew would thrill her, but the door opened and Tyler smiled, obviously catching the last thing I said. "Ladies, don't start before me. Liam, get ready to record. I've seen a video or two like this online but we could definitely make a better one."

Liam appeared behind him, looking more put together than usual in a gray sweater and tight black jeans. "Put together" was my way of saying "hot", but I couldn't really think of Liam in those terms. It felt too weird. As if she knew what I was thinking, Alexis smacked my butt while the four of us walked to the car.

"Scandalous," she whispered. "Did I just catch you checking out Liam, of all people? Does artificial intelligence turn you on? Should have known why The Terminator is always on our TV."

"Can I not appreciate a good-looking gentleman?"

Alexis looked at me with distaste. "Ew, you sound like my mom. Get away from me."

The restaurant was smaller and more intimate than I expected, with a bit of a hipster vibe. The food and service was amazing, Tyler was being especially absurd, and I found myself genuinely smiling for the first time in over a month. Liam even spoke a little, though mostly to Tyler.

After paying the check, we decided to head to a bar nearby called Lefty's. It was beyond packed when we arrived, but we managed to shove our way into a corner.

Alexis was tipsy, so she clung extra hard to Tyler's side. They whispered gooey things into each other's ears and I found myself wondering if I wouldn't be stuck with Liam that night, after all. I snuck a peek over at my silent companion whose eyes were fixed somewhere in the distance and watched him take a swig of beer. His throat rippled with the movement and I swallowed reflexively. The lights from the bar turned his blonde hair all different colors, and for some reason I thought of Alexis calling him a cyborg earlier. He didn't look human there, draped in a leather jacket with a careless expression, but he didn't look like a robot, either. I tried to think of what kind of creature he resembled as my eyes ran over his body. He noticed me staring after a minute or two but said nothing. He just stared back.

"They're in their own world," I shouted over the music, the silent gazing unnerving me. Liam's eyes swung in our friends' direction. "I can't imagine you're thrilled to be stuck with me for over a week."

He met my eyes again. Took another sip. Something strange flickered in his eyes. Then he said, "I just wanted to get away for a bit. I don't care."

"And Arizona seemed attractive?"

He looked down at my empty glass. "You want another drink?"

"No thanks," I replied, strangely disappointed. Could we seriously not hold one freaking conversation, just once?

He tapped on Tyler's shoulder and said something. Tyler laughed and shook his head, tugging Alexis closer to him. She smacked his shoulder playfully and then kissed his cheek, nuzzling into him for comfort. Missing Sam came back to me in such a dizzying rush that I had to reach out for the wall. It felt like breaking a bone again, remembering that he was supposed to be with me, that I was meant to be in his arms here, nestled close and safe.

"You okay?"

I looked over at Liam, and it must have been the alcohol but it could have been the way he was looking at me that made me answer honestly. "No."

He nodded once. "Want to come out for a smoke with me?"

I followed him without thinking about it. The air was chilly outside and I shivered in my jacket. Liam lit a cigarette and stared down the street, expressionless as always. We were silent for a few minutes, and then I checked my phone. I had two texts, both from Sam.

Miss you, the first one said.

Hope you have fun in AZ.

I wanted to write that I hoped he got chlamydia in Colorado, but my tipsy mind figured that was too petty of me. Or would it be? I amused myself imagining his reaction to such a text for a second. Then a flare of anger burned through my body. How dare he yank himself out of my life and then send me fucking polite texts while I was on a trip he was supposed to be on, too?

Liam picked up that something was wrong, or more wrong than usual, probably due to whatever my face was doing while I seethed. "All good?"

I rubbed my eyes, thinking just how "not" good everything was. "Yeah," I answered anyway.

He blew out some smoke and regarded me with an expression I couldn't quite understand. "Heard from Sam?"

I took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Hm." He leaned on the building beside me. "I went through a bad breakup in college. My dad had just died and my girlfriend said she wanted to see other people."


I blinked, both from being surprised that Liam had actually said so much and from trying to imagine Liam in a serious relationship with someone. It was even more bizarre to imagine him having a father. I was a little ashamed of myself for thinking that; in spite of what we thought of him, he was still human. "Yikes. I'm... sorry. That's awful."

"Yeah. I didn't cope well. Drank a lot." He nodded at his cigarette. "Got a few other nasty habits. I was a fucking disaster."

"And now you're okay?" I asked.

He studied me for a minute, then said more than asked, "What do you think."

I stared into his eyes and didn't know what to think, exactly, except that I had never noticed he had hazel eyes before. I had never really noticed anything about him before, to be honest, except that he could be unpleasant and blunt. He didn't look away as I thought about how odd it was to be beside him on a sidewalk in Pittsburgh, finding out that we had something so painful in common, and how it was even stranger that I didn't mind.

Tyler and Alexis stumbled out of the bar, giggling with each other. Liam took a step back and flicked the cigarette onto the sidewalk.

"Time to go back," he said.

We drove back to the hotel and Liam didn't speak to me again.

*****

It was strange to learn a new piece of information about someone you had known for a long time. My brain had to reorganize everything it knew about Liam, which admittedly wasn't much. I sort of always just thought he was a dick in general; it never occurred to me that perhaps he was aloof because he had his heart broken.

I watched him as he drove—out of curiosity, I told myself. His sweater was rolled up a little so I could see the muscles under his pale forearms shift while he drove. I found my gaze catching on his thighs, the freckle on his cheekbone, the scruff on his chin. If he felt my eyes on him, he didn't say anything, but it didn't take long for Alexis to notice.

My phone vibrated with a text from her.

Are you seriously thirsting over the cyborg now? YOU ARE DESPERATE.

I rolled my eyes and typed a response. I'm just curious.

She snorted from the backseat. We are getting you laid in AZ. Don't succumb to Liam's dick just because you think he's mysterious or whatever. Desperate bitch.

I tried to be a little less obvious after that, but I likely wasn't very successful.

We took a break in Indianapolis for an early dinner at a little sandwich place. The men were torn about just staying there for the night.

"Liam's tired, babe," Tyler said.

She pouted. "I could drive for a bit."

Liam pulled an unlit cigarette out from behind his ear and squinted at her. "I think not."

"Well, you don't want to stop again until St. Louis, right?" I asked Alexis. "That's another four hours or so. We should probably just stay here."

"Fine," she sighed. "We are so behind schedule."

We stopped and bought some liquor before finding a decent motel to spend the night. After putting our bags down and freshening up a little, Alexis and I headed over to Tyler and Liam's room to drink and hang out. They were drinking whiskey, which meant that Tyler was either going to end up talking to us about the dog he lost in the eighth grade or fucking Alexis in front of us by the end of the night.

Alexis rushed over to the wine we got and poured us some in red solo cups.

"Haven't had wine in one of these in a long time," I said, gesturing to the plastic cup. I sat in a chair and watched Alexis shimmy up to Tyler.

We must have taken longer to get ready than I thought, because it dawned on me after watching Tyler attempt to pick up his cellphone after five failed attempts that he was thoroughly hammered. Liam seemed to be completely sober.

"Babe, I'm horny," Tyler declared.

I promptly stood and grabbed the open bottle of wine. "I feel like that's my cue."

"No!" Alexis hopped off the bed. "Don't go. Ignore him."

"I know how this goes."

Liam slid off his bed and grabbed the whiskey. "So do I. We're going to hang out in your room."

"Guys, seriously..." Alexis protested, but whatever else she was going to say was forgotten as Tyler grabbed her around the waist and pulled her hips back to his. She giggled and whispered something to him.

"I'm out," I said, but she wasn't listening. Liam followed me back to my room silently, occasionally sipping directly from the bottle.

I looked at him as I slid my keycard in the door. "I knew this wasn't going to last."

"What?"

"This arrangement. No way they were going to last this long without sleeping together."

Liam snorted and followed me into the dark room. "Nope."

I turned on a few lights and sat on my bed, trying to fight the sudden hyperawareness and nervousness I felt in his presence. He slouched into the chair in the corner, drinking down some more whiskey. His lips were pink and slightly wet from the alcohol, I saw, and for some bizarre reason, the sight caused something to tighten in my stomach.

And then I realized something.

Alexis was right: a switch had been flipped and I was actually lusting after Liam, of all people. Blunt, opinionated, distant Liam. It didn't make sense. I never lusted after blunt, opinionated, distant people. I liked funny, gregarious, charming.

He looked over at me. "Alexis said something funny to me before."

"Oh, yeah?"

He took another swig from the bottle, keeping his eyes on mine.

Fuck, I thought. My stomach clenched harder and I shifted on the bed, trying to appear normal.

"She doesn't want me coming between you and "dicking", as she put it. I guess she wants you to hook up with someone on this trip? She thinks it would be good for you."

I squeezed my eyes shut and I felt my cheeks flush. "She is so embarrassing."

He put his bottle on the side table. "Interesting she thinks I would come between you and the "dicking", don't you think?"

I rubbed the backs of my fingers against my hot cheeks, hoping he couldn't tell how flustered I was. "Yeah, I have no idea where that's coming from."

"Hm." He widened his legs a little and it took everything inside of me to not look. "I don't think that's true.."

"Excuse me?"

"Tyler told me that you're interested in me."

Fuck, I thought.

"Fuck," I said.

Then something additionally earth-shattering happened. Liam smiled.

It made sense why Liam didn't smile so often—it was a goddamn weapon.

"I wouldn't mind," he told me.

I tried desperately to get back down to earth. "Wouldn't... mind?"

"Helping you out." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, as if it were the simplest, no biggie ever.

"I don't understand."

"Hm. I don't think that's true," he said again. "I'll say it bluntly for you if that's what you want to hear. I would be into fucking you. I think it would be fun. You make me laugh and you're still in love with someone else so it's not like you're going to want more from me than I can give. It's probably a perfect arrangement."

"Probably a perfect arrangement," I echoed. My brain couldn't compute. Liam was... propositioning me?

I stood and practically ran to grab my suitcase. I hauled it with me to the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a shower before bed. I'll, uh, be back in a bit."

"Sure," he said, amusement evident in his tone.

I shut the door behind me with a soft click and tried to block out everything he had said and suggested. The bathroom was a bit dingy and tragic, but the shower was hot and the water pressure was adequate. I undressed methodically and then got under the spray, focusing on washing my body and definitely not on the unequivocally sexy and available man in the next room.

Except that didn't last for long, because as I accidentally (and it was a fucking accident, thank you very much, no matter what Alexis might claim if she knew) brushed a nipple, my body took over.

It had been too long since I masturbated. I tried once after breaking up with Sam and nearly passed out from hysterically crying after, so I had thought it best not to force it. But now, there was simply no denying I was turned on.

I decided not to think too much about Liam's offer as I played a little with a nipple, watching it get harder. I gasped a little and reached my other hand out toward the wall to keep my balance. Streams of warm water trickled down my body, heightening the wild sensitive sensations rolling through my body.

I teased myself a little more but I was getting a bit impatient to touch my pussy. My hand ran down my stomach and then settled between my legs. I pressed a finger against my clit and let out a heavy sigh at the sensation before sliding the finger down and sinking a tip into my already drenched pussy.

"Fuck," I whispered, leaning my body against the wall so that I could use both hands. The urge to come was overwhelming, so I began to work on myself with singleminded desperation. I rubbed my finger through my wetness and coated my clit with it, then used one finger to circle my clit. With the other hand, I eagerly thrust two fingers inside, feeling my tight walls pulse around them . I was trembling so hard that I worried for a moment I might collapse, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

I thought of Liam's forearms, his blonde but thick eyelashes, the cruelty of his mouth and shook harder as my orgasm neared. Then I let myself get really filthy: I imagined what his cock might look like, how he would sound coming, if he liked to talk dirty.

I fantasized about him fucking me, his intense hazel eyes locked with mine, his cock moving through my pussy. I was making sounds I couldn't prevent. All rational thought had disappeared, leaving me a slutty mess. Finally, I came, shuddering and crying out. It went on for forever as I shoved my fingers in and out, trying to imagine what his face would look like as he pumped his cum in me.

And then reality returned. I realized what I had done and was beyond embarrassed.

I turned the shower off and stepped out, drying and motioning myself halfheartedly before putting on my pajamas. I caught sight of myself in the mirror's reflection. My cheeks were burning, my eyes were glittering, and I still had an awestruck expression on my face.

As I stared at myself, I became certain of three things:

1. I had just come to the thought of Liam fucking me.

2. I wanted to fuck Liam.

and

3. I was definitely going to let Liam fuck me and I wasn't too terrified by the prospect.

He didn't want a relationship, obviously, and I was too fucked up to even contemplate one, let alone one with Liam. He was right—it would be a perfect arrangement. No strings attached, as they say.

What could go wrong?