The Boyfriend Pt. 05

V: I Don't Know Yet

Liam

Liam grinned at Tasha as he hefted his firepit and the duralog out of her trunk, handing her the latter.

"I think this is the one time you haven't been able to find something suitable for the weather that also shows off your body," he said as he slammed the trunk closed.

Tasha raised an eyebrow, violet eyes sparkling. She shifted the duralog under one arm, holding their InNOut bag in the other, and smirked as she pulled her windbreaker's zipped halfway down.

Liam's eyes bulged at the very generous boob-window in the knit sweater Tasha had worn underneath, face hot.

Tasha laughed, throwing her head back as she zipped the sweater back up.

"Never underestimate me on that," she chided, "Between Sara and I, I'll find a way."

Liam shook his head, "You two are ridiculous."

"I prefer 'insane', thank you."

Liam raised an eyebrow as Tasha locked the car and they headed onto the beach.

Despite the late hour, it was fairly light out. Clouds covered a lot of the sky, and the light-pollution made it seem like it was still dusk. Out over the water, though, it was black, except for a few stars. It was chilly and damp out so close to the water, but it wasn't too windy, so they would be able to get a fire going.

"What does Ryker think about that?"

Tasha eyed him, tone a little dangerous, "He knows and respects that I can wear whatever I want. I was actually wearing the sweater to fuck with Kiki. I'm still a little annoyed she ditched us."

She smiled at him and stepped close enough to bump his shoulder, "Not that I don't mind the chance to hang out one-on-one."

Liam smiled, "Me neither."

"I'm a little surprised you didn't ask Matt to join, though," Tasha said, "Or that Kekoa didn't want to come."

"Matt's too busy with family stuff like my other friends from high school," Liam said, "And Kekoa said he'd come next time when there was a bit bigger group."

Tasha smiled, "Good. I'm excited to meet him. You did tell Blake she's going to have to loan you out to me as a date during the middle of break, right?"

Liam arched an eyebrow, "Why, exactly?"

Tasha rolled her eyes, "Because Sara's coming out again, and while we definitely have some girls-only plans with just the two of us and maybe Kiki for a few, she's definitely going to want to hang out with Matt a few times, and just find a place where they can fuck."

She grinned then, looping an arm around his, "So you can keep me company then."

Liam smiled, shaking his head, "I'll make sure to get Blake's stamp of approval."

Tasha batted her sparkling eyes and gave him a toothy smile, "Thank you!"

When they got to a decent spot on the beach--far enough from the houses that they wouldn't disturb anyone, but close enough to the water to get any spray or be sitting on any wet sand, Liam unzipped the firepit's case and set up the metal contraption while laid out the towel that Liam had packed in the case.

It thankfully only took the duralog a few tries to get going, and within a few minutes, Liam was grinning at Tasha over a roaring fire.

They leaned over it for a bit, warming their cold fingers as it crackled, then Tasha tugged Liam next to her on the towel and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulders.

For a few moments, he just sat there, enjoying the heat of the fire, the gentle crashing of the surf, the darkness that spread out toward the horizon, and the feeling of Tasha leaning against him.

He took a deep breath, almost a yawn, then unwrapped the bag of INnOut and handed Tasha her burger and fries.

Tasha grinned, straightening as she took her four-by-four and unwrapped it before taking her fries and ketchup.

"It's not fair that you can eat like that and still have abs," Liam said, looking at his own double-double.

Tasha stuck her tongue out, "I work out harder than you do. And have more sex. And probably have more athletic sex than you."

Liam rolled his eyes, cheeks growing a little hot.

"I mean, you can't fuck in Blake's room yet, right?"

Liam sighed, "We could the last few days since Marie left early, but...yeah. That's still an issue."

"And I doubt you two fucked standing up with one leg over her shoulder."

Liam blinked, cheeks hot at the implied image, and Tasha smirked at him.

"You're thinking about that now, aren't you?" Liam shook his head and took a bite out of his burger, then washed it down with some Dr. Pepper.

"I blame you. I'm trying to be a respectful friend that doesn't think about you having sex, but you keep putting all these images in my head. And just...showing me most of it sometimes."

Tasha gaped, "When have I--?"

"When you were picking out your lingerie to seduce Ryker with."

Tasha bit her lips, cheeks red, "Oh. Right."

She shrugged, popping a few fries in her mouth, then frowned.

"Ugh, these things get cold too quickly. We need to start bringing a pan or something to re-heat these."

Tasha smirked at him then, light-violet eyes dancing in the firelight, "And sometimes I just need a guy's opinion. Matt's closer, but his brain would probably just stop functioning and he wouldn't be able to give me an answer. And you're so head-over-heels for Blake that there's no way you'll be a creep about it."

Liam rolled his eyes, "I'd like to think you could trust me on that even if I wasn't dating anyone."

Tasha shrugged, grinning, "You have seen how hot I am, right?"

Liam laughed, shaking his head, and Tasha giggled.

As he took another bite of his burger, though, Liam frowned, something that had come up over dinner resurfacing in his thoughts.

"Could I ask you about that, actually?"

Tasha smirked, "About my incredible hotness?"

Tasha frowned, brows drawing together.

"What do you mean?"

Liam bit his lip, gazing into the fire for a moment as he thought.

"It's just something Adam'anakala said. I know he was joking, but he'd asked if I was sure Blake wasn't a rebound since I started seeing her so quickly after ending things with Marie."

He sighed, meeting Tasha's sparkling eyes, "And then I started thinking about introducing Blake to my family or telling them...well, anything close to what she does. I don't want to lie to them if I don't have to, and I don't want Blake to feel like she needs to, either, when she meets them."

Tasha grinned.

Liam arched an eyebrow, "What?"

"You really do like her, don't you? If you're already thinking about introducing her to your family."

"You met Ryker's. "

"Yeah, but I'd already met his sister by accident, and me meeting them involves a car ride, not a flight and hundreds of dollars and her staying over at your house, or your family taking time off work to come stay in Boston for a bit."

"Fair point."

He finished off his burger, "What do you think I should do?"

Tasha thought for a moment, pursing her lips.

Is she--of course, she's wearing lipstick.

She had said she wanted to mess with Kiki. And she just...always looked good, though Liam didn't think she needed make-up for that.

"I don't think you need to worry too much about either," she said, finally, "I always liked being friends with you and came to you with my problems because you just do the right thing. You think things through."

Tasha grinned, "You are a boy, so you're not completely immune to hormones or tits, but you just being so serious and worried about this means you'll probably do the right thing. Though, you should definitely make sure you ask Blake before telling anyone about what she does. That's her secret, not yours."

Liam nodded, smiling a bit. "Thanks, Tash. I'm just worried that I might have gotten all swept up in the emotions of everything with Blake. I mean--I know my feelings for her are real, but I want to make sure we have long-term potential. Especially after what happened with Marie."

Tasha finished her burger, then threw him a flat look, "Liam, I know I've only met her once--which you need to fix, by the way--but I saw the way she looked at you. Between that and what you've told me about her—especially how she handled things with Marie--you don't need to--"

Liam held a hand up, shaking his head, "I'm not worried about Blake cheating on me. I just--"

He took a deep breath, chewing on his lip as he tried to find the right way to put it.

"I just want to make sure that if there's anything that could come up as a dealbreaker or something that puts a lot of strain on it, I find out so we can work on it before...you know."

Tasha arched an eyebrow, "Before what? You two have had sex, right? Not just hand stuff and oral? I'll slap you if the answer is 'no'."

Liam glared at her, "Of course we have. I meant...before I fall in love with her."

Tasha's expression didn't waver, "Yeah, because that hasn't happened yet."

Liam matched her expression, "I haven't told her I love her yet. I never told Marie, either, because I wasn't sure that I did love her, and I'm not sure that's how I feel yet about Blake. I've never felt that way about anyone before."

Smiling, Tasha reached over and scratched his head, "You're cute, Liam. If you're worried about things like that, then just talk to her about it. Maybe look at what your love-languages are or something like that. I'm pretty sure if the whole 'she lets people watch her masturbate for money' thing is something you can work with, you'll be good with everything else."

Liam nodded, but frowned, "It's not just her, though. I ran into Alex earlier today on my way out of the gym. She's this gorgeous girl I had a crush on in high school, and I'm pretty sure she was flirting with me--mostly since she actually stopped to talk to me--and I think I was flirting back."

"Were you trying to get into her pants?"

"No, but--"

"That's just girlfriend-confidence, Liam. Stop trying to self-sabotage. You probably overthought what to say every time you saw this girl back in highschool, right?"

"Yeah."

"But you didn't today, right?"

He shook his head, "No. I just...talked to her."

Tasha rolled her eyes, but smiled, "You're adorable. You were literally just talking to her, dork. She might have been flirting with you, but if you weren't flirting with her, there's nothing to worry about."

Liam sighed, "I guess you're right."

"I am."

"I just want to make sure I don't fuck things up with her. I--"

"Looove her?"

He glared at Tasha, "Really like her. Maybe love her, but I don't know yet. I don't think I can say that until I've told her about my parents, at least. Marie knew, but only because I knew her when...you know."

Tasha blinked, resting a hand on his shoulder, sparkling eyes full of concern. He smiled even as his heart ached.

"You haven't told her?"

"Have you told Ryker about Becca?"

Tasha bit her lip, eyes dropping to the sand for a moment, and Liam frowned, pulling her into a hug.

Tasha leaned into him, clutching at his jacket.

"Thanks," she said after a while, not pulling back, "And, I guess that's a fair point."

For a while, they just sat there while the fire burned and the waves lapped against the sand. A light breeze picked up a few times, making them huddle a bit closer together, but it wasn't strong enough to mess with the fire.

When Tasha finally looked up at Liam, she was smiling.

"You're really great, you know that?"

"I try."

Tasha rolled her eyes and straightened. Liam laughed as she stuffed the rest of her fries into her mouth. She just stuck her tongue out at him after she'd finished.

"What about you, Tash? Things good with Ryker?"

She grinned, "Very good. I'm sorry I didn't get to introduce you before break but, well..."

"You and he were doing what Blake and I were?"

"Laying in bed fucking and eating all day?"

"Pretty much."

"He's really great, Liam," Tasha said, smiling and leaning against him, "He gets me, he's okay with me and Sara being as close as we are, and...I don't know--I just feel wonderful whenever I'm with him or even think about him."

She bit her lips, blushing, "Even though we don't have our rules anymore, he always compliments me on how I look, and he never says anything about how revealing I dress, even when I'm doing it specifically to get a reaction out of him."

Then she smirked at Liam, "We're also way more compatible than I'd hoped for in bed."

Liam rolled his eyes, "You're just trying to put images in my head now, aren't you?"

She batted her eyes, then stuck out her tongue, "Hey, you came to me with your sex problems. Guys aren't the only ones who get images in their heads. And I find both men and women attractive, and you and Blake are hot, so yours was technically worse for me."

Liam rolled his eyes, "Yeah. Sure."

"Speaking of which, has Blake gotten you to let her tie you up yet? Or is she still the one trying to get you to tie her up?"

"The latter, though she's mentioned tying me up a few times. I'm less hesitant about both than I was when you and Kiki and Sara fucking tortured me, but we..."

He blushed, "Well, we weren't really thinking too much about that the last few days. We were mostly just enjoying having the room to ourselves and being able to take our time and just laze around instead of having sex before anyone walked in or heard us or anything like when we had to do that somewhere else."

Tasha smiled at him, snuggling closer, "Tell me about her. I want to hang out with her and stuff when we get back, but...tell me about you guys. I only mostly know the sex details and that you're head-over-heels for her, and that she's a camgirl. You realize you never really told me how you met or how you two started dating, right?"

Liam blinked, "Shit, really? Sorry, Tash. I--"

Then his eyes went wide as he realized what she'd said. Twice.

He met her gaze.

"I never told you she was a camgirl."

Tasha smirked, but she had the decency to blush, at least.

"I look at porn, too, dude. Blue hair? Wears wigs and beanies to cover her awesome hair? Marie knows things that could make her life a living hell? Wasn't too hard to put all that together."

Tasha paused, biting her lip, and her cheeks went even redder.

"Don't be mad. I also might have gotten bored one night and looked her up."

Liam's eyes went even wider, face hot. Tasha just laughed at him.

Sighing, Liam ran a hand through his hair, "Can you please not make a habit of watching my girlfriend's camshows?"

Tasha gave an exaggerated eye-roll, tilting her head back and sighing, "Fineee. I guess I can promise that."

Then she smirked, "She's fucking hot, though dude. If she acts anything like she does in her shows when she's in bed with you..."

Tasha shuddered, fanning herself with her hand, "Damn. I'm not surprised you didn't leave her place the last few days before break."

Liam rolled his eyes, but his cheeks were hot, "Did you really have to watch her?"

Tasha arched an eyebrow, "You're telling me if you found out I did porn or something like that, you wouldn't try to find it and watch? That Blake wouldn't want to watch with you? Just out of curiosity?"

Liam opened his mouth to deny it, but closed it a second later, frowning as Tasha giggled.

"See? I promise I won't watch any more, but you can't judge me for doing it once."

Liam rolled his eyes, laying back on the towel, "Ugh, fine."

Tasha scooched over a bit and laid on her side, facing him. Somehow, even the puffy windbreaker made her look good.

That's just not fair. I need to ask her what I look good in so I can do that to Blake. Or ask Blake so I can fuck with Tasha.

"So?" she said, nudging his arm, "Tell me how you two met. All the juicy details. The fire's gonna be burning for a while, and it's nice just sitting out here in the quiet."

Liam smiled, then sighed, shifting around so he was a bit more comfortable, then following Tasha's lead as she pulled the towel around so they were both closer to the fire. They ended up in a sort of T-formation with Tasha's head resting against his side, both of them on their backs.

"Okay, so I didn't know some of this until Blake told me a few weeks ago, but I came over to Marie's apartment for the first time, and she wasn't home yet..."

A/N: I get a bit more into Tasha's relationship with Liam in this arc as well. I hope you enjoy it! If you've read her story, Bound, this chapter happens after the end of her story and a few others, so I'll be including her and a few other characters in Liam and Blake's chapters as well. Check out my profile if you're interested in their stories!