Liam squeezed his eyes shut, dropping his head into his hands. Noah was right. What had he expected to happen? He should have known Jeff wouldn’t be the only one to pick up on what they’d done in that dressing room. When he met Noah’s eyes again, the disappointment on Noah’s face sent a jolt of nausea through Liam. He lowered his head again, unable to maintain the eye contact.
“I didn’t come here for this,” Noah said. “I came here to congratulate you on closing the Dietrich deal.” Liam glanced up. “Uncle Stu said the contract arrived today.”
The bottom dropped out of Liam’s stomach and this time he really thought he might be sick. “I can’t let him sign those papers.”
“Why not?” Noah asked, his brow narrowed in confusion.
“I can’t let them put Aidan Dietrich’s name –”
“Oh, come off it already!” Noah shouted. “Aidan Dietrich is a little shit and doesn’t deserve to have his name on your precious theater. I get it.”
“Hehurther, Noah. He –” Liam swallowed hard to keep himself from telling Noah everything. It wasn’t his story to tell.
Noah snorted. “You really aren’t in a position to be taking any kind of moral high ground.”
Liam didn’t even know what to say to that. There was no point in arguing that it was different – thathewas different – when he couldn’t tell Noah why.
“What’s this really about, Liam?” Noah continued. “’Cause I don’t think it’s really about some asshole’s name on a building. You’re too pragmatic for that. At least you used to be.” He dropped onto the couch next to Liam, his eyes pleading with his friend to help him understand. “I know you like to bend the rules every now and then, but you’re a good guy. You’re not the guy who compromises his entire career so he can fuck a goddamn student.” Liam’s head snapped up but he bit back the anger choking him. “What are you going to do when people find out about your little affair?”
Liam bristled at the word.Affairmade it sound tawdry when what he had with Min was anything but.
“No one is going to find out,” he said from between clenched teeth.
“I did!”
“No one else is showing up at my house unannounced so I’m not terribly concerned about a repeat of this particular confrontation,” Liam deadpanned. He ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. “It’s just rumors,” he said, trying to reassure himself. “There have been rumors about you and me both since we each started working here. Every student who wishes we’d sleep with them likes to talk about all the other people they think we’ve slept with. Rumors don’t matter.”
“You know better than that,” Noah scoffed.
“No one else is going to know.”
“They will if you try to get out of the Dietrich deal.”
Liam drained his drink and set it down on the coffee table, the sound of the glass against the table like a gavel, sealing his guilt.
“You’re going to lose everything,” Noah said, his voice low. “And I won’t be able to help you.”
Liam looked up, his body and tone softening in the face of his friend’s concern. “I’m in love with her,” he said.
Noah nodded, draining his own drink before setting it down beside Liam’s. “I’ve never heard you say that about someone before. Not even Emma.”
“I’ve never felt it about someone before.”
Noah cursed under his breath. “I want to be happy for you.”
“Then be happy for me.”
“I’m too scared for you for that.” Noah stood, taking their empty glasses with him to the kitchen to refill them. “So what’s the plan?” he asked when he returned. “You get Aidan’s name off the theater somehow – miraculously without getting fired – and then what?”
Liam accepted the drink Noah held out to him. “And then I convince her to stay and build this program with me.”
“You’re delusional. You’re not going to be able to keep this thing under wraps until June, never mind for another two years.”
“I’m a better conductor when I perform with her. A better musician. The way I feel about her, it’s all bound up in the music. I know she feels it, too. I need her with me to make this program everything it can be. I just have to find a way to stop them from putting Aidan’s name on the theater.”
Noah leaned back on the couch, shaking his head. “What does Melynda think of your little plan?”
“She doesn’t know yet.” Liam felt his best friend go still beside him. When he glanced over at Noah, he was staring at Liam in disbelief. “She would just try to talk me out of it. But I can fix this. I can make it work.”
