Next to me, Andrea walked soundlessly on the damp grass, the trees looming large as we skirted the forest’s edge.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“I’m fine.”
She didn’t say anything else, and she didn’t reach for my hand. Her feet must have been cold like that, without shoes.
A knot lay heavy in my stomach. I’d been so focused on Hugo. I should have been focused on her.
The breeze picked up, and she hugged herself. The gesture was so small and vulnerable that it made me desperate to put my arm around her, but I wasn’t sure if I should.
“Andrea,” I said. “What happened back there, with Toby. I should never have left you alone with him. You’re here with me,and—”
“I said I was fine, Liam.”
“I was talking to Hugo,” I said, “and then before that, after you left—”
“It’s okay. I don’t expect you to stand next to me all the time.”
But I want to. I want to be there for her, whenever she needsme.
“I went to the bathroom,” she said. “You wouldn’t come there with me, I assume. And I could see you were busy when I got back.”
So she had seen Sveta.
“I wasn’t busy. I was waiting there for you.”
She scoffed, a small snarky sound under her breath. “I know we’re not together. You cantalkto whoever you want. It’s cool, honestly.”
“But I only wanted to talk to you, Andrea.”
She didn’t reply.
“Did you get what you needed from Hugo?” she asked.
“I did.”
But that didn’t seem important anymore. Not compared to this. I’d hurt her.
“I don’t know what to make of you, Liam,” she said.
“I don’t understand.”
“This,” she said. “It’s like your dating CV all over again. I feel like you give me the bare minimum. You’re so… curated. Like I just get the parts of you that you want me to see.”
“Is curated… better thanintimidating?”
She laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Maybe. I guess.”
She looked away from me, into the trees.
“You stepped in back there, with Toby.” She paused. “Like you cared about me, like you had some sort of… claim. And I don’t know if that’s who you are, or just when it suits you.” She paused. “Is she waiting for you inside?”
Hugo was right. Allowing Sveta anywhere near me had been a poor choice.
Fuck.
“Her name’s Sveta,” I said.
