Page 28 of Finding My Forever

“You’ve never eaten pizza with someone who hasn’t had a decent slice in five years.”

“Fair enough.”

I was about to respond when my phone rang. I dug around in my purse until I found it and checked the screen.

“It’s unknown but says it’s from New York.” I glared down at my screen, willing it to tell me who exactly was calling. It was a personal rule not to answer unknown numbers.

“It’s probably Greg or Helen.”

Oh yeah. I answered timidly. “Hello?”

“Hi, um sorry I didn’t get your name earlier, but this is Liam.”

I froze. My face must have shown my shock because Sophia reached across the table and grasped my arm. “Who is it?”

That broke the spell, and I mouthed, “Liam.”

Her eyes went wide.

“Hello?”

Crap. I’d been silent for too long.

“Hi, sorry. This is April.”

“April.” The way he said my name send chills down my spine. I could listen to it on repeat for days.

“How did you get my number?”

There was a pause. “You gave me your phone…remember?”

Great. He definitely thought I was insane. “Yeah, but you didn’t save your number or call your phone.”

His laughter confused me. “Did you check your texts?”

I looked at Sophia. I could tell she was dying to hear the conversation, and I was dying to have her input.

“No. I didn’t.” I felt like an idiot for not thinking of that, but most people used the other methods.

“Well, now that we’ve established that.” He cleared his throat. “I’m done with rehearsal, and I have some free time before my next class. What are you guys doing?”

Question. I could answer that.

“We just finished lunch.”

“Where?”

“A pizza place a few blocks from the park.”

“Cool. We’ll head in that direction.”

“Okay, bye?” I wanted to burrow into the floor. This was too much pressure.

“Bye.” I took the phone and placed it back in my bag.

“They’re going to head in this direction.”

“Sounds good. I paid while you were having one of the most painful conversations I’ve ever overheard, so let’s head out.”