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He relaxed, knowing I’d given him shit for a reason. Little did he know, it was killing me to leave her. She was special and I didn’t deserve her, which is why I was walking away.
Christy talked nonstop while giving directions. She had many questions about Natalie and me. I didn’t say much more than what I had at the table. I wouldn’t give her ammunition because she also talked nonstop about the doc. She wondered if I thought Natalie and he were a good couple. I gave noncommittal answers. I was grateful when we arrived at her apartment and there was indeed no parking for blocks.
“Maybe next time,” I said, as idled in front of her building.
As if fate was giving me an assist, a car that had pulled behind me on the one-way street held down their car horn obnoxiously.
“You better go,” I said, before she could ask for my number again.
Though she was an attractive girl, and I could certainly hook up with her, my heart wasn’t in it. All I could think about was what Natalie was doing.
When I made it back to my place, I texted Natalie to hit me up when she got home so I knew she was okay.
I’d assumed she was pissed at me when I heard nothing for hours. When she did, all I could hope for was for her to tell me the date had turned out to be a disaster.
Seventeen
Natalie
“What the hell?” I whisper-yelled through the phone when he answered my call. I didn’t want to wake Ms. Allen since I’d already come home late, and she had the early morning shift. “Why were you such a dick?”
“This is who I am.”
“That’s bullshit. You acted like a child, like you were jealous.” My fingers might have been crossed because I wanted him to admit he was.
“I never said I was a prince. You put that on me.”
“You said you’d be my wingman.”
“You got your answers. He has my stamp of approval. He might be a little lame, but he’s probably harmless.”
“You didn’t have to be an asshole.”
“It worked all around,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“While learning how he would handle pressure, Christy learned I wasn’t marriage material. Win-win.”
“I can’t believe you,” I scrubbed a hand over my face. It was like I wasn’t speaking to the same man that had come to my rescue. His voice was devoid of emotion. “Did you hook up with her?” I demanded to know.
“I don’t think you want to know the answer.”
He was right. I didn’t, though his non-answer was answer enough. “Fine. Goodnight, Liam.”
Before I ended the call, he asked, “How did your date go?”
“It wasn’t ruined if that’s what you’re asking. We’re going out again this weekend.”
“Good for you,” he said. “Night, Natalie.”
“Wait? That’s it?”
“Unless you want to switch to a video call and show me what you’re not wearing.” I fish-mouthed, sure that I was under water because I couldn’t have heard what I heard. Especially when there wasn’t anything teasing in his voice. When I paused too long, he said, “Night.”
He ended the call. I didn’t like our whole conversation. It was so far from any interaction that I had with him before. Though he’d been crude at times earlier tonight, he’d been funny too. He’d sounded upbeat. It was the total opposite of everything I thought I knew about him.
I opened a video chat with Jody, wondering what might have happened if I’d done that with Liam. When she answered, her background was just as dark as mine.
“I hope it isn’t too late, but I really needed to see your gorgeous face,” I said to my best friend feeling on the verge of tears.
“What’s wrong, babe?”
“Tonight should’ve been a slam dunk, but Liam, I just don’t get him. He was borderline dickish.” I ran through the almost double date and then the call. “His response was dark. He’s like, I told you I wasn’t a prince.”
She moved through her apartment and then laid flat on what I assumed to be her bed. The background was pitch black so I couldn’t be sure. “My advice. Believe people when they tell you who they are. Maybe this was him being honest for the first time.”
After we ended that call, I would mull over that for hours until I could fall asleep, because I just didn’t want to believe it. The Liam I’d met was the real Liam, right? I had a hard time believing I was so wrong about him.
The next day at work, Christy pulled me to the side.
“I didn’t get to thank Liam last night,” she said. If I’d known her better or liked her, I might have asked how things had gone between them. However, her sly grin painted the picture for me. “We didn’t get to exchange numbers. Can you give me his?”
