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“You know if I didn’t love you, I’d give you the middle finger.” She laughed. “And no, I’m not one of those girls.”
“Really? How would you know?”
“The way he looks at me. The way he kisses me. I’m not crazy. He feels it too. I just don’t get why he’s pushing me away,” I said.
“Okay. I believe you, only because I’ve known you practically your whole life and you’ve never gone psycho girlfriend on anyone.”
“Thanks,” I said, sarcastically.
“You’re welcome,” she said it so matter of fact, I giggled. “But even if you’re right, you said it yourself. He’s pushing you away. Maybe he has a girlfriend or wife.”
“He told me he didn’t.”
“And guys don’t lie about that stuff?” She spoke slowly as if I were dense and needed the time to process.
“Yes, guys do lie about that, but—”
“But what?”
“But I don’t think that’s it. I don’t know, Jody. I have this insane attraction to him. And I’d like to think I’m a better judge of character. Am I that gullible?”
“No. But what about the doctor?”
“Are you dismissing Liam?”
“No.” She rolled her eyes. “Maybe it’s time to do a comparison. Pros and Cons.”
“That’s not fair. I don’t know Brian well. Though he asked me over this weekend.”
“Yet,” she added. “I’ll start. From your description, they’re both gorgeous.”
“True.” I added in the conversation I had with Brian earlier.
“Nice and considerate,” she said. “But you still want Liam. Classic bad boy syndrome. Don’t worry. We all fall for it at some point in our lives.”
“Liam’s nice too.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Bad boys would leave the stranger in the cold. Not take them to their hotel, especially when they don’t try to have sex with them,” I said.
“Bad boys play nice, Natalie. They’re assholey most of the time and draw you back in with a nice boy move. It’s a game.” She blew out a breath. “I get you haven’t dated a lot. Take it from me. Give the doctor this weekend. Who knows if he’ll blow your mind if you give him half the chance.”
She was right. I hadn’t given Brian as many chances as I’d given Liam. “Fine.” Though I said the word, I didn’t feel it.
“Good. Now my work is done, I have to get some sleep. I have class in the morning.”
I didn’t know how she did it: juggling school and work. She did so effortlessly. “Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook for your bad boy problem,” I joked.
“I never said I was immune. I’m just better at spotting danger and exiting the situation than you are.”
“You don’t have to worry. Liam is seeing someone else. It doesn’t matter how I feel.”
What I hadn’t told her was how Liam practically dared me to show up at his place with condoms. Had his response to my text been to incite me to be jealous or move on? As much as I wanted to give Jody’s advice a try, was it really fair for me to see Brian when my heart was, for better or worse, somewhere else?
I woke up to bright skies and a new purpose. My time in New York was short. Would it really be fair to date Brian when I would be leaving in a few months? It was probably best to cancel the date. He was a really good guy and he deserved to find the one. I wasn’t that one. We’d gone out and the spark wasn’t there.
Jogging used to be my outlet. A way to get all the frustration out of me. I pulled on a pair of leggings and a long sleeve workout top, hoping I wouldn’t burn up. The weather had warmed up above freezing. More likely I wouldn’t get far, as I felt out of shape.
I walked out the door, prepared to reach a goal of a mile, if I could. Only I was stopped short.
“Natalia.”
There, parked right in front of the building, was my father.
Twenty-Four
Liam
There were so many reasons why I hadn’t called my uncle. He called me about a job, and it was silly not to call him back.
“It’s about time you called,” Uncle Ted said.
“I should have called sooner,” I admitted.
“Damn right. Though I don’t approve, I wouldn’t have stopped you. How did it go?”
“As expected, he said I wasn’t his son and expected me to go away.”
“I warned you Roy was an ass.”
It was funny to hear my uncle refer to his brother as Roy and not Royce. “You did.”
“It’s not an I told you so. You did what you needed to do.”
“How could the two of you have grown up in the same household?” I asked.
“Roy was the golden boy and wanted to please our father. For that reason, I was mostly allowed to do my own thing. I also have to say he’s not all bad. He shielded me from a lot of shit growing up.”
