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Even if he is old, he added with a laughing emoji.
She should leave it at that, but she quickly texted back.
Then why did you get so angry?
Lilly hated herself for picking, but she couldn’t stop herself. It wasn’t easy to let go of the idea in her head that someday Sullivan would change his mind and want her. Though she was starting to wonder if it was because she loved Sullivan, or she just loved the idea of loving Sullivan.
The text bubble appeared, then disappeared.
It appeared again.
Can I just call you really quick?
Sure.
The phone rang almost immediately and she answered it. A glance over showed Liam was still in line for the ice cream cone and it looked like he would be a few more minutes.
“I don’t know how to say any of this without sounding like a complete arrogant asshole,” he said after they exchanged greetings.
That made her roll her eyes. “How is that different from any normal day then?”
“Very funny. Look, I’m being serious. Something I try not to do. But I want you to know that I value your friendship and I’m sorry if I’ve taken advantage of that friendship.”
Her heart softened. “I wanted to help you with Finn, if that’s what you’re talking about.”
“That. And the fact that maybe, I could be wrong, but you have some feelings for me that are more than just us being friends.”
“I did.” It suddenly felt a lot like past tense. It felt like she’d been holding onto something for a long time because if she let it go she’d have to admit she had wasted four years of her life. That she’d have to acknowledge that maybe she’d been just avoiding dating because it was easier to wait for something that was never going to happen.
That was a startling thought.
“You did?”
“I know you don’t feel the same way. It’s okay. Honestly.” Holy crap, she actually meant that. She sat up straighter on the bench. She felt… free. Like a gigantic weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Like a wrong was being righted.
She hadn’t expected being rejected officially to feel so damn amazing, but it did.
“It took Sloane pointing it out to me. I didn’t see it. Or didn’t want to see it.”
That was as ironic as Liam mentioning it to her. “Well, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. That’s more important to me than anything else.”
“Me too. Lilly, I’m sorry that I can’t…”
That made her heart squeeze. “Stop. Seriously, it’s okay. I understand.” She did. “I’m over it.”
That sounded a little more decisive than she intended.
“Wow, okay, then.” He gave a small laugh. “We’re good?”
“We’re good. I need to go. I have an ice cream cone coming my way.” Liam had started walking back towards her, a cone in each hand.
She smiled at him.
She felt completely free to actually just enjoy the day and it was a hell of a good feeling.
Liam handedLilly her ice cream cone and ignored what her smile and thank you did to his gut, and other body parts. He wasn’t a huge fan of ice cream, but he’d gotten himself one anyway because he felt like he needed to shove something in his mouth so he didn’t blurt out things he shouldn’t. Flirtatious things. Sexual things. Things that involved him telling her she should tell Sullivan to go pound salt and then find someone else who would appreciate her fully.
None of those things were appropriate to say and so he sat down next to her and stared at his unwanted cone, determined not to watch her tongue flicking across the ice cream.
