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My stomach tensed.
And I hated that.
But I couldn’t seem to stop it, either.
A trauma response, I guess.
Because it hadn’t just been Wren who’d been impacted by the whole Josh situation. She’d had it the worst, of course, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t have some scars as well.
“Really? What’s he like?” I asked, glad when my tone didn’t come out as tight as my throat suddenly felt.
“He’s… God, how do I put this that doesn’t sound wrong? He’s… not charming,” she said, rolling her eyes at herself.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, almost feeling a little relieved. Because, a lot of the time, abuse hid behind charm. It certainly had with Josh.
“He’s sort of… nerdy actually. Shy, even. He’s got these horrible glasses that are just all wrong for his face. And I don’t think he’s had a haircut in like six months.”
I kind of liked that image already.
“Where did you meet him?”
“The library. I’d, ah, accidentally dropped a stack of books on his head.”
“That is a great meet-cute,” I said, starting to feel excited for her.
If anyone deserved a chance to meet a guy who would treat her right, it was Wren.
Was it soon? Maybe. But sometimes, you just couldn’t control that kind of thing.
“Right? His name is Liam. He’s actually older than me. It’s so nice to meet someone older than me on campus,” she added, raking a hand through her shiny hair. “He’s going for a doctorate in history.”
Oh, I knew a few professors of history.
And, yes, they did tend to be the shy, library-hiding types with ill-fitting glasses.
“We’re just friends,” she said, giving me a small, hopeful smile, making it clear that she would be happy if it became more than that. “He’s actually going to meet me here in a little bit,” she added. “He’s excited to meet you. He wants to get into teaching. I mean, he wants to be a professor, but he is interested in what you have to say about working in education.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” I assured her.
That was another green flag, right?
Because Josh never wanted to meet me. And he always made sure when Wren and I had plans, that he was nowhere around. Maybe he was afraid that I could see through his bullshit.
And, honestly, I could.
When I finally did meet Josh, I’d instantly disliked him, but for no good reason, so I’d kept my feelings to myself about it. Wren had been deep in the love-bombing stage at that point, so she wouldn’t have listened to my criticisms anyway.
“Please don’t go interrogating him. I know my history with guys is—“
“Not your fault,” I cut her off.
“I know,” she agreed. “I just want to give this a chance, okay? As friends. Then maybe more when I really, really get to know him.”
“I think that’s a great plan,” I agreed.
“So what does he like? Aside from history and libraries?”
“Food,” she said, smiling. “He’s a complete foodie. Earlier this week, we met up at this hole-in-the-wall place but it ended up having some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life. Apparently, he likes to cook too. He just doesn’t have as much time anymore with all his classes and work.”
