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“This is just how I sound,” Anna said.
“Not with Avril.”
“Avril and I have a very unique relationship—and a very old one.”
“Right, which is sort of my point,” Liam said, walking a bit closer, just in case Avril could pick out a word or two. “We’resupposed to have a unique relationship, at least based on what I’ve been told.”
Anna set the last of the spices inside the cabinet, then shut it. Turning to face him, she took a deep breath.
“I don’t know what Avril has told you, but I’m notthatinexperienced. I have dated before.”
“Okay,” Liam said, rolling his hand over. “So, how did you act around those guys?”
Silence met him, and Anna’s eyes suddenly found the clean floor beneath her feet very fascinating.
“Anna?” he asked quietly.
“Guy.”
“Pardon?”
Anna lifted her eyes, though her chin remained tucked against her collarbone. “It’s notguys…it’sguy.Singular. I’ve dated a guy before.”
Oh.
Anna’s expression wavered in a place of embarrassment. Quickly, Liam did his best to soothe her concerns.
“That’s not that unordinary; I’ve only dated a few girls. A couple in high school, and one or two I talked to last semester.”
“I’m three years older than you, Liam.”
“Still, we’ve all got our circumstances, and you know, this can still sort of be practice for us both. It’s nothing to be ashamed about.”
“I’m not ashamed of it,” Anna quickly said, glancing toward the living room. “No matter what Avril says. Yes, maybe I would have liked a bit more… contact, but things are difficult due to my family circumstances. I’m not like Anna; I can’t just act like she does.” She shook her head. “I-I’d just rather not go into it too much.”
Liam nodded carefully. “I misspoke. I only mean that it’s not a big deal, and I’m not going to make it a big deal.”
“Thank you,” Anna replied, relief smoothing over some of the disconcertment clinging to her expression.
“So, are you okay talking about the guy you’ve dated? How did you two act around each other? If we want to avoid attracting suspicion, especially tonight with AvrilandTess around, we should probably seem at least slightly more relaxed around one another.”
“That’s fair,” Anna conceded. She took a couple of moments to gather her thoughts. “His name was Elliot. We dated for a little bit in my sophomore year of high school. Only Avril knew about it.”
When she’d begun with ‘sophomore year,’ Liam started nodding along. So, maybe she hadn’t dated, but it hadn’t been that long ago. With the completion of her sentence, he remembered that, as she’d reminded him, she was a fair bit older than him. His sophomore year of high school was just three years back. Hers was six.
“I’m guessing that ‘no one but Avril knew’ is the key part behind how it happened,” he pointed out.
“Yes, that’s right. I was told I wasn’t allowed to date until college, but… Avril introduced me to Elliot, and well, she sort ofinsisted,if that makes any sense.”
It made all the sense in the world. Liam understood completely. Better than Anna would likely—hopefully—ever know.
“Okay, so you two ended up liking each other and dated for a bit. I assume it wasn’t all stiff formality the whole time, right?”
Anna’s fingers nervously tapped together below her waist, but she nodded. “Well, yes. We eventually developed a rapport and were affectionate toward one another.”
“Affectionate in this context meaning…?”
“Handholding, hugging, occasionally kissing after a few months.” Anna’s voice dropped a sound level with each new admittance. She might be inexperienced, but she wasn’t dumb. More than that, she had a roommate who could seduce any guy she sauntered up to within five minutes of meeting him. She had to hear how sad her life experiences with the opposite sex sounded.
