Page 6 of My Knight Before Christmas
“Liam’s the one who interviewed Spencer for his new job.”
“How did Spencer know he was my Liam?” My heart gave an erratic thump. He wasn’tMy Liam. I wanted him to be. Hadn’t he felt the same electric current I had during our dates, which only intensified when we kissed? Obviously not. Maybe the spark I felt was really his body sending out a deterrent. One I severely misread.
“I guess Liam and Spencer hit it off,” she said. “They went to lunch after his interview. Anna was able to piece it all together when Spencer told her about Liam.”
“And Anna talked to you about it behind my back?”
She turned her puppy dog eyes on me. “We were trying to determine if you would come if you knew he was there. We reasoned you wouldn’t, so we kept it a secret. And, I thought since you’ve had such bad luck since Liam, that this was the universe’s way of getting you two together again. I’m sorry. We should have told you and let you decide what to do.”
“If we were meant to be, Liam wouldn’t have ghosted me in the first place.”
“Maybe it’s time to hear him out,” Amy said softly.
Or maybe not.
She pulled into Big Doc’s parking lot. We went inside to place our order. We didn’t speak while we waited, my thoughts circling back to Liam.
How hard was it to send a text to someone? Breaking up that way was one of the worst possible options to go about it, but surely it was better than radio silence. What irked me the most was how much I still missed him. Seeing him tonight only confirmed that I hadn’t gotten over him as well as I thought.
When our food was ready, Amy and I went home and ate in continued silence. My stomach felt better. However, the rest of me was heavy. I couldn’t get a full breath in. Curse Liam and his gorgeous face.
Four
Isleptterriblylastnight. Too many emotions swirled inside me. It was like I was on a teacup ride at an amusement park. I held my pounding head in the palm of hand, my elbow resting on the kitchen counter where I sat on a stool.
“How are you holding up this morning?” Anna asked me as she came into the kitchen. “I got in so late. You and Amy were already asleep.”
“Like you care.”
Anna threw her hands up in the air. “I made a mistake. I texted you last night about how sorry I was. How long are you going to hold it against me?”
I shook my head. “I’m not happy with you, but more than anything, I’m sad. How is it after everything I still want him?” My heart throbbed along with my head.
Anna reached over and squeezed my shoulder. She wasn’t big into affection like Amy and I were. That squeeze was equivalent to a bear hug in her book. “It’s rare to connect to someone so quick. It isn’t easy to get over that, especially with the way he left.” She pressed her lips into a line and scratched her eyebrow.
I pointed at her. “You always make that face when you know something.”
She busied herself by getting a pan on the stove and eggs out of the fridge. Finally, after she’d cracked her eggs, she’d said, “He told me his side of the story. I think you should hear him out.”
His side of the story? What was there to tell? He got a kiss from me, then vanished. Seems to me to speak for itself. I cupped a hand around my ear. “What’s that? A pounding on the door? Oh, nope. It’s silence. You’re right, Liam isveryeager to talk to me.”
“He asked for your number at the party.”
My spoon clattered against my cereal bowl. “He has my number.”
“Actually,” she drawled. “He got a new phone and lost most of his contacts. You being one of them.”
Excuses. He could have messaged me through Kismet. He also knew my email address as he had to forward my ticket for our third date to the art museum. Not to mention where I lived and worked. He was weaving a tale to get Anna on his side.
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk to him,” I said.
“Please, Avery?”
My muscles tensed. “Why are you taking his side? Besides, what good would it do?”
She pointed a spatula at me. “I’m not taking his side. Maybe after you speak with him, you’ll both see how great you are together.”
I cocked a brow, tilting my head. “You think I want him back?” I scoffed.
