Page 51 of Reckless Liar

“I didn’t say anything. You walked up as we started talking.” I shifted the items in the cart around, sorting them in order of how I wanted to load them at check out.

“Were you going to say yes?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” I glanced at him.

He glanced down to the back of the store where we last saw Troy. “I thought you didn’t want to see him again?”

“What I don’t want, is to have this conversation in the middle of the grocery store,” I said, putting an end to the conversation.

ThenextdayIfound myself at Checkers Cafe, sitting at my favorite glass-top table in the corner, and looking over the cobblestone alleyway. Troy walked in scanning the small room until his eyes found me, a big smile crossing his face. He approached the table shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans. In the time we spent together I’d never seen him in anything aside from nice slacks and a button-down shirt.

“You already got a drink?” he asked, nodding to the latte in front of me. “There goes my first act of gallantry.”

I smiled at him, opting not to comment on his attempt to win me over. “I got here early.”

He took it in stride, leaving for a moment before coming back with his own large mug of coffee.

“Thanks for agreeing to see me again. I’ve been feeling like a total ass for not calling you.” He cupped his hand around his mug and leaned closer to me.

“Troy, I get it. We didn’t click, or you met someone else, or you weren’t into me.”

Troy took a drink of his coffee and grimaced before reaching for the sugar on the edge of the table and dumping in a packet. Some part of me found satisfaction that he didn’t take his coffee the same way as Max. He stirred the coffee slowly, watching it instead of looking at me.

“The thing is, I really liked you. I liked you from the moment you opened the door. We had a really good time and I wanted to go out again. But I got home after our date and I was thinking about what you said, about how long you guys were together. And then I bumped into Emma and Scarlett and Scarlett kept going on and on about how you were so crazy in love with this guy and then he just dies. She made him out to be this mythical person and it made me worry that I’d be a rebound for you, and it freaked me out. So, I took some time to myself and then some more time and then I felt like it was too much time, and I blew my shot.”

“You didn’t blow your shot with me...”

His eyes lit up at my comment. “Really, because...”

I shook my head at him. “You’re a great guy, Troy. To be honest, you are exactly, and I meanexactly,the type of man my parents would want me to end up with. If my mother could have met you, she would have flipped out. But…“ I groaned, wiping my face with my hand.

“You’re not interested,” he finished.

“Not like that, not romantically. I should be. You have no idea how much I want to be interested in you, Troy. But I can’t be. Not like that. And you’re too great of a guy for me to waste your time.”

He chuckled low, “It’s not you, it’s me?”

“Troy,” I sighed. “We went on one date. You were the one who didn’t call me. Let’s call this one a draw. Neither of us came out with anything worse than bruised egos.”

He nodded at me, a pained expression on his face. “One question, before I go.” He hesitated, looking down at his empty cup. “That guy, your roommate, are you guys...”

I bit my lip and looked out the window, unsure of how to respond. “I don’t know. Maybe? It’s too soon to call it anything. We’ve known each other forever. I’ve known him for as long as I knew Max. Longer, I guess.”

At that moment, I realized Xander would know more of me than Max. Xander and I had the time to know each other. The thought took my breath away. Could I chance this? Xander did know me. He’d always be a part of me just as integral as Max was. Could we be more?

He pursed his lips. “I figured, the way you were talking about him on our date and the way he was looking at you at the store the other day.”

“There was nothing going when we went out, if it’s any consolation,” I admitted.

“But that’s changed since?” He laughed to himself. “You know, what, it’s really not my business. I guess I really missed my chance.”

“Troy—“ I started to say but he held his hand up to silence me.

Standing up he shrugged his jacket on and grabbed his wallet off the table. “It’s okay, Ana, really. You were right before, just a bruised ego. I’ll survive.”

I nodded at him, not sure how to make him feel better. I hated disappointing people, especially someone as sweet as Troy.

“Friends?” I asked.

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