Page 76 of Summertime Friends

“I did reach out.”

“When your thoughts were impaired.”

“Drunk thoughts are sober words.”

“I wanted sober thoughts and words,” Liam says.

“Okay, but I didn’t tell you not to contact me,” I hear him mumble, sighing. “I wouldn’t do that. There’s so much more to it.”

“Enlighten me.”

“I didn’t reject you! I just didn’t say. . . didn’t say anything. Then, at the bar—”

“Please leave that out of this...” Liam begs.

“How can I leave this out of it? What you said to George about me?”

Liam scoffs. “I didn’t mean it, and you know it.”

“Do I? Haven’t been told otherwise.”

“You didn’t give me a chance.”

“I did. . .”

“Did you, though, Emerson?”

I don’t respond. I’m unsure what to say, even if there were words to encompass what I’m thinking and feeling right now.

Liam breaks the silence that fell between us. “Look, we both can acknowledge that we didn’t leave things the best. We messed up and are both to blame, but we can’t change anything now. There are too many what-ifs.Too. Many.” He emphasizes those words. “Trust me when I say they consume a part of my brain daily.” He sighs again. “Natalie misses you. She doesn’t understand why you are avoiding her. She needs you in her life. . . we both need you in our lives.”

I need them both in my life, too.

“I know,” I respond. “I’m not trying to hurt her. It’s—” I pause before I say what I’m about to say. It’s a test to see how far gone Liam and I are. “I never thought I’d see you again, let alone with my best friend.”

His voice catches. “Emerson,” he mumbles, but I hear the curses after my name. There’s a lingering tension between us on the phone.

“Neither did I,” he finally says to me. “The shower shut off. Natalie will be out soon, so I need to go. Can we be friends? Not for me, but for her.”

“Friends. Yeah, we can be friends, Liam.”

The line goes dead.

32

LIAM

Three Summers Ago

Twenty minutes intoTheRoyals’ second episode, my phone rings. A glass of red wine and sushi takeout sit on the table beside my couch. This show,The Royals, is absolute garbage, but Emerson loves to watch it for whatever reason. I’m watching this rubbish for her. Add it to the list of ways I try to stay close to her, bridging the distance between us.

At first, I thought she watched it since it’s a satire on our government till the first five minutes of the first episode when William Moseley appears on the screen—her childhood crush. I’ve never seenThe Chronicles of Narnia, but she claims Peter was hot. Googled him. Can’t say I disagree with her. Aging like fine French wine, too.

My phone rings again; this time, it is a FaceTime from Emerson. I swipe the screen and note the time in Chicago. It’s three there; she must be on her way to her date.

“He canceled on me! This was supposed to be our third date, but he canceled!” She immediately talks, “And his reason. S-t-u-p-i-d. Stupid. Guess why he canceled?”

“Hello. I’m good, long day but cheery. How are you?”

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