Page 81 of Summertime Friends

“Wherever you’re trying to get, Auds, get there,” Cal says.

“Gettin’ there, promise. Does Emerson do this after every date?”

“Possibly?”

“Yeah, she’s into you.” Audrey picks up her empty glass and flags the waiter over. “We’ll all have another.”

No one comments. I think they are waiting for me to say anything.

“Which you already know. If you didn’t, the two of you wouldn’t be inseparable every time you’re together,” Audrey adds.

“I’m into her,” I admit.

“We already know that,” George says in between coughs.

“Then why are we here, Liam?” Callum asks.

“I think I’m in love with her.”

There it is, said out loud. The sound is not as scary as I thought it would be. It came out easier than I thought it would, too.

“We already know that. . . too,” George says again.

“You do. . .”

What are they seeing that I missed?

“You are hung up on that girl—so much so that Molly called me—Molly, of all people. You told her there was someone else,” Cal elaborates.

Molly was the only girl at university I dated. She was a fit girl and extremely intelligent—it was just school, you know? We dated for a year before we decided to be friends. She came back into my life last spring and wanted to start things back up. I tried—trust me, I tried—but she wasn’t Emerson.

“I couldn’t lie to her.”

“But can you sit back and do nothing about someone else who dates guys and tells you about them? Or when we see her, you two can’t get enough of each other that it is disgustingly annoying for anyone in your presence?”

“I’m her friend. We talk about stuff, which may or may not include my opinions on the males she fancies.”

“That girl wants you,” Audrey tilts her head. “She does that because you are the scale against which she weighs them—their appearance, their actions, how they treat her, and how they make her feel. If they aren’t you, they aren’t good enough for her. I think she’s searching for your approval by telling you.”

“And you do the same, mate,” George adds.

“I’ve never once told her about a single woman I have been with.” Because I haven’t been with anyone since her, there’s no one else but Emerson.

“Maybe so, but you measure everyone up against her.”

“Ya heard the saying actions speak louder than words? You don’t need to tell her, Liam. You want Emerson for yourself, and you have since you met her.”

George laughs and says, “Even when I tried to cockblock ya.”

But Callum keeps going on. “It’s pissing obvious, it’s painful. Honestly, I’m impressed by your stupidity of being friends with her for this long.”

“I didn’t want to ruin anything between us.” I still don’t want to ruin anything between us now. That’s the problem—it’s not that I don’t want her or am in love with her. That’s becoming as clear as a cloudless night to me; all the stars point to her.

“Shagging her every time you see her doesn’t do the trick?” George asks.

“That’s. . . different.” I sigh, dropping my tense shoulders.

“Different?” George laughs and takes another drink of his beer. “Do enlighten us.”

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