Page 59 of Fragile Touch (Fragile 1)
“It’s waking up so early that I’m not ready for. The rest is a breeze.” The steady ticking of the clock on the wall bounced off the walls. “Andrew, I need to ask you something.”
“Shoot.”
Like before, she chose her words carefully. “I feel like you and Cayden have some unspoken tension between you.”
Andrew put the book’s jacket flap in the page. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s hard for me to say without sounding accusatory.”
“Then I won’t take it accusingly.”
She pursed her lips. “Are you sure?” Andrew nodded, and she continued. “I had this expectation of you two getting along really well. It’s important for me. You and your parents are my family, and I want you to like whoever I’m with.”
“Define getting along really well.”
“I guess...” Damn, this is hard. “I had this idea that, maybe, since you’ve known me longer, you would be more proactive in being friends with him.”
Andrew crossed his arms. “I wasn’t aware I was going to be under so much pressure.”
“I’m not trying to put pressure on you.”
“We haven’t seen each other in years, Lillian. I wanted to have a visit with you, and I get here and so much has happened within three days. You were hospitalized and you have a boyfriend hanging off your hip all day.”
“He’s not hanging off my hip!” She felt the lightheadedness of anger.
“It seems like I’m not getting any time with you, and I won’t be here much longer. I have to go back in a few days.”
“To be honest, Andrew, it’s almost like...it’s almost like you’re acting jealous.” She regretted the words as soon as she said them. His quick reply startled her.
“Maybe I am jealous.”
“Why on earth would you be jealous of Cayden?”
“Maybe I want to be him.”
“Look,” she sighed. “Some people just don’t have the body type to get that much muscle naturally.”
“I’m not talking about that,” he snapped. “Maybe I’m jealous because I want to be in his place. Because he’s so close to you.”
Chapter 11
Her whole body went numb. She couldn’t tell how long she stared at him or even that her jaw was dropping slightly more open every few seconds.
Andrew finally broke eye contact. “I hope that doesn’t freak you out.”
“It does,” she replied. “Kinda.”
“Maybe I should clarify a little—”
“Yeah, maybe you should.”
He puckered his lips in thought. “I had feelings for you before. Several years ago.”
“But you just told me that—” She couldn’t bear to say it out loud. “—in present tense.”
“I never got to tell you before, Lillian. I didn’t even see you much after what... what...” He struggled, clearly not wanting to bring up what had happened to Amelia. “It was like Amelia was the glue that kept us together, and once she was gone we faded off from where our friendship was.”
“How does that tie into what you just said?”
