Page 43 of Right Number

“Well, maybe they should,” Sarah snapped.

I rolled my eyes at both of them. “Are you two seriously going to argue about how to have this conversation? Sarah’s outline doesn’t seem that bad; I say we just go with it.”

“Fine,” Bree conceded. “I don’t really care how this goes down as long as it goes down.”

Sarah seemed to take charge at that point. “All right, Anna, first up is the status of your relationship with Liam including pros and cons. Go,” she said, pointing her finger at me.

“This is a little strange.” I was starting to question the wisdom of going with Sarah’s conversation agenda.

Bree gave me a smug smile. “Told you.”

The whole conversation was going nowhere fast so I decided to just dive in. “All right…Liam and I have been spending time together ever since our initial coffee date. We’ve been out several times and I really do enjoy being with him.”

“Relationship conversations?” Bree inquired.

I shook my head. “No. No boyfriend and girlfriend talks, no exclusivity talks.” I paused for a moment before continuing. “It doesn’t really feel like casual dating…maybe something a step above that? Whatever that would be?”

Bree nodded her head. “Tell me why you like him.”

I thought for a moment before answering. “We have a great deal in common since we’re both art majors. He is very thoughtful, kind, and supportive. Conversations with him are easy and, like I said, I really enjoy spending time with him.”

“This is all sounding good so far,” Sarah said.

I sighed. “I think that’s part of the problem. It’s good and nice but that’s about where it ends. When we kiss it just doesn’t light me on fire or take my breath away. We’re compatible for sure but…”

I trailed off and, luckily, Bree picked it up for me. “No spark or passion.”

“Yes,” I agreed. It is more like, just…comfortable…and nice. I care about him, but I’m not in love with him.” I wasn’t even really sure I knew what it felt like to be in love with someone. I thought I’d been in love with Oliver, but in hindsight, I was clearly “in lust” with him. I wasn’t quite sure what to call my feelings for Liam, but, the more I thought about it, I was pretty certain my feelings were more aligned with friendship than romance.

“Do you think you could be?” Sarah asked. “I mean, the longer you’re together, does it seem like feelings could develop?”

“That’s what I keep wondering. Sometimes I feel like there could, maybe, be something, but at times, I also think I’m trying to force myself to feel that way…if that makes any sense.” To my surprise, both Bree and Sarah nodded. “I know Liam really likes me and I would never, ever want to do anything to hurt him.”

“How would he feel if he knew about Mason?” Bree asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

My stomach churned. “Shit,” I whispered. “I never thought about that.” I groaned and leaned my head back until I was looking at the ceiling. “Am I a horrible person for not thinking about it?”

“You’re not a horrible person, Anna,” Sarah said gently. “But now that Mason has come up, let’s talk about him.”

I moved my head back down to look at Bree and Sarah again. “Obviously we’ve never met in person, but he’s so fun to talk to. I get excited when my phone dings or vibrates with a message from him. We talk every day…which, because all we do is talk, I feel like I’ve been able to learn a whole lot about him in a short period of time. I feel drawn to him for reasons I can’t explain.” I could feel myself start to smile as I talked about Mason.

However, that smile quickly faded with my next thought. “There’s also the whole big ‘elephant in the room’...we’ve never actually met. What if we’re not good in person?”

Bree scrunched her face up in confusion. “Why wouldn’t you be?”

“What if there’s no physical attraction? What if he sees me and is like ‘no thank you’? And how in the world would we even make it work since we live so far apart?” I could hear my voice rise a few octaves as I started to think of all the reasons meeting Mason in person was a bad idea.

“Anna, stop,” Sarah said firmly. “First of all, you’re beautiful, so no more negative self-talk. Second, you’re not giving Mason very much credit. Do you really think he’s so shallow the way you look is going to make that big of a difference to him now?”

“Well, it’s just that…” I mumbled as my gaze drifted uncomfortably down to the table.

Bree interrupted me like she’d been reading my thoughts. “Oliver is a shallow, superficial asshole. Mason is not Oliver, so stop projecting Oliver’s issues onto Mason.”

Sarah looked at Bree with surprise. “Wow, that was very deep and perceptive. Nice work.”

Bree shrugged. “I have my moments.”

I looked at Bree. “You’re absolutely right. I’ve been doing that exact thing, and it’s not fair to Mason.”

---