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I leaned my head into Liam’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Liam. I didn’t mean for tonight to go like this.” He was being such a genuinely nice and caring guy; it made me feel worse about everything.

“Don’t worry about it. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you, OK?”

I turned my head so I was looking up at him. “You’re amazing, you know that? So patient and kind. You really are a good man, Liam.”

Even under the dim streetlight in front of my apartment I could see Liam’s cheeks flush. “Thank you, Anna.” His voice had grown husky and he squeezed me a little tighter into his chest. “That means a lot to me. Now, why don’t you go in and get some good sleep tonight. I’m sure you’ll feel better about everything in the morning.”

I nodded my head, still pressed up against his chest. “I will. Thank you, Liam. For everything.”

“You’re welcome. Good night, Anna.” Liam tipped his head down and gave me a soft kiss on the lips before releasing his arms from around me.

“Good night, Liam.” I smiled as I turned to unlock my door. When I walked inside I went directly to my room, not even stopping to take my coat off. I loved Bree and Sarah but I needed some time alone.

I needed to figure out what the hell I was going to do before everything officially fell apart.

I tossed my coat onto a chair and flopped down on my bed. I don’t know how long I laid there staring up at the ceiling, but suddenly it became crystal clear what I needed to do.

I needed to follow my heart, and my heart knew exactly what it wanted. I think it had known for a long time; it was just my head that was getting in the way.

I had two phone calls to make and I needed to make them immediately.

I rolled over and pulled my phone from the back pocket of my jeans. As I sat up, I turned it back on and waited for it to power up. Once it did, I pulled up my contacts. My finger hovered over the name for a few minutes before I finally pushed it to make the call.

The phone rang and rang.

After what seemed like forever, the voicemail came on and told me to leave a message. I took a deep breath. “Hi. This is Anna. I feel kind of weird doing this over voicemail, but I wanted to know if you’d be my date to the Spring Art Show. As you know, this is my first year showing and I’m pretty nervous about it. It would mean a lot to me for you to be there by my side and to have your support. So…uh…I guess let me know. Talk to you later. Bye.”

I quickly pushed the “end call” button. That wasn’t so bad. Now for call number two. That was the call I wasn’t looking forward to making.

I scrolled through my contacts and pushed the name before I lost my nerve. The call connected and immediately went to voicemail. He must’ve had his phone turned off. I got ready to leave a message. “Hi. This is Anna. I was hoping to catch you in person and not get your voicemail, but we really need to talk. Can you please call me back? Thank you. Bye.”

I felt really shitty leaving the second voicemail, but I wasn’t really sure what else to say. I guess it was short and to the point. I suspected after that evening, he wouldn’t be completely surprised to get a “we need to talk” message and probably had a good idea what it was about.

Now, I just needed to wait for both of them to call back.

Chapter 17

Taking the Leap

“HEY! TOMORROW’S THE BIG day! Are you ready?” Bree asked as she joined me on the sofa with her own glass of wine.

I pulled my sweat-pant-clad knees up to my chest as I took a sip from my glass of red wine. We’d splurged and bought a few bottles of the good stuff for the evening, keeping in mind we were college students and the “good stuff” to us was nothing special to people who actually knew something about wine. “If I don’t have an anxiety attack or pass out from nerves, I think I’ll be ready.” I gave Bree a small smile to let her know I was joking…a little. Actually, I wasn’t joking. I was a mess. A nervous, excited, anxious mess.

“I can’t believe the Spring Art Show is finally here! You’ve been waiting to be a part of it since you stepped foot on campus and now it’s finally happening!” Sarah plopped down into the middle of the sofa between Bree and me.

“Crazy, isn’t it? Sometimes I have to pinch myself to be sure all of this is real.” I smiled as I took another sip of wine. I wasn’t just talking about the art show.

Sarah immediately picked up on what I was saying. “Spring Art Show and you’ve got your super-hot date.”

“That I do.” I couldn’t help my entire face from bursting into a smile as I thought about going to the Spring Art Show with him.

It had been close to two weeks since I’d made the calls. The call that resulted in the breakup was difficult, but he’d handled it graciously. The call that resulted in the date was exciting. Really exciting.

I felt good about the choices I’d made and where things were headed. My heart really had known all along what was right for me.

As if she could read my mind, Bree turned to me. “You didn’t talk much about what happened after the phone calls. I mean, I know the end result, but how about the road getting there?”

I realized it was the first time Bree, Sarah, and I had sat down for an evening together in a while. It’d been an incredibly hectic past two weeks between school, preparing for the art show, and getting my love life straightened out.

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