I felt myself blushing fiercely and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“Yeah,” Gwen shrugged. “I would never tell him to his face, but my brother happens to be hot.”
“But he doesn’t think so,” I said quickly. “He honestly thinks that he looks like some sort of monster.”
“Did he tell you how he got the scar?”
“Yes,” I said. “I tried to tell him that it’s a badge of honor–”
“But he thinks it makes him look like a seedy criminal,” Gwen finished for me. “I know. It’s ridiculous.”
I stared down at my hands for a second, trying to collect myself. It was tricky to figure out how much I should share.
“I know it must have been weird to have a strange man taking care of you,” Gwen said carefully. “I would never have sent anyone I didn’t trust a thousand percent.”
“Thank you so much for sending him. Actually, it made it a bit easier in some ways,” I said. “I mean, it’s sort of more natural for a man to put his arm around you, right?”
Her lips pressed into a straight line. “I guess so.”
I tried to laugh lightly. “It was just easier when he was guiding me around, and especially when he took me to the doctor. He was very sweet.”
“You really like him.” It was not a question.
“Not important,” I said quickly, gesturing to her giant notebook. “Should we get started?”
“Hold up. You really like him. It’s obvious. So what’s the problem?”
It was odd that my eyes shut whenever things were overwhelming. “I guess he doesn’t feel the same way about me. He was polite after he took me home, and made sure that I had enough food and everything. Then it seemed like he couldn’t wait to get out of here.”
Gwen rolled her eyes as I was opening mine, and I sort of loved how dramatic she was. “Listen, Liam is a great guy, but he doesn’t get relationships. He hasn’t dated very much, and the woman he is closest to is a bit of a snarky bitch to him a lot of the time.” She waved her hand. “That would be me.”
I shook my head sadly. “If he was interested, he would have said something. Or he would have suggested we get together sometime. Whatever.”
She snapped her fingers in my face. “Not whatever. Don’t do that. You are a lovely, sweet girl, and if he has feelings for you, he needs to nut up and tell you.”
I choke-laughed for a second at her intensity.
“I’m serious,” she continued. “I will tell him off royally if I need to.”
“Please, don’t,” I begged. “Don’t say a word. If he’s not interested, that’s his business. I have no right to have any expectations.”
“You don’t have a lot of dating experience either,” she said. Again, it was not a question.
I cocked my head, squinting at her. “How do you know everything?”
Her eyes shot to the left and the right shiftily before she leaned in. “When you’re a nurse, you see a lot. You learn a lot. I just sort of know people.”
I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. She reached out and patted my hand. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean to stress you out. Let’s go over your new computer routine, then I’m going to review your eye exercises. We’re going to make notes on what to keep track of so there aren’t any complications.”
“Thank you,” I said. I felt like I was cringing into myself.
Gwen rolled her eyes again. “Shy girls. I don’t get it.”
Then I laughed so hard I nearly doubled over again, until she tapped her pen on the notebook to make me pay attention.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
* Liam *