“Look, it is between Sam and me,” I tell him.
I don’t want him to know that I have feelings for him that I don’t understand. I fear he doesn’t share the same feelings. In a weird way, I also fear he does share the same feelings.
While I want to tell him the truth, I want to verify that I understand my own emotions before I fill him in on how I feel.
I can feel Liam stare at me for a moment. I know he wants to look for clues about what happened. After a moment, he releases his gaze and takes another sip of his drink.
“Fine,” Liam gives in. “I won’t push you for more details. However, we need to make things right. You push Sam away, and we never stand a chance of making a deal with her father.”
“I want to make things right with Sam for our friendship. I don’t care about her father or the deal,” I state.
“Sam and I have a strong friendship, too. I care about her as a friend. However, we need to maintain focus. If we don’t stay on track, we will let a lot of time and money go down the drain for absolutely nothing,” Liam explains.
“So, what do we do?” I ask.
“You need to take the reins here, cowboy,” Liam tells me. “Call her and tell her you feel badly about how you left things. Ask her to come back to Texas and talk with you.”
“She won’t stay in New York for too long. She has work to do here. I will see her when she gets back,” I declare.
“I don’t know if you understand the gravity of the situation here,” Liam raises his voice. I can see his glass shaking in his hand a bit, and I realize just how angry he feels.
I feel a desire to please Liam, and I don’t want him mad at me. It doesn’t necessarily matter how we define our relationship. I do know that I care about him and don’t want to cause him any stress or pain.
“Sam deserves a phone call. I will tell her that I apologize. I will do whatever it takes to get her to come back here,” I agree.
“Thank you,” Liam says.
I notice he looks particularly good today while he finishes his drink, but I don’t want to let his body distract me.