“What if he only wants to be friends?”
“You have to decide if that’s enough for you. If not,youneed to put distance between you both.” Pop nudged Liam’s mug. “Drink up before it gets cold.”
“Right.” Liam picked up his tea and took a sip.
He didn’t want to be just friends. It would be impossible to hang out, especially if he had to watch Coury hit on other people. The question was, did he want toknowthe truth or continue to live in denial and torture himself?
The answer was clear. Liam wasn’t big on torturing himself, and denial was even worse. That left talking.
“Here’s an idea,” Pop said after he set his cup in the sink. “Why don’t you and Coury drive home together for Beckett’s birthday this weekend? You can talk without being interrupted.”
Stuck in a car together? “That’d mean driving back together too. If it got awkward—”
“No. You’ll ride back with me if the talk goes sideways.”
The chance to talk it out scared the shit out of him, but it made sense. “I guess knowing is better than wondering.”
“The answers might be your dream come true.”
Liam didn’t think the odds of that were high.
Chapter Ten
Liam
“This is great.” Liam turned the screen back to Coury. “It’s a really good start.”
The rough draft of his term paper was better than Liam expected. Coury had said it was a slog, like running in the ocean—or his favorite: eating Jell-O with a fork.Who ate Jell-O anymore?
“Yeah?” Coury smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Did you mark where I need more?”
Liam nodded and reached across the kitchen table to turn the laptop so both could see. “There are a few sections where you need to explain more, but those shouldn’t take long to address. I commented.”
“Awesome!” Coury held out his fist and Liam gave him a lazy bump.
His stomach was a knot of nerves—had been all afternoon. Per Pop’s suggestion, he was going to ask to ride home with Coury for Beckett’s birthday bash.
“When you try your best, you do great.”
“Hey, hey. We have a deal. Don’t bail on me now.”
As if Liam would walk away. He still had no idea how Coury felt, or what the fuck happened the day before in the coffeehouse. Much as he teased Pop about being out of touch with the dating scene and how this wasn’t the ’60s anymore, his grandfather generally gave sound advice.
The problem was if he couldn’t ask Coury for a ride home, how could he ask how he felt about him?
“I’m a man of my word. We have a deal.” His mind whirled with an idea. It was transparent, but it was as good a moment as he’d get. “If you want, I can ride home with you and we can discuss any other issues on the way.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be productive. How will I take notes when I’m driving?”
“Right.” A few days of trying to “talk” and Liam’s brain was firing on all cylinders. “That was a stupid idea.”
“It’s not stupid, it just assumes I’ll remember everything long enough to get it down.” He flipped his computer back to him. “How about you come over Friday for our party? You can stay in Luke’s bed. He’s going out with Nico and won’t be back. That way we can leave together on Saturday?”
Coury spoke so fast, Liam needed a second to process everything.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to ride home with me?”
“Didn’t you say it wasn’t a good idea?”
