Page 47 of Liam

“Liam Valeur?” Mark perks up. “The CEO of Valeur Tech? You work with him?”

Great. Now I’ve done it. “Oh, you know, not directly. He’s...around. Like air. Or gravity. Or the crushing weight of social awkwardness.” I laugh, praying for a meteor to strike me down right this instant.

Jake’s expression has shifted, a mix of curiosity and something else I can’t quite place. “You seem to mention him a lot. Are you two...close?”

“Close?” I squeak. “No. No, no, no. We’re just...coworkers. Professional. Very professional. So professional, we could write a book on professionalism. Which we won’t. Because we’re not close. At all. I don’t even like him.”

I grasp my water glass, gulping it down to stop the torrent of words.

Mia stands and gives me a pointed stare. “Aleria, want to join me in freshening up?”

It’s not a question.

I nod, excusing myself from the table.

In the restroom, Mia checks that we’re alone beforeturning to me, hands on her hips. “Okay, spill. What’s going on with you and Liam?”

I busy myself with fixing my hair in the mirror. “Nothing’s going on. He’s the boss, that’s all.”

Mia raises an eyebrow. “Really? Because you’ve mentioned him more times than you’ve mentioned your actual date tonight.”

I wince. “Have I? I didn’t realize?—”

“Oh, you have,” Mia says. “So, let me ask you straight. Are you hot for him?”

“What? No!” I sputter. “It’s not like that. He’s just Liam.”

Mia’s eyes narrow. “And how come you call the investor by his first name?”

I freeze, realizing my slip-up. “Oh, um, we were in college together.”

“You mentioned it,” Mia says. “Were you close?”

I bite my lip, avoiding her gaze. “I thought we were.”

Mia’s eyes widen. “Oh my God, you slept with him.”

“Shhhh!” I hiss, glancing at the bathroom door. “No, I didn’t! Well, almost. But he made it clear he didn’t want me. He was just having fun.”

Mia’s expression softens. “And you weren’t?”

I stay quiet, studying the pattern on the bathroom tiles.

“Fuck, Aleria,” Mia breathes. “You were in love with him, weren’t you?”

A lump forms in my throat.

Mia puts a hand on my arm, her voice gentle. “Are you still in love with him?”

“No!” I blurt. Too fast. Mia’s eyebrows raise.

“I’m not,” I insist. “It was a long time ago. I was youngand stupid and we hung together for a while, and I thought he felt something...”

“And he broke your heart,” Mia finishes for me.

I nod, feeling tears prick at the corners of my eyes. “I never told anyone. It was so embarrassing. We had calculus together. We had this connection, you know? We’d spend hours talking about everything. We studied together, like a lot. And I started to have feelings for him. Then one night, we were studying late in the library, and...”

“And?” Mia prompts.