“It’s not too late,” Natalie said. “There are people out there who want to help you.”
“I've been to therapy. I learned all about breathing exercises and overcoming negative thought patterns."
“Therapy is always good," she nodded. “But it's not just that. You’ve got friends, family, loved ones who are more than willing to help you, talk with you, just be with you when you need someone. I know it helps Morris to have me to talk to during the bad days. You’ve got people who love you, too. You don’t need to handle this all by yourself.”
Loved ones.
My mind flashed to Liam.
I’d thought, maybe—
But after the way he’d acted…
“Why did he have to be such an ass?” I muttered.
Natalie blinked. “Who? Morris?”
“No.” I shook my head, but it was still face-planted on the bar, so all I managed to do was smear more sticky substance all over my cheek. “Liam.”
She made a thoughtful sound. “Morris mentioned something about that. I feel for the guy.”
I opened my eyes to squint at her. “Feel for him?”
“He doesn’t really like Morris. I get it. I used to be jealous of you, too.”
“Me?” I asked, surprised.
“Morris was always talking about his best friend Harper. I found a picture of all three of you. I thought Harper was a girl for the longest time. I thought she was you. It was really hard.” As she spoke, the words came out faster and faster, as if she couldn’t slow down. “It’s really hard being with someone who you think is still in love with someone else. Especially a loved one from the past. How do you possibly compete with that, when there’s so much history there?”
I’d never thought of it that way. I knew Liam was worried about me and Morris, but that was ridiculous. We were just friends.
But how could Liam know that for sure? We did have a history together. I had been sad at his engagement.
And Liam did have a history of loved ones leaving him for someone else. His mom had left and started a whole other family. His girlfriend had left him for his best friend.
Still. Accusing someone of cheating on you was horrible.
There were some issues you couldn't just get over.
