Page 97 of He Loves Me Knot
But Liddyhadgotten to know Callum. And option two made more sense.
“Why would Miranda exaggerate—or even lie—about what happened between you? She’s my friend. And she said you two almost had sex.”God, the words almost hurt to get out.
“Maybe she’s not the friend you think she is.” Callum squinted at her, revving the engine with a twist of his wrists.
She set her hands on her hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Callum gave her a withering stare. “Forget it. You want to believe her and think the worst of me, go right ahead. It’s nothing.”
She wedged herself in front of the ATV. “There’s no nothing now,Cal.” She flung the nickname bitterly. “What the hell do you mean?”
He rolled his eyes. “I mean that while yourfriend, Miranda, was busy trying to seduce me, she insinuated we should go back to my place because her flatmate had a crush on me. Which—I’m not saying I believed her—makes her a terrible friend, wouldn’t you say?”
A fresh wave of humiliation flushed through Liddy’s body.
A crush?
Miranda wouldn’t really have told Callum that, would she?
. . . except Miranda had said those same words to Liddy frequently enough.
Oh, I’m going to be sick.
Miranda had made her sound like a pining schoolgirlto Callum.And given that Liddy had kissed him since then . . .my God, what must he think? That I’ve just been secretly infatuated with him this whole time?
She covered her mouth and Callum’s expression softened. “Like I said, I didn’t believe her. I don’t consider Miranda particularly honest.”
I’m going to kill Miranda for telling him that.
She stiffened, slowly lowering her hands. “To be clear, I haven’t spent the last two years secretly hoping?—”
“I know. You’ve been completely professional. And I never considered the possibility of our . . .friendshiptaking a turn like this.”
Then that’s it. We’re friends. Nothing more.
He couldn’t be clearer if he tried.
That didn’t mean she had to forgive his casual dismissal of her, though.
She climbed back onto the vehicle, desperate to get back to the comfort of her family’s presence. She wanted to hate him, but mostly she just hated that he’d gotten to her.
She glared at the back of his head and leaned forward. “You know the one thing that you keep forgetting to ask in all this?”
His shoulders were taut. “What’s that?”
“Whether I’d ever want to have a relationship withyou.And the answer is no, Callum. So maybe get off your high horse for once and for all, okay?”
ChapterTwenty-Four
“This was a bloody brilliant idea,”Quinn said as he sat beside Callum on a deck chair, squinting into the orange glare of the sun. “Well done. I don’t think I’ve seen Elle so happy the entire time we’ve been here.”
The catamaran trolled in the water, the sea calm as they glided through it, party music streaming from the speakers. Callum sipped his beer, noticing the tingle of a sunburn on his cheeks. “It was all Liddy’s idea. I can’t claim any credit.”
“Yes, well, she claims you’re the one who deserves the praise, so one of you is lying or you’re both humble—which I know isn’t true of you.” Quinn smirked, clearly somewhat drunk.
Ha.Quinn wasn’t the first to accuse him of arrogance today. It seemed to be a theme.
Quinn nodded toward his parents, who stood on the deck, arm in arm, admiring the sunrise. “Even my parents seem to be enthralled.”