Chapter One

"Liam?"
Why did I say that with such hesitancy? Since when was I scared of talking to Liam??
"Yes Cary?"
Yep. Definitely dropping it!
"Oh never mind. Just forget I was going to say anything."
"Cary Leigh Davis. Tell me this instant, whatever it is. Just spit it out! You never say something without a reason. What’s up?"
Oh boy. He used the stern voice.
"Well...yesterday at work Nikki said something to me and...."
"Uh-Huh?"
"It’s just...well it was something about you."

PAUSE.
See that's what I hate - beating around the bush. And what am I doing right now?! Beating around the bush! UGHHHH! For some reason I've been worried about what Liam thinks recently. Which in and of its self is incredibly weird. Liam is one of my best friends in the whole world! Anyways, Nikki told me that Liam asked someone out at church....or at least that he was going to. Same difference...but she didn't mention who! Can you tell its killing me? And the thing that’s so weird is that Liam and I tell each other absolutely EVERYthing. So when Nikki said that, you might say I was slightly surprised. Actually, I was flat out shocked! I couldn’t believe that Liam would hold back such a vital piece of information. You see, all three of us; Nikki, Liam and I; made this decision not to date. It was just out of no where I promise! It really filters back to our Bible study. There’s about seven of us who go to it. We're all really tight. But we, the three amigos, love to read with a capitol L-O-V-E. So after Bible study we began holding a sort of book club. Last October we decided to read "I kissed Dating Goodbye" based on the recommendation of our church's singles pastor. And as you may have gathered, we took Josh McDowell’s beliefs to heart. It dramatically changed our views on dating. We now believe in something more along the lines of courtship --> dating with the intent of marriage. Now, we’d all had a hard time enforcing this because we had all enjoyed casually dating. But these changes were particularly hard on Nikki. Not so much because she dated all the time, but more because she was like the ultimate queen of matchmaking. And since she didn’t want to support something she didn’t believe in, she ultimately gave up her “pairing” ways. So you see, when Nikki said Liam was thinking about asking someone out, she had this oh so familiar gleam in her eyes. So I’m just speculating…but I’m pretty sure Nikki had a little, shall we say, “some-some” to do with Liam’s impending question- if you catch my drift.
PLAY.

“Oh boy, what could Nikki have possibly said to make you so nervous about talking to me? You’re being silly!”
It was at that moment I realized why it bugged me so much that Liam might be asking someone out. It had been there all along. Maybe he wasn’t thinking about compromising his new beliefs. What if…what if he had honestly found someone he would see himself marrying?! And he didn’t tell me? But-
“Yoo-hoo. Earth to Cary! Anybody in there??”
Oops, did I forget to say pause?!
“Liam, stop waving your hand in my face. Sorry. And could you do me a favor?”
“Sure…”
“Just forget I said anything okay? Pretend like the last few minutes never happened, alright?”
“Um, I guess I could do that…You sure are acting weird, kid.”
“At least I’m more mature than an eight year old!”
I replied with, what I hoped, was a pointed look in his direction. It was the best reply I could come up with in my flustered state of mind.
“Riiight, with a comeback like that…yep, I’m the one with maturity issues…Oh, hey. Before I forget, is everyone still getting together at your place tomorrow for dinner and a movie? Isn’t it Lisa’s turn to choose?”
“Yes, its on like Donkey Kong!
Liam just threw me the “are you kidding me? You seriously just said that?” look.
“I’m a loser. I know, I know. Anyways, I texted Ryan and Lisa and they’re good to go. Ry said he’d let Ralphy know. I’m sure if he’ll be off work in time though. And Lisa called me and said she talked to Alex and he can’t because his parents are coming down for the weekend and they’ll just be getting in. And actually I think it’s your lucky day! You get to choose what we watch. But I swear if it’s some blood and guts movie I’ll kill you!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’ll pick something good. Scouts honor!”
“Alrighty, well I’m gonna get going and head over to Starbucks to get my fix for the day. You want anything?”
“Why don’t you just go make a frappe at Nikki’s Cafe and Library? And I’m fine, Folgers has been good to me”, he replied with a grin. “But since you are closer to the coffee pot….”
“Hm, I wonder what you could possibly want me to get you. And to answer your question Nikki took my key.... I sorta raided her pantry so now she has me in her version of jail…no key.”
“Now that is hilarious. Only you could do something so awful that your business partner/best friend would take your key from you.”
I decided to gracefully bow out and just roll my eyes. As I reached for his mug I noticed a new picture on one of his bookshelves.
“Hey, Liam, where’d you get that picture from? That was in my room for ages. What did you do, break into my parent’s house and steal it?”
“No...actually your mom gave it to me last Sunday right after church. She saw it in your old room and was going to give to you but….well. I don’t really know how to put this gently but to use her words “I just love you more, Liam.” "
So much for gracefully bowing out. I promptly threw a pillow at him….hard.