Sing Me Your Song

Chapter 09

Girlfriend.

That treacherous little word got louder and louder in his head as he looked between the both of them. Emma was still not meeting his gaze. Neal’s suspicions were confirmed when the bloke spoke again.

“Is this guy bothering ye, sweetheart?” Emma seemed to snap out of her daze as the grip around her tightened.

“No.” She quickly said, putting a smile on her face that did not meet her eyes. “This is just an old acquaintance.”

“Old acquaintance, ey?” The guy said as his face seemed to soften but his eyes remained cold.

“Yeah, this is Neal. Neal this is Liam." She said introducing the two men that were still staring at each other like they were about to enter in a fight, assessing their opponents.

“Neal, huh? Never heard of you before.” Liam said in an even voice.

“Yeah, I know, babe. But I did not even know he was in town and we just had so much stuff on our minds that I forgot to mention him. Sorry.” She said around a smile as she still did not meet any of their gazes, her voice more high-pitched than it used to be.

But all Neal could focus on was the man’s arm around her waist and the way she had addressed him. She had lied to him. She was in a relationship and had not had the guts to tell him. Instead she chose to make up a stupid excuse, a lie, to not see him again. And that hurt, a lot.

And the way she seemed so uncomfortable with the situation just confirmed that to him. And also that dude gave him bad vibes. Maybe he was a possessive little fucker but that was still no explanation why he should look at him like he wanted to murder Neal right now.

“Oh. Well, it was nice to meet ye, but we have things to do, so I would appreciate it if you could go now.” Liam said around a smile that was as cold as ice.

“I just wanted to talk to her for a sec, if that is possible.” Neal quickly said, her eyes widening at her words and she slightly shook her head. The motion so small that he thought he must have imagined it as she finally met his gaze, her green eyes full of an emotion he had never seen there before. One that looked almost fearful.

“Sorry, mate. But we are kinda in the middle of something here.” Liam said again and Emma finally met his eyes full on as she plastered a huge smile on her face.

“Liam is right. Sorry, Neal but I really think ye should leave. Maybe we can catch up later? This is just not a good time.” She said but Neal had a feeling that she was not going to hold true on her word.

“But-“

“I really think you should go now.” She said with a firm voice and now finally a smirk came to her boyfriend’s face as he basically gloated at Neal.

“You hear her, mate. It was good to meet ye but now you should leave.”

“Bye, Neal.” She said softly before suddenly the door was shut in his face. Neal stood there, dumbfounded, rooted on the spot. He could not believe this. This was just not true.

How could she be this cold? Had he really deceived himself that much? Had he really imagined all the good times they had, had only imagined the way they had connected? Even as friends? That she would be so cold to him now that she could not even look at him?

Had he really been that mistaken in her? Had she been with Liam for a long time now and just not had the guts to tell him that she was in a relationship? He would have understood. If she had just told him the truth. Had she already been with him when they first met? Was that why she did not want to see him again? Because she had cheated on her boyfriend with him and lied about it and now she felt guilty?