The List

Chapter Twenty Eight

It's been two weeks since I've seen Rhett, since I've seen the defeated look in his beautiful eyes, and I miss him more than I thought I would. His eyes have been burned into my mind since the moment I told him I didn't love him.

Liam's been checking on me every day, just to get him to stop I agree to have lunch with him one morning. We meet at one of the diners close to campus and he sits across from me. We make small talk, he asks about classes, my treatments, and I give him one word responses. As our plates are set in front of us, Liam digs into his burger while I play with the fries in front of me.

"This lunch was for us to talk, not for you to stare at your plate the whole time." He teases. "You need to eat, too."

"What do you want to talk about Liam?" I question, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "We talked about school, my treatments,  so what's left?"

"I miss my baby sister." He sighs.

"She's right here." I say, already not liking how this lunch will go.

He shakes his head. "Physically, yes. Mentally and emotionally, no."

"What do you want from me, Lee?" I demand. "I feel like I'm suffocating and you're not giving me any room to breathe."

"What happened to that smile of yours?"

I plaster a fake smile on my face, hoping to amuse him. "It's right here."

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head at me. "Not what I meant. Where's your real smile, Care?"

"I don't know." I answer honestly.

"Rhett misses you." Liam says. "A lot."

I roll my eyes and feel my insides begin to boil as he says his name. "Yeah, that's why as soon as I told him to leave, he was in bed with another girl."

Liam cringes, as if trying not to picture me and Rhett together. "I still hate hearing that you two slept together, but I'll get over that. He misses you sis. That girl didn't mean anything."

"How can you defend that, Liam?" I question, my voice raising. "He slept with your sister, and you're okay with him just moving on like I meant nothing?"

Half of the diner has turned to stare at us, but Liam doesn't even seem fazed. A glare is set on his face, showing he's ready to rip me a new one.

"You want to go there?" He says. "How about that you've been lying to him since the day you met? He still doesn't know you're sick."

My eyes fill up with rage, as Liam once again brings up the past I can't keep running from. My doctor decided to call my mom after our appointment and let her know what the dreaded results were. She's called me twice, but I've let her go to voicemail both times. I was barely able to tell Liam the day after, how the hell does he expect me to be able to tell Rhett?

"Don't even-"

Liam raises a finger to silence me. "You told him to move on, Care. You have no right to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous." I scoff.

"Bullshit." Liam spits out. "Rhett loves and misses you. It's about time you swallow your own pride and admit you feel that way too."

Liam digs into his wallet and fishes out two twenties. "That covers lunch. Tell Rhett the truth, before I do it for you."

As Liam slides out of the booth, I grab my purse trying to keep up with him.

"You don't have a damn right to tell him that!" I scream at him. "It's my choice!"

"Your choice?" Liam shouts, turning around and getting in my face. "Your choice is selfish."