Melinda was a little distracted, so she didn't notice Alec looking at her earrings or any unease from him. In fact, his words burned her a little. Another girl? She knew he had plenty of friends other than her but apparently he liked one of them more than he liked her. She kept her cool, though, giving away nothing.
"Well, first I would think about what a relationship would really mean with her. What is she going to want as a sacrifice from you?" she asked, uncrossing her legs and sitting forward, elbows on the table. "Because there's always something. You don't want to...proceed as it were and then regret it and dump her, because then you've ruined your friendship. That's really the biggest risk you take in a situation like this. Losing the friendship."