JULIAN BENT ME OVER his desk like nothing could stop him from having me, like he was a man obsessed, and then just like that, he forgot about me. He spent the morning reassuring me that he didn’t want space and the afternoon proving that was all he wanted.
I could tell something was bothering him, and it took a lot of self-talk to convince myself that he wasn’t trying to push me away again. The stress in his eyes had been apparent, so I tried to give him the distance he needed to work through whatever was going on. But when he went so far as to leave our office and shut me out for the entire afternoon, I cracked.
I wanted to help him, but he needed to trust me enough for that. He needed to care about me enough to communicate. And clearly, he didn’t.
Refusing to stick around just to be ignored, I closed my laptop, called Gemma for an emergency drink, and made my way to the Bellflower. I didn’t really want to mention how I was dating her brother when I was irritated with him and hurt by his actions, but it might come to that. Because today, I needed my best friend.
But the person sitting next to me now wasn’t my best friend.
Not even close.
Greg scooted his chair closer to me at the bar, and I had to wring my hands together to keep from smacking him. I didn’t like how his hot breath stuck to my skin. I didn’t like how his eyes felt greedy while looking me up and down. I didn’t like how he just happened to be here.
“I’m happy we ran into each other,” he said as if he could read my mind, and the smile he flashed made me want to choke.
Ran into each other was one way of putting it.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” he continued, “but my texts won’t deliver for some reason.”
“I blocked you, Greg,” I said bluntly.
It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to admit. Greg’s eyes hardened in a way that tripped warning bells in my brain. He’d already snatched my phone away from me when I’d tried to tell Julian where I was, and now I felt oddly trapped even though I was in the middle of a crowded bar.
“Is it because Julian told you to?” He spat Julian’s name like he was the devil himself.
“Of course not.”
Sure, Julian had told me to block Greg, but I’d already decided I was done entertaining my ex’s faux niceness and attempts to “catch up.”
He raised a brow, a hint of satisfaction in the slight movement. “I thought you guys were fucking.”
Greg leaned in, making his curiosity about the question clear. He wrapped an arm around the back of my chair, and I felt slight brushes against my back that made me tense and want to bolt. But at least here we were in public, surrounded by onlookers. If I walked out of the bar now, Greg might follow me into the night.
Just the thought of that made my skin crawl.
When I didn’t reply, Greg continued to probe.
“That didn’t last long, huh?”
I couldn’t decide if it would be wise to tell the truth or not, so I avoided answering. I just needed to buy time until Julian got here. I hadn’t been able to say much on the phone, but I could tell he understood my ice cream comment. He remembered. He knew that I was with an ex, and he would likely deduce that it was Greg. And there was really only one place in the city where I went to get a drink, especially right after work.
Julian would be here. He might have acted grumpy and standoffish earlier, but he’d been like that toward me for most of his life. And he always came. When I needed him, he was always there.
“Greg.” I sighed heavily as I tried to inch away from him. He wasn’t really letting me. “Why are you here?”
“You know…” He cocked his head to the side, eyes scrutinizing me. “I don’t really get it. You went from hating Julian to sleeping with him. Tell me, how does that make sense?”
“You said yourself that I always used to talk about him when we were dating,” I replied without meeting his eyes.
“When we were dating,” he emphasized, making it obvious that I’d said the wrong thing. “We dated, yet you decided to let him fuck you and not me.”
Oh my God. He was absolutely delusional, wasn’t he?
“First of all, that was nearly a decade ago,” I snapped. “You need to let it go, Greg. We never slept together because I never trusted you. And clearly, for good reason, considering you cheated on me. Second of all, Julian and I are dating. Third, aren’t you engaged?”
Julian obviously had his faults, but he was the most loyal person I had ever met. He was endlessly selfless, and I trusted him with everything that I was. I always had, and I always would.
Greg’s head jerked back at my admittance. “You’re dating?”
I couldn’t help but notice he didn’t comment on the engaged part.
“Yes.” My jaw was clenched now, knowing I only had so much restraint left in me. I didn’t want to cause a scene, but I didn’t want to keep having this conversation. “We’re dating. So if you could please leave me the fuck alone, that would be great.”
Greg swallowed. And then narrowed his eyes before saying the most ridiculous shit I’d ever heard.
“I think you owe me.” His voice dropped to a level that made my hairs stand on end. “And I think golden boy needs to experience what it feels like to have everything fucking taken from him. When he kept me from finishing our senior season, he fucked up my entire goddamn life.”
Just as I felt his grip twist around my arm, I caught sight of a tall, handsome man with auburn hair pushing his way through the crowd by the entrance to the bar. Pure, sweet relief swept through me.
I was positive Greg hadn’t noticed him yet because he kept going on about how much he hated his life as if I would find sympathy for him. There was the possibility, I supposed, that if Julian hadn’t broken Greg’s fingers and ruined his football chances, he might not have this vindictive spirit in him, that he might have grown into someone who wasn’t as much of an asshole as he was in high school. But somehow, I didn’t think so.
Julian’s eyes caught on mine, and I melted into them. He mouthed my name, his expression desperate. Knowing he was there, just feet away, was what I needed.
Without wasting another second, I jerked my elbow up, connecting it with Greg’s nose. I didn’t think it was hard enough to do any damage, but it definitely surprised him, and I used that to twist out of his grip.
Seconds later, Julian caught me, enveloping me in his arms. I wanted to hang on to him and never, ever let go, but before I could even say a word, Julian tucked me behind his body and advanced on Greg, who had a hand to his nose, glaring furiously.
“What are you doing here, Kennedy?”
To the casual onlooker, Julian might sound conversational. But I could hear how his words were strained, forced. A hum of barely concealed rage wrapped around how he said Greg’s name.
Alarm sparked in Greg’s eyes, but he shrugged. “Got a new job nearby. I heard this was the place to go after work.”
Julian tensed at his clear implication. I could tell that he was fighting like hell to keep his temper under control, and honestly, I was impressed. But the reality was that there were countless eyes on us, and Julian was no longer a seventeen-year-old who could blame broken fingers on a football accident. The last thing I needed was for Greg to goad Julian into an assault and battery charge.
“Yeah?” Julian leaned in, clapping a heavy hand on Greg’s shoulder—hard enough that he flinched. “And where’d you hear that?”
“Fuck off, Briggs.” Greg tried to shrug off the hand, but Julian doubled down, fingers digging into Greg’s crisp white dress shirt.
“I’d be happy to fuck off and never see your face again, Kennedy,” Julian snarled, making my stomach somersault. “But that would mean you’d have to leave my girlfriend the hell alone. And since you can’t seem to manage that, I hope your new job nearby is understanding when you get served with a restraining order in the middle of a nine o’clock meeting.”
Greg’s face paled slightly at that, and I realized he must not be lying about the new job. I didn’t know how to feel about that, though. He seemed to care about keeping his job, which was good leverage, but I hated that he might live in Boston now.
Clearing my throat, I stepped up beside the fire-breathing dragon that was my boyfriend at the moment. “I think we know a few judges that could help with that. Don’t we, Julian baby?”
I watched the red cloud dissipate from Julian’s gaze as he blinked over at me, removing his hand from Kennedy’s shoulder and readjusting to wrap his arm around my back, tugging me closer.
“We sure do,” he said, his voice filled with grit and gravel. And also tenderness. Tenderness that I knew was for me.
I relaxed. It felt really good knowing that we got to shoulder our problems together from now on. Julian brushed his lips over my temple before turning back to Greg.
“Enjoy your first and last drink at the Bellflower, Kennedy. Pretty soon, you won’t be able to get within three city blocks of Juniper without being arrested, so don’t ever fucking plan on coming back here.”
Greg didn’t reply. He simply glowered in Julian’s direction, even though Julian didn’t seem to care. Having said what he needed to say, he nudged me back a step, and I was more than happy to lead the way out of the bar.
As soon as I emerged onto the city street, I whirled around to face Julian. His clenched jaw softened as soon as our eyes met, and then he crushed us together, slipping his hand to the nape of my neck and using his grip to pull my face to his.
“Juni…” he breathed.
I loved it when he did that. When he seemed to say my name just because he liked the way it sounded coming from his lips.
“Yeah?” My voice was just a wisp on the wind.
“You scared the shit out of me,” he groaned before slamming our lips together for a rough, bruising kiss. It only lasted a few moments, but I felt Julian everywhere—from the tips of my toes to the lips he was kissing.
That is, until we were interrupted by the clearing of a throat.
Realization slammed into me before I even pulled back from Julian. I knew exactly who that was. After all, I’d called her to meet me here. And now here she was. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, with the wind blowing her gingery hair around her face, was my best friend.
And she’d just caught me kissing the life out of her brother.
