Page 50 of Sweet Spot

“Didn’t think so. So go ahead. What is it you’d like to say right now, Julian?” I asked. I normally wasn’t this bold or up front, but I didn’t think twice about it – I’d been unrecognizable to myself as of late, but the changes I saw were nothing I took issue with. Of course, they took Julian by surprise. He was mostly stoic but I caught that brief twitch in his brow.

“I can tell why he likes you.”

“Why is that?”

“Because you’re an odd mix of cute and innocent and sharp as a whip. In case you’re unaware, that’s every man’s Kryptonite,” he said casually, changing the subject before I could process the compliment. “I should let you know that what my brother said before was no mistake. He does that every time Lukas brings a girl around his friends.”

I squinted. “What do you mean?”

“He mislabels every one of the flings as the ‘girl’ or the ‘girlfriend’ because he enjoys making Lukas uncomfortable. Every time Emmett does it, Lukas will correct him in front of everyone like an asshole,” Julian said, turning briefly away to order some drinks. “You’d think he could just let the comment thing slide in front of so many people, but he doesn’t. Because that’s been his rule for as long as I’ve known him and even prior to that. No girlfriends.”

“I thought his rule was no kids,” I said dryly.

“That as well. But that brings me to the fact that that conversation clearly upset you just now.”

“And why exactly are you bringing that up with me?”

“Because I need to ask you a favor.”

I was sure I couldn’t have looked more confused. “What?”

“I need you to wait till the end of the month before you run off on Lukas.” Julian faced me fully now. “Obviously, you like each other. He likes you enough to let Emmett call you his girl in front of all these people. You like him enough to be upset by the fact that he doesn’t want kids. So do me a favor and wait before you undoubtedly end things over some freak-out about your career or your time or the fact that he’s distracting you,” Julian said almost mockingly, pissing me off despite the sheer accuracy of his words. “There’s a day coming up soon that’s going to be a hard time for him. It’s the anniversary of what I hope is the worst thing that’ll ever happen in his lifetime, and it’s why Tess is away right now. It’s why I need you to wait till that day passes. You can ghost him all you want after but till the end of the month, I need you to stick around.”

I stared in disbelief of what he was both telling and asking me. “Are you not going to provide details about what this day is?”

“No.”

“Are you serious?” I asked incredulously. “You can’t possibly make that kind of request without giving me some context.”

Julian took his Scotch in his hand. “I gave more than enough context for a nice girl like you. You’re not going to be able to hear that and walk away without guilt a this point so yes, I can make that request without saying anything further because I just did,” he said, taking a drink from his glass. “Your champagne’s on the bar,” he added before walking back to the table.

I was stunned as I watched him go.

And angry.

And intrigued.

What the hell was I feeling right now? I couldn’t pin it. Before this conversation, I was pretty sure I was disappointed in Lukas and upset with myself for caring that he didn’t want kids. But as I excused myself from the table, I’d reminded myself it was good to know that particular deal breaker because there was no endgame with Lukas. I’d gotten understandably carried away this weekend and I needed to get that under control – that was what I was thinking as I stood in line for the bathroom.

But now I was ticked off at Julian, curious and vaguely worried about Lukas, and in general, confused. I wanted to find Lukas and find out everything about him, but I was also afraid to face him again. A part of me feared that he’d just reached his limit with me – that Bryce had just reminded him that no quality of sex was worth the burden of a woman seeking a relationship. I could imagine him sitting at that table right now, trying to figure out how to tell me that he suddenly had to go and that we probably shouldn’t see each other after this.

For several minutes, I stood at the end of the bar, paralyzed with complete dilemma.

But soon enough, I was watching Lukas walk over to me with his head tilted just so.

“Why do you keep doing this to me?” he asked with a gentle laugh. Just hearing it made me relax my posture.

“Do what?”

“Leave me alone with those people.”

“Aren’t they your friends?”

“Some of them. Some are Emmett’s friends. Some are people I imagine he just met at another bar. He tends to collect people over the course of a night.”

I smiled. “Well, they’re not a bad collection of people. Save for… maybe Bryce.”

“He’s not all bad. He’s just a professional ball-buster,” Lukas said, helping me off my barstool. “Can I take you somewhere else now?”