Page 165 of Masters of Secrets

“In the interest of good communication, I should tell you that John confronted me when I was taking the trash to the side of the house and told me that he wasn’t going to give you up because you two belonged together, and eventually, you’d realize that.”

Julie raised her eyebrows.

“What did you say to him?”

“I said ‘okay’ and walked away.”

She stared at him for a long moment, and he started thinking he’d fucked up again, then she started cackling. One hand on her stomach, leaning back in the booth, gasping for breath laughter.

“Oh God… please tell me you got a picture of his expression!”

Grinning back at her, relieved, Connor shook his head.

“It was really good, though.”

She snorted, she was laughing so hard, which made him chuckle.

“Damn, I wish I could have seen it,” she said as she managed to get her laughter under control, subsiding to giggles. She shook her head, then cocked it, looking at him with an invitation in her eyes. “Ah, well. Want to get out of here?”

“Hell, yes.”

Chapter Thirty

Julie

Waiting for Connor to settle up his tab with Shane, Julie admired how Connor’s ass looked in his jeans. After their conversation, she felt like she’d been able to fully relax for the first time since arriving at her parents’ yesterday.

It was going to be okay.

They’d done a much better job of communicating this evening. And she definitely needed to talk to her therapist about her triggers around her parents. Someday, maybe she’d be able to handle things less emotionally, but at least in hindsight, she was able to break down why she’d reacted the way she had. A combination of feeling like no one really cared about her and her feelings, along with the many old wounds from feeling like that when she was with John.

Connor wasn’t John, of course, but it made sense that her first serious relationship since her ex would reveal some major emotional baggage that needed to be dealt with. No one got out of a toxic relationship without carrying wounds that might appear unexpectedly in the next one.

Now, she and Connor understood each other better.

She could definitely see the people-pleasing thing. It was something she’d noticed before. She just hadn’t realized how deep it went. From what he’d said, it sounded like he’d been doing some Monday morning quarterbacking as well, thinking through why he’d done the things he had and why he’d reacted the way he had.

A tap on her shoulder made her jump and spin around. She hadn’t been paying attention to the people around her at all. Finding herself facing Law, with Iris right behind him, she let out the breath that she’d sucked in, holding back the yelp she’d almost uttered.

“Hey.” Law cleared his throat, looking wildly uncomfortable. He ran his hand over his head. “I need to apologize.”

Two apologies in one night. That was more than she usually got in a month. Unlike with Connor, though, this one felt like it was truly deserved and did not require an apology in return. Law had stepped way out of line.

“Okay.” Julie crossed her arms over her chest. She was still smarting. Not just because Law had tried to involve himself in her and Connor’s relationship, but because Law was supposed to be her friend, too… and they’d already had that discussion. “Go ahead.”

He cleared his throat again.

“I apologize. I was a shitty friend, and I was butting my nose in where it wasn’t my place to. I feel protective of Connor, but that’s no reason to be a bad friend to you.” He paused, then grunted, and Julie got the feeling Iris had poked him from behind. “Also, I apologize for being a massive hypocrite and coming down on you for doing the exact same thing I have done myself.”

A large hand came down on her shoulder, and Julie reached up to pat it, glancing up to see Connor frowning at Law.

“I didn’t ask you to talk to Julie for me,” he said, obviously upset that Law had done so.

“I didn’t think you had,” she reassured him. “And in his defense, he was doing it for you.”

Connor narrowed his eyes as he turned his gaze to her, recognizing that it was the same defense he’d used for trying to impress her parents.

“Mmm. So, that’s what it feels like to be on this side of it,” he said after a moment.