Page 66 of Not Mine To Love

I groaned. Couldn’t a girl have a little privacy? Apparently not with best friends like Piper and Dana.

I tried to deflect. “Didn’t you want to see me about my business plan?”

“The business plan looks great,” Piper said. “Tell me about this Julius character. He sounds like a Roman deity. Is he built like one too?”

I could either dodge the question and then spend the next half an hour dodging similar questions, or I could just give her the rundown.

“I love him. He loves me. Yes, he reminds me of a minor deity. Kind of like a young Thor. No, we’re not together right now. No, I don’t know why. The end. Now can we talk about my business plan?”

She looked disappointed, but luckily Ty walked in at that very moment. “Becca, great, you’re here already. I thought I heard your voice. Love the business plan, but I have a few questions—"

He stopped abruptly when he realized that Piper was giving him a dirty look.

“What did I say?” he asked, looking from me to Piper, puzzled.

“Nothing, Ty, Piper is just being nosey and inquiring about my love life.”

Ty raised his hands as if to ward off evil demons. “Then I’ll leave you two to it.”

“No!” I said more forcefully than I should have. “I don’t want to talk about my love life. I just want to focus on my career. That’s all I can handle right now.” I was tearing up, and I didn’t know why.

Piper handed me a tissue. “Oh, Becca, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry. Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

I shook my head. “No. I just want to talk about my business plan. I don’t want to talk about love. Or men. Or anything. Just business. Okay?”

Piper looked ready to argue, but Ty shot her a look.

“Sure, Becca,” Ty said. “That’s fine. Just business. Okay, Piper? Just business.”

Piper looked at me and then at Ty and sighed, “Fine.”

God, I needed a break from so many prying questions. I just really needed a break from love.

* * *

“So do you have a new boyfriend?” Meredith asked as I helped her look over her sheet music for her next play. I shook my head. It was the next day, but it seemed I just couldn’t get away from conversations directly, or indirectly, related to my love life.

We were at a park near her home. We hadn’t spent a lot of time together since the whole Julius and Ana debacle, so I was trying to make up for that by taking her to the park and practicing music with her.

“What makes you think I have a boyfriend?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. You just seem, you know, happier. Sort of like when Mom got together with Carter.”

I thought about her comment and Dana’s comment from the day before. I guessed that was what love did to you, even when you couldn’t really act on it. Love made the world seem brighter. It made you happier. That was why love was so powerful. And I knew that was why I couldn’t resist Julius. I loved him. It was as simple as that. I was in love with Julius. I couldn’t tell him that or rather, I wouldn’t tell him that. I hadn’t actually spoken to him since the night we made love on the sofa. I was too scared to speak to him. I couldn’t trust myself.

He called over and over. He texted me and even emailed me, but I ignored all his attempts at communicating with me.

I was also ignoring Claire. I didn’t care if Ana never spoke to her again; that was Ana’s decision, not mine.

I realized that Meredith was waiting for me to say something. “You know if I had a boyfriend, you would be the first person I would tell.”

“Really?” Her tone was dubious.

“Yes, really.”

“You promise?”

“Pinky swear.”