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“I can’t imagine it.”
“I swear,” I smirked as I felt Julian’s fingertips slip just under my shorts. “She’s from a small, shitty town like me, and that place did a number on her for awhile, so I think when Lukas came around, that was the turning point.”
“You’re from a small, shitty town?” Julian turned to face me. “Where?”
I paused and blinked up at him, forgetting I’d even said that. My fingers smoothed over the sudden knot I felt in my throat, but I gathered myself quickly.
“You know, it’s every bit like you to weed out anything I say about Lia, and just listen to the part about me.”
“Yes. I don’t like her. I like you. Is that surprising?”
I smacked him so hard on the chest he actually winced as he laughed.
“Don’t you dare say you don’t like my best friend, Julian. I mean it. Especially when I know you do like her as a human being. If you’re Lukas’s friend, you have to. It’s not like she didn’t do worlds of good for him, too.”
“Fair.”
“Say one nice thing about Lia.”
“She has the good sense to associate with people like Lukas and yourself.”
“That doesn’t count!” I feigned anger, pushing away to walk ahead of Julian. But with two hands on my hips, he grabbed me back, and I grinned as I felt his lips in my hair.
“I like how you look when you get defensive of her,” he said low in my ear.
“Still doesn’t count,” I huffed, though in reality, I was far from pissed. I was nothing but pleased with Julian’s arms crossed around my body, my hands hanging on his forearms. My heart was beating fast over how good it felt to just melt back into his chest.
I was seconds from drifting off on a cloud when I heard a voice yell, “Oh shit! Look who it is!”
And suddenly, Julian was torn away from me, lost in a crowd of people eager to greet him.
There were more than half a dozen people around him, but I couldn’t help noticing the woman in the long emerald dress with the sophisticated, trimmed-to-perfection pixie cut. I had first looked at her because I never failed to be in awe of women who pulled off that hairstyle. To me, it had strict prerequisite bone structure requirements that very few people possessed. My mother was among them, but I was definitely not, so it never failed to pique my interest.
But then, of course, I started noticing Pixie Cut for different reasons.
Judging from the way she very gingerly rested her hand on Julian’s shoulder, and very slowly kissed his cheek, she knew him. And judging from the way her eyes flicked from me back to him before she smirked and murmured something, she probably knew him as more than just a friend.
Oh.
Fuck.
I hadn’t expected to deal with this – the situation or the emotions involved – and I wasn’t prepared. For starters, I wasn’t wearing a damned ball gown like Pixie was, nor was I dripping in gorgeously fine, expensive-looking jewelry like she was. The playing field wasn’t exactly level, but at the same time, why did I feel it needed to be? I didn’t own Julian. He’d never even called this a date. Realistically, it was – it had to be – but he hadn’t introduced me to anyone yet.
Then again, a decently buzzed Emmett had quickly approached to introduce himself to me. He had a big, excited smile on his face as he said, in a strangely restrained voice, “Nice to meet you. Julian has spoken about you.” He held his arms out defensively and cried, “What?” when Julian shot him a look across the fire pit. “What? I didn’t say anything weird!”
I was thankful for Emmett, because I definitely needed that laugh. Also, the mere fact that he was standing near me was apparently good enough reason for Julian to come back, circle an arm around my waist and reclaim me.
“You guys have a nice introduction?” Julian asked with wary amusement, his glare engaged in some sort of silent conversation with Emmett’s.
“We had a perfectly normal introduction, during which I revealed no more information than was necessary,” Emmett grinned at Julian. He pointed his thumb at Julian when he turned to me. “Sometimes I talk like him so he’ll understand what the hell I’m saying.”
“I still don’t understand him for shit,” Julian laughed as he brought me away to the two empty seats beside Lukas and Lia.
Lia was wrapped u
p in a blanket now. It went up to the middle of her nose and made her giddy eyes peering at me look all the more cartoonish. To Julian’s annoyance, she asked to switch seats with him for a bit so that she could be next to me. The fire flickered with mischief in her eyes as she sat down, dropped her legs in my lap and leaned into my ear.
“Oh my God, he’s being so un-Julian right now,” she whispered, putting a big grin on my face.
