38 Julian
Julian
Three and a half hours.
That’s how long I’ve been waiting for Leti to get through with her date. For three and a half hours, I’ve been losing my goddamned mind trying not to overthink the situation. Andrew’s comments certainly aren’t helping my anxiety either.
“Were you really pacing outside?” I ask once I shut the door behind us. When she nods, a spike of fear keeps me at attention. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she lies. I know it’s a lie because she won’t look at me. “I needed some time to think, I guess.”
“About your date with Nathaniel?” I ask her. “You were out a pretty long time. It must’ve gone well.”
“I wasn’t with him the whole time. Elena and Bella sort of cornered me afterward and we talked for a while,” she says. “Then I came down here and paced for another few minutes before Andrew found me.”
“Oh.” Some measure of relief falls over me, but not enough to stop the anxiety making my pulse jump. There’s an emotion on her face I can’t read. “What did Elena and Bella want to talk to you about?”
“You,” she says. “And me. Us, I guess. They had some concerns about our deal, not that it matters since it’s pretty much over. We only have our date left now.” She hesitates a beat before adding, “And your other date, if it hasn’t happened yet.”
“Is that what you’re worried about?” I ask, because if it is, that’s easily resolved. “I don’t have to go out with them anymore if you don’t want me to. Like you said, our deal’s almost over. We can focus on us now.”
“That’s not what I want.” She shakes her head, but her expression isn’t any less concerning. “I want you to be sure.”
I am sure. More than sure.
But there’s no good way to tell her that without revealing everything she’s not ready for. I have to know how she feels about me first.
“If that’s what you want.” I shake my head. “Let’s talk about something else. I have some news I think will cheer you up.”
“Really?” she asks, her interest clearly piqued.
“It’s about our date.” I can’t help it. A grin inches its way across my face as I watch the way her brown eyes light up. “Theo’s throwing Marcela a surprise engagement party next weekend, and I figured we could go together.”
“Haven’t they been engaged for three months already?” Her nose scrunches in that adorable way of hers. “It’s a little late for an engagement party, isn’t it?”
“Not according to Theo,” I tell her. “If there’s anything I’ve learned about the man, it’s that all things patience and planning are his bread and butter. At least, when it comes to Marcela.”
“That’s sweet.” She smiles. “An engagement party. Wow. Our third first date will be completely different from our first and second.”
“I wouldn’t count on that.” My grin spreads wider. “What sort of third first date would it be if we didn’t retrace our steps? We’ll have lunch at Hopdoddy’s—”
“That’s the restaurant where we met four years ago.”
“So the memory thing comes and goes, huh?”
She slaps at my chest.
“Then we’ll hit the engagement party, have a late dinner at Sapporo, and catch the last showing of the newest rom-com since we missed out on the movie portion of our second first date,” I explain. “How does that sound?”
“Retracing our steps.” Her smile is radiant. “It sounds perfect.”
“Good.” I kiss her lips and linger there as her hands run through my hair. A shiver racks my body as I return for more, groaning as she opens for me. “You never told me how your date with Nathaniel went.”
“You really want to talk about that right now?” she asks, pushing me until the back of my legs hit the mattress. “I spent the entire night staring at the clock on my phone, willing the digits to move. Are you happy?”
“Was he that boring?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I was. He could tell my heart wasn’t in it and we called the night early.
” She tries to kiss me again, but I turn away, causing her lips to hit my cheek.
“I tried, Julian. Or at least, I tried to try with Nathaniel and the others. It’s not my fault they’re not much competition against you.
” She looks up at me. “That’s your fault, actually. ”
“Fine.” I make a show of blowing out a breath. “Then I suppose I have no choice but to shoulder the blame.”
“How very big of you.” She breathes into me before pulling away. “I should probably get going.”
“What?” Alarm shoots through me. “Why?”
“Andrew’s still out there,” she reminds me. “I can’t spend the night with you while he’s here. We traumatized him enough yesterday with the couch.”
“Yes, but we didn’t do anything untoward last night even while he was gone,” I remind her. “All we did was cuddle. It was completely innocent. We can do that again, but don’t leave.”
“Doesn’t matter.” She shakes her head. “He’ll think we’re hooking up if I don’t leave.”
“Not likely. The walls are paper thin,” I tell her. “He can probably hear this entire pointless argument we’re having.”
“I’d invite you upstairs, but we’ll run into the same problem with Bella and Mari. God, living with a roommate was so much easier when I thought I’d be single forever.”
“Leticia, seriously, your brother will be fine.” My hands rest on her shoulders. “And if he’s not, then he’ll have to deal. It’s as simple as that.”
She takes approximately one second to think it over before giving in. “Fine. But no funny business.”
“I promise to be a perfect gentleman.” I kiss the top of her head, relieved she’s staying. “You’re the one we have to worry about.”
“Excuse me?” She huffs. “You’re the one who literally begged me to stay the night. I resent the accusation.”
“Fine. I guess we’ll see then, won’t we?”