Chapter 17
Parker
Itighten the cuff links on my dress shirt. The Merrymynt ball is formal attire—at least, that’s what Blair told me when I was packing for the trip. While it’s not what I like to wear, I do have one formal outfit, which will be perfect for tonight.
“Knock, knock,” Jules says, knocking on the door frame.
My heart stops when I see her. She’s a dream in a deep-green dress.
It’s got long sleeves, but it hugs her in all the right places.
I want to bury my head in the crook of her neck and run my hands all over her curves.
I clench my hand into a fist, trying to regain some sort of control.
“You look gorgeous.” The words come out gruff.
She smiles, making her look even more dazzling, and steps toward me. “You polish up real nice too.”
Her hair is down, and she’s done something to it that makes it all wavy and it falls softly around her shoulders.
Even in high school, she never dressed like this.
I’ll take every version of her, but it’s going to be hard to look at anyone or anything else tonight—not that I want to.
I’m perfectly happy with having her take all of my attention.
“So, will you dance with me?” she asks.
“Of course,” I say. I’m about to tell her that I’ll save every dance for her when her phone vibrates in her hand, again and again.
She pales as she reads the onslaught of incoming texts.
Axel
I miss you, Juliet.
I’m the one for you. Not that nerd.
I saw how you looked at me earlier. Please, come back to me. I’ll never hurt you again.
Please, babe, you’re MINE.
I pull the phone from her trembling fingers and quickly block him. “He’s blocked. He can’t text you anymore. You okay?”
She takes her phone back from me. “I’m mad, more than anything. I hate that he’s here. I hate that he’s trying to ruin everything. I thought he understood where I’m at with our conversation earlier. I’m so sorry.”
I brush a curl out of her face. “Hey, none of that. You have no reason to be sorry. He’s not ruining anything.”
“You’ll probably have to stay close all night, because if he sees me alone, who knows what he’ll do.”
The thought of him hurting her—in any way—ever again has my blood turning cold. “If I’m not with you, Blair can be.”
“I can what?” Blair asks, clipping up her hair as she steps into the small room.
Jules holds out her phone to show her the texts. Blair frowns. “You’d better block him; that’s a little intense.”
“Already done,” I say.
“And we’ll be by your side all night,” Blair says.
“I hate feeling like I need to have security with me,” Jules grumbles. “I just want to enjoy the ball.”
“And we’ll have a blast. But no making out on the dance floor; this is a family-friendly event,” Blair says.
“We’re not going to make out on the dance floor,” Jules says.
“Well, you were making out last night in front of all those people, so it wouldn’t surprise me,” Blair teases. Over Juliet’s head, she catches my eye and winks. “But if you two need to sneak away or come back to the cabin early…just let me know and I’ll stay away.”
I clear my throat. “We’re moving slow, so I think we’ll be okay.”
She rolls her eyes. “You can barely keep your hands off of each other, but okay.”
It’s true. We spent a lot of today curled up together on the couch, mostly laughing and talking, but there was a lot of kissing. I like holding Juliet’s hand—and holding her in general. I just want her to be close to me.
“Well, we can dance, and that’ll be great,” Jules says, looking at me. “Right, ripper?”
“You’re going to pay for that,” I growl.
She giggles. “I certainly hope so.”
“I cannot believe you ripped your pants while doing a squat,” Blair laughs. “That’s the best thing that’s happened this trip. Besides me faking getting sick so the two of you could spend time together.”
Time stills.
“What?” Jules croaks.
“The two of you needed a little assistance. I just helped move things along. We only had a few days together, and as soon as I saw you together, the way you watched each other, I knew something had to be done.” Blair pulls out her phone and plays a noise.
A retching noise. Jules steps back into me, her back against my chest, and my arm goes around her protectively.
“What?” This time I’m the one who’s asking. “You weren’t really sick?”
Blair laughs, shaking her head. “I’ve known about your crush for years, dude. And when her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, I knew what had to happen. But the two of you are too slow, too in your own shells, so I had to make something happen. I just can’t believe it actually worked.”
I have no words right now. My sister…she…but I can’t even be mad at her, because I’m holding Jules, and she wants me. But I kind of hate that it feels like we were tricked into this.