I give him a sharp look, but he just winks at me.
After a while, once we’ve put our clothes back on and cooled down, I walk him to the door, still unsure about where he is. He hugs me and kisses my lips gently, meeting my eyes with a sweet smile as he lets go.
“I—” He swallows uncertainly. “About earlier. I just have a lot of… pressure on me. My friends, my family—they all expect me to be a certain way. I’m the oldest, and my parents and grandma aresoproud, but I have to live up to what they expect, you know?” He takes a deep breath. “I’ve gotta go to school, earn my soccer scholarship by kicking ass on the field and keeping my grades up. Make something of myself, become a strong, successfulman.”
I study him, taking his hand. He twines his fingers with mine and smiles softly down at them.
“Which I definitely intend to do. But here, with you, I just felt…” He huffs a small laugh, and I can tell he feels vulnerable sharing this with me. “Safe. Like I could just be me and not worry about anything. It was such a relief, such a weight off. And that’s why I got all choked up. So… thank you.” When his eyesmeet mine again, a pang hits my chest at the sight of so much depth in them.
I squeeze his hands. “I love that I could be that for you.”
“I love it too.”
Suddenly, saying goodbye feels so hard, and I really don’t want him to go. Not yet. I’m about to say this when he releases my hands, leans in, and pinches my chin before kissing my lips softly.
His eyes are twinkling. “Goodnight, Chelsea.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Oh, that wassonot a final goodbye. He is most definitely planning to come back here.
I’ll just have to see what I can do about that.
Chapter
Eight
It’s Saturday night,and I’ve stationed myself in the backyard on a lounge chair with a blanket, my Kindle, and a glass of wine. I can’t even hear the doorbell out here, so I figure I’ll be safe if Julian decides to come despite my telling him not to. I even locked the back gate for some extra insurance.
After night has fallen, I hear a rattling at the gate, like someone is trying to open it. Then it shudders and shakes as I clearly hear someone climbing up the other side.
Shit.
Either Julian is very persistent, or I’m about to have a run-in with a prowler. I set my Kindle down and pull my legs up into the shadowed upper portion of my chair. A dark figure makes it to the top of the gate then swings its legs over and drops to the ground.
“I’m armed,” I say loudly, not moving a muscle. My heart is racing.Please let this not be a criminal.
The figure freezes and turns toward me with arms raised. “Chelsea?”
I sigh in relief. “Julian,” I say dryly. “Have you ever heard of the Make My Day Law?”
He blows out a breath. “Jesus, you scared me.”
“Iscaredyou? You’re the one scaling my fence!” He also made it seem frighteningly easy. I make a mental note to put some of those motion-sensor lights back here.
Julian reaches up to the switch on a string of bulbs overhead and clicks them on. Soft light chases most of the gloom away.
“There you are,” he says, beaming at me as he comes to sit on the lounger next to mine.
His sparkling eyes appear almost black in the warm, low light, and I try not to notice how the short sleeves of his tight T-shirt hug his upper arms.
I give him my best unimpressed look. “Yes, here I am. You managed to find where I was hiding.”
“So youwerehiding!” he says accusingly.
“Don’t turn this around on me, mister. You’re the one who broke our agreementandbroke into my yard.”
“Yeah,” he says sheepishly.
“And don’t think I don’t know you planned that all along.” I wag my finger at him. “I knew last night that you had every intention of coming back here.”
