She nodded as she caressed his face.“No matter what happens next, you restored my faith in people and showed me what I need to aim for next time.”
Julian’s heart ached like it never had before, even after he’d lost Aimee.“I can’t bear to picture you with someone else.”
“Same.”
She reached for him, and he held her close, possibly for the last time ever, breathing in the distinctive scent that was now etched upon his heart and soul.He never wanted to forget a single detail of her or their time together.
“I’ll text you about Thursday.”
“Okay.Thank you for going with me.”
“Of course.”
“Do you think, maybe, we could stay friends?”
“I’m not sure I can be just friends with you.I’ll want to hold you and kiss you, among other things, and friends think you’re weird when you do things like that.”
She smiled and reached up to place her hand on his face.“I hope you’ll find a way to be happy in your life.You deserve all the good things.”
“So do you.”
“I don’t want to let you go.”
“I don’t want to be anywhere but with you.”
They held each other tightly for a long time before he forced himself to let her go, to stand up and to leave the best thing to ever happen to him.And yes, he was certain of that despite the short time he’d known her.
He was also certain he’d miss her for all the days that remained in his life.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
The next day was a blur for Julian, with nonstop fires at work to put out, band practice where he had to force himself to concentrate so he wouldn’t screw up an amazing opportunity for his friends and a sleepless night during which he’d stared up at the ceiling for hours, contemplating which would be worse—to break his vow to his siblings or to live without Isla for the rest of his life.
With every minute that passed without her, the vow became less important.All he wanted was her.He longed for her.He had to force himself to drive by her street on the way home when everything in him was pulling him in her direction.
“Julian,” Mattie said Thursday morning as he stared into space while she went over the schedule for his half day in the office.The wake wasn’t until four, so he’d leave around two to pick up Isla.
He tuned in to Mattie, realizing he’d checked out on her.“Sorry.What did you say?”
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?You’ve been wildly distracted lately.”
Everything was wrong.Every freaking thing had been wrong since the minute he’d left her weeping in her bed because he couldn’t be the man she needed.“Nothing’s wrong.What time is Cresley coming in?”
“You can lie to some people, my love, but Mattie isn’t one of them.What’s weighing on you?Is it that sweet young woman that has your head turned all around?”
Of course she knew.He could never get anything past her and usually didn’t care that she knew him as well as anyone did.Today, he wasn’t up to baring his soul to anyone, even someone who loved him like she did.“It’s complicated.”
“Always is when it matters.”
Goddamn, but she could cut to the chase like nobody’s business.
“Are you in love with her, bebe?”
“Hell if I know.”
“Yes, you do.That’s the problem, right?”
He shrugged, feeling as helpless as he had back when his parents had been fighting over him and his siblings.He hated that feeling more than anything.Trying to prevent that was why he’d gone to law school, so nothing could ever make him feel that way again.And now here he was… Locked in a situation he hadn’t seen coming, a situation that had taken over his heart and soul and his entire life, if he was being honest.
