Chapter Twenty-Two
Julian looked up as Mrs. Hudson approached him, sitting down beside him in the seats reserved for Isaac’s guests. They were the only two people on that list, so they had plenty of space to themselves.
It was nice to have a moment of peace. Julian’s stomach was tied up in knots for Isaac’s sake. He didn’t really care whether Isaac won or lost, but he knewIsaacwould.
That made him nervous. Excited, too, though. He hadn’t seen Isaac play in person since they were in school.
“Good thing the weather’s holding up for us,” Mrs. Hudson said as she settled in. “I was afraid those clouds earlier might open over the court.”
“That would have been a shame,” Julian said, though he wasn’t sure he believed that. He wanted Isaac to be happy, sure, but Isaac would have been just as happy to go home and curl up in bed.
At least, Julian thought he would be.
Hopedhe would be, maybe. He didn’t want to get his hopes up about any of this, but…
“So how are things with you? Isaac tells me you work in fraud analysis now.”
Julian nodded. “It’s less exciting than it sounds. I just flag credit card purchases that look a little suspicious. Most of the time, it’s nothing. The rest of the time it’s just kids or petty criminals. One or two stolen identities.”
“Sounds like you’re confident in it, though,” she said after a moment. “It’s nice to be comfortable. I sometimes wonder if maybe I did the wrong thing, pushing Isaac to pursue tennis.”
“Not at all,” Julian said immediately. “He loves it. You’ve seen the way he glows out there.”
Mrs. Hudson smiled a soft, knowing smile that told Julian he’d given himself away. “Well, I hope he’s treating you right,” she said. “And you know you can always come to me if you need to talk. About anything, Isaac included.”
Julian swallowed. “Thank you, but… we’re just pretending, so it’s been fine.”
Mrs. Hudson raised an eyebrow. “Honey, I’m old, notstupid,” she said.
“You’re not old,” Julian responded, partly because it was true, partly because he was trying to wriggle out of this conversation.
“I remember meeting a boy of thirteen who was so devoted to my son that I couldn’t help loving him, too,” Mrs. Hudson began, her voice just loud enough for Julian—and no one else—to hear. “And I can see that you’ve grown up into a thoughtful, sensible young man.”
Julian snorted. “I dunno about that,” he said, even as his insides melted. People didn’t go out of their way to say nice things about him often.
“I do,” Mrs. Hudson said in a tone that didn’t leave any space for argument. “And I’ve seen how much happier Isaac is with you in his life. I’m glad the two of you found each other again.”
Shifting in his seat, Julian gathered up the courage to look Mrs. Hudson in the eye. Her whole face was open, and warm, and she was smiling such a fond smile that Julian couldn’t help returning it.
“I like you,” she said. “And I like you for Isaac. What I’m saying is… I promise not to crytoomuch at the wedding.”
“I doubt there’s gonna be a wedding,” Julian said. “This is supposed to be temporary.”
Mrs. Hudson sighed. “I’ve never seen Isaac-”
She was cut off by the call for quiet, so Julian never found out what she’d never seen in Isaac before.
Wishful thinking made Julian want to believe that she’d been about to say that Isaac had never been happier. Ormore in love, deep down in his heart.
He wanted Isaac to be in love with him. Of course he did. He’d wanted that since they were just kids, and Julian was just starting to figure out what it meant that he liked boys.
He just knew better than to get his hopes up. Isaac had his pick of whoever he wanted, he’d only come to Julian because he knew he couldtrusthim.
And Julian valued that trust. More than anything else they’d had between them, that was the thing that made him happiest.
Not that the sex hadn’t been great, and not that he didn’t love the simple joy of Isaac’s company, but the trust meant a lot. Isaac spent his life in the spotlight, and Julian was glad he had somewhere to go to get away from all that.
It was stupid to let himself believe that maybe Isaac’s mom could see something he couldn’t, but hewantedto believe. Wanted to think that maybe this wasn’t all going to be over after the weekend.
None of that stopped the spark of hope in his heart as Isaac looked over at him from the court, grinning broadly.
He was so screwed.
