Chapter Twenty-Five
When Isaac’s mom told him that Julian hadn’t shown up for his last two matches of the day, he started to worry. Was Julian okay? Where had he gotten to, and why hadn’t he told anyone if he was leaving?
Isaac had just taken out his phone to text him when he spotted a shadowy figure lurking in a dark corner. A familiar shadowy figure. Breathing a sigh of relief, Isaac went over to check on him.
“Isaac,” Julian said softly, an unreadable expression on his face that made Isaac pause in his steps.
“Everything okay?” Isaac asked. “Mom said you disappeared.”
“I…” Julian swallowed audibly, the sound lodging itself in Isaac’s heart like a sharp-edged stone. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good.
“Talk to me,” Isaac prodded. Whatever it was, they could tackle it together.
“Why did you lie to me?” Julian asked, his voice cracking.
Isaac’s heart raced. Lie to him? He’d never… at least, he couldn’t remember…
“I knew this was temporary in the beginning and I was okay with that,” Julian said. “But then you were so sweet and you made me feel like it was just us, like itmeantsomething, but… if you were going to break up with me the whole time, whydothat?”
“Break up with you?” Isaac asked, feeling as though he was a half-dozen steps behind Julian and flailing to catch up. “I’m not gonna-”
“I heard you,” Julian interrupted sharply. “I heard a recording of you saying you were gonna break up with me after the tournament.”
“From Adriana?” Isaac asked, his brain replaying their last encounter for him almost immediately. He’d had a bad feeling about it then, and he’d been waiting for it to come back and bite him since.
He just hadn’t expected it to be this fast.
Julian nodded, looking at him as though that confirmed everything.
“She played you a recording of me saying something like ‘gonna break up with him after the tournament,’ right?” He couldn’t remember his exact words, but he remembered being goaded into saying so.
The look on Julian’s face was enough to break Isaac’s heart, but the fact that Julian hadbelievedher… that hurt, too.
Shit, that was like a slap in the face. Julian had seen how much Adriana had hurt him. Why would he suddenly confide in her?
“Then she didn’t play you theI’m notat the beginning,” Isaac said. “Come on, man. You can’t tell me you believed her.”
Indecision flashed over Julian’s face.
It felt more or less like Isaac imagined being stabbed in the chest would.
Julian was supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt. Julian was supposed to be his best friend, the one person he could rely on. And he’d heard from one jealous ex-girlfriend and now he was taking her side?
Shock and anger bubbled up in Isaac’s gut. He’d trusted Julian. Trusted him with his secrets, with his heart, and this…
Ithurt.
“She made several compelling arguments. Do you take everyone on special little dates?” Julian asked.
“Am I in trouble for being a good boyfriend, now? Of course I do. What the hell does that mean?”
Julian opened his mouth to respond, but it was too late. Panic rose in Isaac’s throat, the overwhelming sense of grief at not even being able to rely on his childhood best friend making his pain overflow.
Everyone else treated him like he was an asshole, but this was the first timeJulianhad done it.
“You believed her overme,” Isaac said. “After you saw me intearswhen she got mad at me over you. You listened to her lies about me and you didn’t even ask me for my side of the story first. I trusted you. I…”
I love you, Isaac didn’t say. The sense of betrayal was too raw right now, too fresh.
