Then he pulls away to take in my entire outfit. “You look nice,” he says. “Where are you going tonight?”
“How do you know I wasn’t coming here?” I ask, looking at my short leather skirt, dark tights, black combat boots, and kelly-green sweater.
Julian chuckles. “This isn’t your scene, Chef.”
He uses the pet name as a joke. It’s really more Archer’s style to use it. Hearing it on Julian’s lips makes me instantly miss our third.
That was a weird thing to think, wasn’t it?Our third.
What’s even weirder than that is why Julian is suddenly treating me with kindness and respect when before the elevator, he treated me like dirt beneath his shoe.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask bluntly.
He steps away from the wall and shoves his hands in his pockets. “What did Archer call it? Wetrauma bonded.”
“And why are you agreeing to this dinner tomorrow? What’s the point?”
The more Julian looks at me with those eyes, giving me the warmth of his attention, the more I feel increasingly drawn to him. It has me wondering what those lips would feel like. Or those long fingers against my skin, gripping me tightly.
Okay, I need to get out of this sex club.
“The point?” he repeats my question. “Because a wise woman once said…if I ever got stuck in an elevator with two perfectly nice people again, I should consider making a connection. So that’s what I’m doing.”
“Very funny.” I want to tell him that when I suggested that to him, I wasn’t implying he needed to include me.
But deep down, I can’t fight this feeling that I actually enjoybeing around Julian in some strange way. I like being around both of them. As if Julian’s cool temperature counteracts Archer’s blazing heat. As if the connection between three people is somehow stronger than the connection between two.
“Okay, done,” a sweet feminine voice chirps from behind Julian.
Julian glares at his sister as she approaches my side. “It’s Monday, Mel. You know,myday.”
“What?” she asks with her hands up in surrender. “I just had to check on those candles.”
“It couldn’t wait until tomorrow? What if you walked in on something you don’t want to see?”
There’s a strange, cold feeling in my stomach as he says that. Images of him with some stranger against the wall course through my mind. Why do I hate that vision so much? My brows knit together as they bicker, and Julian glances my way, noticing my sour expression.
“Next time,” he says, “stick to your own days.”
Amelia scoffs with a roll of her eyes. “Fine. Let’s go, Freya.”
“See you tomorrow,” he whispers to me as I move out from between him and the wall. His hand lingers on my spine before I follow my friend out of the club. Julian’s gaze warms my back until I disappear through the curtain.
Rule #10: A casual dinner with friends is nothing to be scared of.
Julian
Why the hell am I doing this?
Because seeing her in my club last night felt nice, really fucking nice. And maybe Archer was onto something. Maybe we did bond.
And so what? It’s just a dinner with some new friends. Which is laughable really for a guy like me who hasnofriends and never has. My best friend is my little sister. Pathetic.
Onyx meows, watching me fix my hair in the mirror.
“I know,” I mutter to her as she rubs against my leg. “I’m trying. Maybe it’ll be fun. Unless, of course, they start making out and I’m stuck being the third wheel. How awkward would that be? Hell, for all I know, they’re already fucking. Maybe this is a bad idea.”
Meow.
