‘Coward,’ Jules mutters.
Savannah and Roman glance at him, surprised by the vitriol.
Lachlan remains unaffected.The champagne has at least softened the sharp edges of the bad feeling lodged deep in his bones.‘Back inside now?’
‘Yougo wherever you like,’ Jules tells him, sitting on the sand and staring up at the moon.He grabs an open bottle of champagne, drinks right from the neck.‘I’m fine out here.’
Lachlan is torn between wanting to escort Savannah safely to her room and needing to stay with Jules, especially on this wide-open beach.
Roman pats Lachlan’s shoulder.‘I will take her.You stay.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Yeah, thanks, Ro,’Jules drones sarcastically.
Roman gives Savannah a piggyback inside the mansion.
Lachlan waits until they’re alone to say, ‘It’s beneath you to be unkind.’
‘Yeah, well.You’d know.’
‘I was spinning out,’ he tells Jules.‘I’m sorry for being mean.’
‘What about earlier?Before that?’
‘Your jealousy is annoying to me,’ Lachlan admits honestly, perhaps a littletoohonestly.The first and only time he’d had champagne, he didn’t realise it would hit this hard.‘It’s so unnecessary.’
‘I can’t help it,’ Jules says, drinking more.‘You’re the only person I ever had that…’ He trails off, can’t finish, shakes his head.‘You like him.’
Lachlan casts about, debating.
Then he sits beside Jules.
The moon makes silvery ribbons of the water, disturbed by the adults who swim like idiotic children, unaware of what waits on the other side of the nets.
‘Not like that.’
‘But you could.’
‘Jules, come on.’
‘He’s like you.’
‘He’snothinglike me.’
‘He is, though.He’s tough and he’s brave.He’s never sulky or moody.He.’Jules swallows, and Lachlan sees watery moonlight in the dull fires of his eyes.‘He’s everything I’m not.’
‘Baby,’ Lachlan says, voice lowered to a whisper as he glances around to make sure that they’re alone.‘You’re being ridiculous.Iloveyou.I’m in love with you.It makes me sad how jealous you get over nothing.’
‘But it’s notnothingbecause you don’t want me the way everyone else does!’
‘And that’s a bad thing?’
‘It means I don’t know why you…’ Jules trails off, letting out a shaky breath indicative of his distress, sets down the champagne to press his thumb to his wrist just like Lachlan taught him.‘Why would you love me?’
The most powerful people in the world splash and squeal in dark oceans beneath the moon, and Lachlan can only stare at Jules.‘Are you serious?’
‘Forget it.’
