Page 7 of Sugarplum

Julie’s hand reached out and punched him, and she was dimly aware of a sickening crunch as it connected with his jaw. By now, a small group of spectators had noticed what was going on, but they couldn’t quite understand why Julie stood over Dorian, with her hand clenched in pain as he lay on the floor, bleeding.

“You self-entitled jackass. Did you honestly think that you could get away with this? I’m a human being, not some commodity to be bought, or somebody to be used and tossed aside when you are done. I don’t know what kind of sick mind you have that would make you think that it’s ever okay to force yourself on a woman just because she’s dressed a certain way. That makes you an animal not a man.” She felt a pair of arms go around her, and she began kicking. “You freaking coward!”

She was dragged outside by a pair of arms that were much stronger than hers, and as she struggled to get out of their grasp, she noticed that her assailant had his hand around her mouth. She opened her mouth and dug her teeth in as hard as she could.

Her assailant shouted as he pulled his hand away allowing her to break free. She wheeled around, ready to land in another punch, when all of a sudden her entire body froze. Her brain wasn’t quite catching up to what her eyes were seeing.

He didn’t look all that different. His hair was a bit longer, but he still had the same scar on his right eye. His pants were rolled up around the ankles, and his shirt had the first 2 buttons popped open. His white shirt had smudges all over it, and his hair stuck up in tufts on his head.

“Julie.”

The sound of his voice snapped her out of her state of shock as every single nerve in her body began to come back online. Her foot took one step forward of its own accord, and she tried to unglue her mouth with the help of her tongue.

“Chace,” she said weakly as it fully dawned on her that she was standing in front of her ex.

Chapter Four

“What are you doing here?” Julie asked as she subconsciously took a step backwards, hastily lifting her shoulder strap. She had envisioned this meeting happening so many times in her head. There were so many nights when she pictured him so clearly, that she could almost feel him. She could almost smell him, she could almost hear the sound of his deep voice sending shivers up and down her spine the way it used to. She always said that his voice sounded husky, like he just woke up, and it was always sexy as hell.

Hearing his voice again after all this time was taking her back in time. She shook her head as she noticed that Chace’s lips were moving, but she hadn’t heard a word he said. It was like she was submerged underwater; all the sounds around her were amplified, but she couldn’t actually make out what was being said. The words sounded like they were garbled.

“I’m sorry, what?” Her voice sounded strange to her own ears. It sounded forced, strangled, almost like she was choking back every word she’d ever wanted to say to him.

“I said, I was invited to the wedding,” Chace repeated as he stared at her curiously. “You don’t look so good, Julie. Do you want to sit down?”

Julie blinked. “No, no, I’m fine.” She lurched forward, and Chace held out a hand to stop her. She gazed up at him. “Maybe I should sit down. Just for a minute.”

With that, she plopped down, right where she was standing. Chace held back a laugh as he sat down across from her, careful to keep a few feet of distance between them. The blood came rushing back in her head, and she started to feel a bit better now that she was off her feet.

“You know the groom?” Julie asked as she toyed with a loose strand of cloth.

“Yeah, Joshua and I were good mates back in college. We lost touch for a while, and reconnected recently.”

Julie nodded. “That’s cool.”

Chace gestured towards her. “What about you? I’m assuming you know Melody.”

“Yeah, you’d be right about that. We’re not that close, but Melody is pretty cool.”

They lapsed into silence as they let the sounds of the night envelope them in a cocoon of warmth, sheltered from the outside world. Julie could just barely make out the smell of freshly cut grass, peonies, and the smell of the crisp night air. She gulped in a lungful of air as she tried to clear away the haze in her brain.

Chace leaned forward and pressed his hand to her forehead. Julie looked at him questioningly. “What are you doing?”

“I thought you might be feverish. It’s good to see that you aren’t.” Chace shrugged as he hurriedly pulled his hand away.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

Chace looked startled for a moment before his face returned to its mask of smooth indifference. “Why wouldn’t I be? You looked like you needed a little help in there.”

Julie crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I didn’t. I had it under control.”

An amused grin tugged at the corner of his lips. “I could see that obviously, but I didn’t mean help in that way. I meant help cooling off. I’ve never seen a woman hit a guy like that by the way. That was bad ass.”

Julie smiled sheepishly. “Oh, thanks.” She uncrossed her arms from her chest, and awkwardly let them dangle by her side. “I appreciate that actually.”

Chace lifted his shoulders up then let them fall back down. “No worries.”

“Chace.” Julie stared at the floor. “You don’t have to be so nice to me, really. I know that I don’t deserve it.”

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