Page 98 of Broken Bonds

Sounded like a plan to me.

Julian didn’t text me the rest of the weekend. He didn’t answer my multiple messages on Sunday, and he wasn’t in class on Monday morning either. His lack of response turned me into a ball of nerves as I ran over every possible scenario of why he wasn’t answering.

Amber sidled up beside me in the parking lot after class on Monday, her nose in her phone as she typed away. “Ryan?” I asked.

She nodded, fingers flying across her screen, a big smile on her lips. “Where’s Jules?” she asked, looking up briefly.

I shrugged. “Don’t know.” She didn’t say anything, so immersed in the conversation with my brother that she probably didn’t hear me. But then, she paused, looking at me.

“Wait, what?”

I sighed. “He hasn’t answered me since Saturday, and he wasn’t in class today.”

She frowned at me. “I saw him on campus earlier though.” She scratched her head, messing up her ponytail.

I swallowed, hating the churning in my gut. “I guess he’s avoiding me then.” I tried to sound nonchalant about it, but it kind of hurt. First he was a jerk about me spending Saturday with Amber, and now he was outright avoiding me.

Two girls brushed past us in the parking lot, too involved with their conversation to excuse themselves. “Did you see Julian at the party last night?” one of them gushed excitedly.

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.A party?

“Yeah; he was all over some blonde. He must have broken up with Wilson’s sister after he left. About time. I’ve been wanting to screw him for months, but she was in the way.”

A blonde?

Staring at the two girls talking about my boyfriend, my jaw remained slack, my heart now in splinters, and I grabbed Amber’s hand.

Pros of dating a football player in college: everyone knew him.

Cons of dating a football player in college: everyone knew and wanted him, and they hated me for having him.

“I’m going to kill him if he was all over another girl,” Amber quietly seethed from beside me.

“Let me hear his side first,” I urged. “You know how the cheerleaders gossip, Amber.” I had to believe him—not the girls, never the cheerleaders. Fury radiated off Amber’s thin frame, simmering slightly as we got into my car.

“I’m still going to beat the crap out of him.”

“You and what army?” I laughed, trying to play this all off, but she didn’t laugh, her eyes softening as they swept over my face.

I turned my eyes away from her.

An hour later, Julian showed up at my front door, his usual, playful smile teasing me before he leaned in for a kiss. I stepped back, unsure of what to do, not letting his lips touch mine.

He frowned.“Babe, what’s wrong?” His deep voice washed over me, and I instinctively leaned into him, letting his hand wrap around my waist even though a voice in my head was screaming at me not to give in to his boyish charms.

“Did you cheat on me last night?” I asked.

His hand on my waist considerably tightened. “Why would you ask that? I don’t text you for two days and now I’m a cheater?” Anger washed over his face, furrowing his brows and unsettling the smile from his face. My stomach churned.

“I heard some girls talking at school today about a party last night.” The hand on my waist tightened more, causing pain to shoot up my back.

“Yeah, there was a party last night. Nothing unusual after a big win. You know that.”

Why didn’t he invite me to the party?

“Right, I know, but they said you were all over a blonde.” Suddenly, I felt his nails biting into my skin. I tried stepping back from him, but he refused to relent. My heart began slamming painfully against my breastbone. “Ow, Julian, you’re hurting me!”

“You believe some bimbos over me, babe?” I wanted to step away from him, but his grip on me only tightened more. Alarm bells were ringing in my head. What the fuck was happening right now?

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