Page 76 of Only With You

I hate myself as she forces a smile. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I pushed.”

“Don’t apologise. You did nothing wrong.” I grab the mug as she hands it to me, but my breath hitches as her fingers brush against mine. “I’ll answer your questions.”

Her eyes flick to our fingers, and quickly, she pulls them back and grabs her own. “Are you sure? I really don’t?—”

“Ask me.”

22

LANDON

“So,I get to ask you anything I want?” She raises her mug, attempting to hide her coy grin.

Snowy white and electric sapphire swirl in my head.

I stare at her with bated breath, concentrating on the colours and not the overwhelming need to get the fuck out of here.

“Yes, but you only get fifteen.”

We’re still in the kitchen, standing across from each other. She’s leaning against one of the counters and I on the other. Bright yellow LED lights Gabby stuck underneath the cupboards illuminate the space around us.

She loudly scoffs and her brows draw together. “I thought we were doing twenty.”

“Now, you get ten.”

A scowl deepens on her face and her shoulders sag. “Ten? How did we go from twenty to fifteen to ten?”

“Take it or leave it,” I say with finality, my voice nonnegotiable.

But of course it isn’t going to be that easy, because Julianna has a look in her eye that I’ve come to know well. It’s the kind that says she doesn’t care what I do or don’t say.

“Twelve,” she demands, rolling her shoulders back.

“Nine.”

“Thirteen.”

“Eight.”

“Fourteen.”

“You’re pissing me off.” She’s not. Matter of fact, I feel oddly calm, considering I’m about to answer questions I didn’t want to not that long ago. “I’m going to answer three. If you go any higher, I swear I won’t answer a single question. So three or nothing.”

It takes nothing but a second to elicit a spark of vehemence in her eyes. And not a second later, her full lips curve into a deviant grin.

“Five.”

I glower at her. “Julianna.”

“Landon.” She beams.

I exhale a weary breath, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “You’re exhausting.”

“Don’t be like that. Either way, we both know you’re smart enough to only answer what you want people to know.” Her brows lift as if she’s sayingdeny it.

I don’t argue, because she’s right.

“Why do you even care to know about me?”

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