Page 6 of Stray for You

Julian’s smile curls in a way I recognize all too well, even after all these years. “How do you know I’m here for you? Maybe I’m visiting Henry.”

Henry. Fuck. Of course it was Henry. Henry, who loves everyone, who never met a stranger who didn’t become a friend, who couldn’t hate someone even with a knife to his throat. Did Julian use Henry to find me? That’s absurd, and yet I wouldn’t put it past this guy. Since we met in high school, his favorite hobby, at least to my eyes, has been tormenting me. Whether it was calling me his brother or bothering me during class or, apparently, chasing me all the way across the country, Julian Brooks has never let up.

“Do not get Henry involved in this,” I say. “Besides, he isn’t even here. And if you’ve been talking to him, you had to know that.”

Julian shrugs, unconcerned. “He’ll be here soon enough. Why shouldn’t I arrive a little early to greet my favorite big brother?”

“I’m not—”

“You’re making it sound like I coerced Henry into somethingnefarious, but I assure you that’s not the case. I’ve kept in touch with him, which you’d know if you’d just asked him about it — or answered any of my texts.”

“You haven’t messaged me in years.”

“I didn’t want to bother you.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” I snarl.

Julian acts like he doesn’t hear me, even though we’re leaning over the coffee bar toward each other. I straighten up when I notice myself doing it. The last thing I need is to get closer to Julian than absolutely necessary.

“Anyway, I’ll take…” Julian says, “oh, how about your black cat mocha, to match this little guy?”

He pets Tux some more, even bending his head down so Tux can butt against him. It would almost be cute if I didn’t despise this man down to my bones. He never did anything but make my — and my mother’s — life harder. It’s one thing to bother me, but you don’t mess with my mom and get away with it. After Dad left us, things were hard, and the way Julian acted while our moms dated didn’t help. It made everything awkward. I could see it in my mom’s eyes. She tried to smooth it over, but I couldn’t set my anger aside. All my mom wanted was a little bit of happiness after Dad shattered her life, and Julian couldn’t let her have it.

I’ve never forgiven him for that.

And I’m definitely not letting him hurt her ever again.

I make his coffee. I have no choice in the matter. A paying customer is a paying customer. But I’d be lying if I said I don’t think about spitting in the drink in the brief moment when my back is to Julian. I don’t, mostly for fear that he’d somehow turn that into innuendo and I’d commit a first-degree murder here in the shop.

Julian pays and takes his drink. He lingers at the counter and sips it right in front of me, moaning way more than any coffee deserves.

“You have gotten really good at this,” he says. “I’ll have to come here every day during my trip. It’s a bit of a hike from Seattle, but it’s worth it for this top tier service.”

“What trip? What are you talking about?” Do I sound frantic? I feel frantic.

“I’m here on business. I didn’t put on a suit to impress you, you know. There’s a sales conference downtown. Lots of vapid smiles on beautiful faces. Lots of tech guys. But we do get a break for lunch in the afternoon. Maybe I’ll spend it up here.”

“Don’t even think about it. Tripp Lake is not worth that drive.”

“It is when the company is paying for my rental car and gas,” Julian says. “Besides, how many more chances am I going to get to see you?”

“Hopefully none,” I say.

For half a second, something like actual hurt flashes across his face. It’s there and gone so quickly that I doubt I even saw it. Why would Julian care? I’ve never liked him. He knows I’ve never liked him. We’ve always been like this, bickering incessantly. It’s not like he actually cares about me, otherwise he would have treated me and Mom better when he had the chance.

He opens his mouth, presumably to say something shitty and snarky, but then the café doors open again. Henry barrels in, his smile as bright as Julian’s, except in that Henry’s is genuine and warm and Julian’s is the smile of a snake. Julian leaves his coffee forgotten on the bar in order to hug Henry, and I use the distraction to slip away. Technically, I’m on the clock and Henry’s shift doesn’t start for a few more minutes, but if I don’t leave now this is going to turn into a crime scene.

“I’ll see you soon, Cam,” Julian calls after me in a sing-song.

I don’t know what that means. Perhaps he really will come here every day. But the twist in my stomach suggests some more nefarious implications, implications I don’t want to think aboutright now.

If I have to see Julian Brooks again, I’m not sure what I’ll do, but it won’t be good.

Chapter Four

Julian

I KEEP RELIVING CAMERON’S meltdown in the café as I sit through boring lectures in stagnant conference rooms the next day. The rage twisting up his face does far more than my overpriced coffee to keep me alert through a morning of mind-numbing drudgery. It’s important, I get that, but this stuff isn’t the real reason Garret sent me here. He sent me here for the coffee breaks, the lunch meetings, the after-hours gatherings. That’s where I truly shine; that’s where the real business gets done.

---