Page 108 of Romance Languages

“I feel like I should know that already.” We’d spent countless hours hanging in the faculty lounge. I truly was oblivious. “Do you know mine?”

“A little bit of milk that you stir vigorously into the coffee.” He bowed his head, embarrassed by the level of detail. “What can I say? Perks of having a crush on you for so long.”

“Just you wait, Jules, because soon, I’m going to know all of your little quirks and likes.”

“That sounds like a threat.”

“It is. A loving threat.” I pecked him on the lips as I handed him his creamed and sugared coffee.

I poured myself coffee with the requisite milk and checked the various apps that had a stranglehold on my attention.

“Holy shit.” The mug wobbled in my hand as I read through the message at the top of my BlingBling inbox. “This educational company messaged me. They love my videos and want to talk about sponsoring one!”

“That’s great!”

“Holy shit.” Shock pummeled me. Was instant karma real? “I didn’t know if I had enough followers. I thought stuff like that only happened with other creators.”

“You still have to talk with them, see if it’ll be a good fit.”

“Yeah. I can’t put the cart before the horse.”

“Congratulations! You’ve been very diligent in making those videos. I love them.”

“You helped me with them and gave me some good ideas.”

“So you’re saying I’ll get a cut?” he asked jokingly.

“I’m excited to use most of it to pay down some debt. Is that the most depressing, adult sentence ever uttered?”

“Not at all! Being responsible is sexy.” Julian put his mug on the counter. “I was thinking about what you said yesterday at the party. You’re worried about relapsing and dragging me down. I won’t let that happen. Yes, there might be a time in the future when you fall off the wagon, but we’ll get through it together. I’m not going to bail. I won’t let you drag us down. I’m going to fight like hell to lift us up.”

My throat clogged with gooey emotion. How the fuck did I get so lucky? I wanted to be a pillar of strength for Julian, but deep down, I knew I’d have my moments where I faltered.

“Relationships aren’t equal all the time. Sometimes, one person needs to lean on the other,” Julian said.

“I don’t want to be the only one leaning in this relationship,” I croaked out.

“I’ve leaned on you this entire month. Thanks to you, I’m standing in my apartment devirginized and drinking coffee shirtless!”

Relief filled my chest. Maybe this relationship was more equal than I realized. I pulled him to me for another kiss, one of a million we’d have together.

I slipped my hand into his boxers and ran a finger over his dick. I pushed my arm down until his boxers fell to his thighs. “Oops. My hand slipped.”

Naked Julian was very hard to resist.

31

JULIAN

Four wine glasses clinked in the center of the table.

“A toast to J. Happy birthday to a one-of-a-kind guy,” Amos said.

“You are officially closer to forty than you are to thirty.”

Not even Everett’s math lesson could bring me down. This had been the best birthday in Julian Bradford history.

My friends had taken me to my favorite winery for my birthday. It was nestled in a stretch of temperate hills west of Sourwood. A large, gorgeous white house overlooked rolling fields of grapes. Inside was a restaurant, tasting station, and cozy fireplace. There was something especially calming about wineries. They didn’t exist in the real world. The stresses of everyday life faded away.

---