Page 65 of Romance Languages

I nodded, a lump stuck in my throat. Maybe one day, I could meet someone who would lift this cloud of shame. What if I’d already met him?

“You two are a beautiful couple.”

“You’ve only met me so far,” she said.

“It’s a gut feeling I have.”

She sped up her dance steps as the song changed to an uptempo number, and I quickly followed suit. I knew how to keep up with my partner.

“I also have a gut feeling.” She beamed with a knowing smile as she glanced at Julian, then me.

“Your grandson is a special guy.”

“You two are crazy about each other. I can tell.”

We were good fakers. But even as friends, I was crazy about Julian in my own way. I loved hanging with him, and our sex sessions were mindblowing.

“I’m really happy you found each other.” She gazed again at her grandson with all the love in her heart. “Julian’s a good person. He’s very smart, but he can be so unsure of himself. You’ve helped him be more confident and come out of his shell.”

“I have?” And more importantly, how could she tell? She’d only seen us together for a few minutes.

“He’s different around you. He smiles more. He seems more relaxed. As a mother and grandmother, you can easily notice a change in your offspring. It’s this feeling like the change in temperature. Julian’s a sweet man, and sometimes, I worried he was too sweet for this cruel world.”

“I won’t let anyone hurt him.”

She cupped my face in her wrinkled hand. “I know you won’t.”

The song wound down. Hunter hopped off the raised platform where they were playing.

“So, uh, what do we think of, like…everything?”

At this point, I was curious to hear Ryder speak. He couldn’t be much worse than his brother.

“How’s the music sounding?” he asked.

“Delightful,” Grandma Judy said. “But I may need to hear a few more tunes just to be sure.”

She gave me a wink. The woman wanted to dance.

“Yeah, cool, cool. We love playing, so it’s no problem.”

Julian and his mom joined us. Grandma Judy and I gave them a thumbs-up.

“You guys sound great,” Julian said. His mom nodded politely in agreement.

“I hope you boys are available a week from Saturday,” Grandma Judy said.

“Totes! Oh, that’s awesome!” Hunter high-fived his brother. “Do you want to like sign a contract?”

“Sure.” Grandma Judy laughed to herself. If only all business negotiations could be this easy, yet also this awkward.

While Julian and Grandma Judy worked with the Vance boys to hash out details for the anniversary party, I used the bathroom. The shower curtains had lines of cellos on them, a cute touch.

I couldn’t stop smiling at what Grandma Judy had said. Was I making Julian a more confident, more relaxed person? He seemed in better spirits, less serious. He joked around more. But was that because of me or my dick? Either way, a win was a win.

When I exited the bathroom, Julian’s mom was waiting outside, her observant eyes fixated on the sloppy paint job.

“It’s all yours.”

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