Page 70 of The Mistletoe Trap
“Hear, hear.” Julie held up her palm for a high-five, and Nikita’s smack verified her statement.
“The other thing I get asked is if that’s how I ended up at such a good college, as if I don’t belong there. Or some guys get competitive and challenge me to a game, and then they turn into literal crying babies when I wipe the court with them.”
A whorl of anger rose on Nikita’s behalf. “Dude, that’s so wrong. People assuming you’re not smart enough, or you don’t belong, and as for those guys you beat playing ball? They should be impressed.”
“Right?” Niki sank farther into the loveseat and put her feet up on the glass table Darlene was constantly wiping clean.
Out of the corner of her eye, Julie caught sight of Gavin. He and his dad headed in the opposite direction, holding a bag of charcoal. “Not that I’ve had a lot of experience, and I’ve dated my share of jerks—”
“Like Brad the Bastard?”
Julie tugged her gaze off Gavin’s backside and returned her attention to Niki. “I see Gavin told you about the super nice nickname he gave Brad.”
“Yeah, and I agree with him. That guy was the worst.”
A pang darted around Julie’s rib cage, and she sat up straighter. “Wait. Did Gavin tell you about how…” Hmm, now that she’d gotten herself into this pickle, how did she ask without revealing too much? The thought of having to repeat it, or of everyone feeling sorry for poor unexciting Julie, left her throat too tight. “About the boring thing?”
“Gavin never mentioned how boring the guy was, but it doesn’t surprise me.”
“I mean how when he dumped me, he told me it was becauseIwas boring.”
The line of Niki’s jaw went rigid. “He said what now?” She cracked her knuckles. “Sounds like I need to have a little chat with the guy.”
“Funny enough, your brother felt the same way.” And probably still did. “But honestly, it’s okay. This trip has helped me realize our breakup was for the best. Now that I’m not paranoid that every story I tell about work will be met with disdain, I feel more myself. It was suffocating to be editing everything I wanted to say all day every day.”
The confession hit her, along with the truthfulness of the statement. Why would she stifle who she was for someone else? While most everyone had work stories that could be considered boring, when you cared about someone, they didn’t shame you over the things you were passionate about.
Since this conversation was supposed to be about Niki and had kind of veered off track, Julie attempted to bring it back around. “Anyway, my original point was that you have to wade through a lot of frogs to find your prince.”
“Ick. Gotta say, kissing them sounds like more fun.”
“Not if they’re slimy, unsatisfying, and give you warts,” Julie said, and then she and Niki both burst into laughter as they shuddered over the disturbing images she’d conjured.
Granny Frost popped up her head and peered at them from over the top of her glasses. “Are you two behaving over there?”
“Nah. Behaving is boring.” Niki jabbed her elbow into Julie’s side, and then Granny Frost lifted a hand to the side of her mouth and stage-whispered that her granddaughters were wise beyond their years, and to never let anyone tell them otherwise.
Julie supposed it might be weird to other people that she referred to Gavin’s grandmother and grandfather as hers as well, the same way he did to both sets of her grandparents, plus their parents on both sides. But they’d been in one another’s lives for so long, they’d been a giant, mishmashed family for as long as she could remember.
It was fairly obvious they weren’t all related, but she loved that their family went beyond skin color and blood. Wasn’t that the goal, even if it took years of dating and even marriage to get there?
Again, her thoughts went to Gavin and how easy things were with him. Easy yet exhilarating. Comfortable yet charged. It was the best of both worlds, so why wouldn’t she at least try to find a way to have it all?
Every day in her lab, Julie got specimens outside the norm. She’d seen patients and diseases baffle medical experts and defy survival percentage rates. Scientists and doctors found new methods to take care of old issues every single day. Chemistry had the ability to change one matter into another substance entirely, and the more she thought about the possibilities she hadn’t let herself consider, the more apparent it became that she was onto something.
So what if maintaining a long-distance relationship wasn’t exactly convenient and they had the odds stacked against them? They were Gavin and Julie. Ride or freakin’ die.
Adrenaline coursed through Julie in a steady stream, along with the zing of a good challenge. She’d use the scientific method to draw out plans and find wiggle room that she could chip away at over time, until the pathway revealed itself.
She and Gavin had an undeniable connection, along with proof it carried over to the bedroom—so check offthatpart as done already. Although for the record, she was totally open to further experimentation.
Whether it required a bit of sacrifice and a whole lot of travel, shifting their ideas of what a steady relationship looked like, and video chats that involved little to no clothing—with Gavin, she’d feel comfortable enough to put herself out there that way.
As Niki said, love was never really convenient.
And only a fool would walk away from a shot at total happiness without giving it a try.
Chapter Twenty-Five
