Page 38 of Holy Water
The second I stepped through the door of The Chalice & Cherry, I felt it.
Him.
My eyes locked on Julian like some divine magnet had yanked my head up and pointed me straight at the bar.There he was, half-sitting, half-slinking against the worn mahogany, backlit by amber lamplight and half-drunk sunlight spilling in through the windows.His fingers circled a glass, his knuckles tense.His lips were parted as if he’d just taken a breath and forgotten what he wanted to do with it.
And he was looking at me.
My body froze.I mean, truly froze—heart stalling, limbs locking up, time dragging its feet like it suddenly wanted to savor this moment just to mess with me.
The last time I’d seen him, I’d told myself to forget about him, but that proved to be impossible.
But now?
The sight of him sent a crackling shiver through my entire body.Like there was a thread—an invisible, pulsing line that had snapped taut between us.Drawing me forward.Tethering me to him.
Julian Reed, skeptic, sinner, and maybe the most guarded man I’d ever met.
He looked up at me through dark lashes, and then—
He blushed.
A faint pink stole across his cheeks, blooming up into his ears, and my stomach flipped.Heat rose up my neck like a damn fever.He looked so unsure, so unguarded, and I realized I was just standing there.Staring at him like a wide-eyed fool.
Move, Jude.
I forced my feet to carry me across the room.Each step felt weighted, like wading through water charged with something electric.By the time I reached the bar and slipped onto the stool beside him, my knees felt weak—but I managed it.
Our legs touched.
Just the barest press of thigh against thigh, but the jolt it sent through me was immediate and intense.My breath caught.The fine hairs on my arm lifted.Julian didn’t flinch—he didn’t pull away.He just sat there, stiff but humming with energy, as if the same current had struck him too.
Percy watched us, eyes narrowing.His hand moved automatically, grabbing bottles without a word, and within seconds a drink was placed in front of me.
I didn’t look at him.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Julian.
“You’re back,” I said, and God, my voice was low—soft in a way I didn’t mean for it to be.Reverent.
Julian turned his head slowly, his eyes flicking up to mine.And when he spoke, his voice wasn’t the sharp, sardonic bite I remembered.It was quiet.Fragile.
“I couldn’t stop myself,” he whispered.“I had to come back.Something’s drawing me here.”
There it was again—that pull.Not just lust, not just unfinished business.Something bigger.Something I couldn’t name but felt in every bone.
Julian looked down, chewing his bottom lip.Then he frowned, like the weight of the moment sat too heavy on his shoulders.“I’m sorry,” he said.“For… running away.That night, when I left.I came on too strong, and I scared you.I scared myself.”
He was rambling, fumbling over the words, and I was helpless to do anything except watch him.The line of his jaw, and the way his fingers curled anxiously around his glass.The color in his cheeks.He looked like he wanted to disappear into the floor.
God, he was beautiful.
Not just in the physical sense—though that too, obviously.His outfit was more endearing than it should’ve been, like a costume he hadn’t quite grown into.It definitely wasn’t his style.But it was the vulnerability that did me in.That hesitant, trembling hope just beneath the surface.
I couldn’t look away.
Percy cleared his throat.Loudly.“Ugh, if this gets any mushier, I’m gonna need a mop.”
I shot him a look.One sharp enough to cut glass.
