Page 20 of Rebel Heart
Jules
What can I say? I’m a bit of a rebel.
And I was loving every second of it.
I was about to send her a reply when I was interrupted by the approaching footsteps of my friends.
“So, are you going to tell us what’s going on, or are you going to make us guess?” Talon asked.
“What are you talking about?” I countered, even though I was certain where this conversation was heading.
As the three of them sat down and grabbed some water, Vic mumbled, “Seems like we’re supposed to guess.”
I rolled my eyes as Jamie chimed in. “I saw her, Beau. At the demo. Is she the one who’s got you grinning like a teenage boy?”
These guys were my best friends, so there was no reason for me to hide anything. It wasn’t like there was anything out of the ordinary happening anyway. “Her name is Jules. She’s the girl I talked to after lunch at the bakery the day we went to Westwood’s.”
“But she also went to the demo, and you got her number,” Vic noted.
My phone buzzed in my hand, an indication that Jules had sent another text, but I avoided looking at it. Instead, I shared more of the situation with my friends. “We went out for dinner the night after I met her, too.”
“Nice.” Talon was grinning at me like he thought that meant something more than it did.
“Relax, man. It’s not serious. She’s honestly just a lot of fun to be around, and she’s gorgeous.”
He narrowed his eyes on me like he didn’t necessarily believe that was all there was to it, but I didn’t acknowledge his response. The only way I could prove it to him would be to share the truth about how she flirtedand teased, and I wasn’t about to show any one of them the pictures she’d just sent me.
“And yet, she was at the demo a few days ago,” Jamie noted. “I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but she didn’t strike me as the type to attend such a thing.”
I would have thought the same thing with just one look at her. And even if she hadn’t ever done any skateboarding, she did admit to board sports with snowboarding. Plus, she showed an interest in learning to skateboard.
“What are you getting at?”
He shrugged. “Just seems like it’s not your typical hookup.”
“Because she came to the demo?”
Vic said, “You just shared you went out to dinner with her, too.”
I tossed my hand out and huffed. “Oh, please. So, because I’m not a total dick and can at least buy the girl a meal, I must want something more than just fun. Trust me, even if I was crazy enough to go down that road, which I’m not even close to entertaining, it would never work out between us.”
Talon was instantly intrigued. “What makes you say that?”
“She’s turning twenty-five later this month.”
Jamie couldn’t hold back the shock. “What?!”
“What is that reaction for? You make it sound like it’d be impossible for someone that young to be interested in me.”
Vic blew out a long breath. “I don’t mean to be a dickor make assumptions, but have you considered the possibility that she’s only interested in you for what you can do for her? That’s quite the age difference.”
Obviously, I’d been shocked to learn how young Jules was, but not once had I been concerned about her being interested in me strictly for some potential financial benefit. “I don’t think that’s the case at all. But even if it were, it’s not like it would matter. I’m not looking for anything serious with her for that to even be an issue.”
He gave me a nod of understanding. “Fair enough. I’d just proceed with caution.”
“You know, there is the other possibility,” Talon reasoned.
“What’s that?”
