Page 14 of Julien (Confessions 2)

“That’s right,” Julien said, and knew this would be the perfect time to ask Robbie if he wanted to come with them next week when they flew out there. But again, if he did that, then he’d have to get into why they were going. And he wasn’t quite ready to go there just yet. “What about your parents?”

“They live in Oshkosh. It’s a couple of hours out of Chicago.”

“Ah, so not far, then.”

Robbie shook his head. “Nope, not far at all. My sisters live there too, which makes me kind of sad, because I don’t get to see them as much as I’d like. But as they always point out, I’m the one who moved away, not them.”

“Why?” Julien asked, as Robbie picked up a bunch of spinach and headed back toward him.

“Why did I move?”

“Oui. You seem to have a wonderful relationship with your family, so I’m curious. If you don’t mind me asking.”

Robbie stopped and tapped the spinach against Julien’s chest. “Why, the men of course, Mr. Thornton. The selection of hot gay males in Oshkosh is minimal, to say the least, but Chicago? That’s a whole other ball game.” Robbie laughed when he realized what he’d said. “And yes, that pun is most certainly intended.”

“I’m going to try and rein in the impulse I have to be jealous right now,” Julien said as he took the greens from Robbie.

“Why? I don’t mind,” Robbie said with a cheeky grin. “I love knowing that you wish I was only yours.”

Julien leaned in and kissed Robbie’s lips. “You’re only mine now. I suppose that will have to do, won’t it?”

“Well, yours and Priest’s.”

“What’s his is mine,” Julien said without pause. “It’s one of the things I love best about our relationship.”

Robbie smiled against Julien’s mouth. “It’s one of the things that I love best too.”

“Bien.”

“That means good, right?”

“Right.”

“Bien.” Robbie pulled back so he could look into Julien’s smiling eyes, and then pursed his lips. “You two, you’re so…unlikely.”

“I suppose we are. But we had an unlikely beginning, if you’ll recall.”

“Oh, I remember. Stealing Priest’s car? I’m never going to forget that. I bet he was so pissed off.”

“He definitely wasn’t pleased,” Julien said. “But I guess he had good reason. I was a bit of a delinquent.”

Robbie started to laugh. “Umm, you think? I mean, how did you even end up together after that? It’s not like you could just call and be like, ‘Hey, remember me? I’m the guy who tried to steal your car.’”

“Not true. I did call him.”

“You did? Tell me,” Robbie said, and tugged on Julien’s sweater. “I love hearing about how you two met.”

Julien grinned at Robbie’s pout and wondered if he’d ever be able to resist that face. “Do you?”

“I do. It helps me understand the both of you so much more. Plus, I love imagining Priest all pissy and you charming your way into his pants.” Robbie’s eyes widened. “Ooh, you are going to tell me about that, right? Your first kiss? Your first…getting naked together.”

“I’m sure it will come up eventually.”

“Oh, I’m positive that I’ll be up if you’re telling that story. But just to be certain, can you be sure to use several descriptive French words when you do? You know, to further my education.”

Julien chuckled at Robbie’s audaciousness. “I promise. But to answer your question about why I called him again, I got myself arrested.”

“What? Like, on purpose?”

Julien nodded. “Uh-huh. I wanted to see him again.”

“And that was the only way?”

Julien started to really laugh. “The only way I could think of at the time. Looking back now, it probably wasn’t the smartest move I could’ve made, because after that, Priest was convinced I was a criminal. He loathed me.”

“No,” Robbie said, shaking his head. “There’s no way he ever looked at you other than the way he does now.”

“And how does Priest look at me, princesse?”

“Like you’re everything he needs to survive another day.”

Julien placed the spinach on the shelf beside him, and then reached for Robbie’s cool hands. “Not everything,” he said, as he bent his head and blew a warm breath over their joined hands. “I’m not you.”

Robbie took in a shaky breath, and Julien raised his eyes to see that Robbie’s had glazed over.

“That’s a different conversation altogether, though. I believe we all need each other to survive. That’s why fate put us in one another’s path.” Robbie swayed a little toward him, and Julien brought their hands up to kiss his knuckles. “Priest bailed me out of jail the second time we met. Then he drove me home and told me to never call him again.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am.”

Robbie scoffed. “Clearly you ignored him. Let me guess, you asked him out on a date instead?”

Julien gave Robbie a stunned look. How on earth did he know that? It was as if Robbie was so well attuned to Julien that he already knew who he was without further explanation. Julien had only ever met one other who’d known him that well that fast—the man he’d ended up marrying.

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