Page 110 of Alive At Night

It really took this moment and the way he was looking at me to fully realize the extent of it. Or that it existed at all. Jealous. He was actually, legitimately jealous.

Had I taken advantage of this well-timed opportunity? Played it up a bit? Of course I had. And I refused to feel guilty after everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks. I’d gone to the wedding thinking that meeting Sofia would help fill a hole of loneliness in me. I thought that meeting someone who was blood-related to me would give me a sense of belonging in this world. And for a few hours, it did.

But then Julian happened.

Now I was back in Boston. And Sofia wasn’t here, Julian was pushing me away, and I had no one to talk to about any of it. Gemma had tried to get more out of me at Thanksgiving, but I stuck to the story I’d told my parents—that I didn’t feel well. As much as I would have loved to vent to my best friend about her brother, I couldn’t. No matter how mad I was, the last thing I wanted to do was damage his relationship with his sisters. I couldn’t do that to him.

But I could dothisto him.

“I’m going to dinner with Noah,” I repeated for him, even though I was positive he’d heard me correctly the first time.

“Noah London,” he clarified through clenched teeth.

“Noah London,” I confirmed. “You know…tattoos, professional football player, lived with you in—”

“I know, Juniper.” The growl of his voice sent a thrill through me that I chose to ignore. “What I don’t know is why the hell you’re going to dinner with him.”

I arched a brow. “Is that so unbelievable of an idea?”

“Of course not, but—”

“He felt bad that he couldn’t take me to Sofia’s wedding and asked to make it up to me.”

“And you said yes?”

“Clearly.” I motioned to my outfit, which I’d picked out specifically for this occasion. “It’s not like anyone else is asking me on a date tonight.”

Julian’s lips clamped shut at that, and to his credit, pain bled into his eyes, mixing with apparent fury. It was hard to look at, so I grabbed my coat, spun on my heel, and exited the office before I changed my mind.

Those eyes of his had been begging me not to go, but he’d have to say the words to get me to stay. He’d have to say a lot of words to get me to stay, and since his mouth wasn’t moving…

“Juniper!”

Oh, goddamnit.

My feet faltered, but when Julian didn’t say anything more, I continued forward.

Dinner with Noah would be good for me. I wasn’t naive in thinking it was an actual date. Just dinner with a man who wasn’t confusing, utterly infuriating, and made my entire body react uncontrollably when we were in the same room.

My hormones hadnotgotten the memo that I was upset with Julian this past week. All they wanted to do was relive the moments when I was pressed against him, crying his name. It really put a damper on my efforts to freeze him out when I got all hot and bothered every time he even glanced at me. My knees shook when he so much as slipped out of his coat in the morning.

Jesus Christ, I was a mess.

But it was time to put thoughts of Julian out of my mind.

A short walk through light snow later, I stepped into a trendy restaurant and pretended to be far more confident than I was while walking across the dimly lit dining space. Noah immediately caught my eye from a table in the corner, slightly sheltered from the rest of the restaurant. Celebrity status was good for some things, I supposed.

“Juniper, you look great,” he greeted me as soon as I approached him. His enthusiasm didn’t seem fake, nor did his movements when he brought me in for a brief but firm hug. After pulling back, he offered to take my coat, hanging it on the rack behind him.

“Thank you,” I said, flashing him a smile. “You know, you didn’t have to do this.”

Might as well get it out in the open right away that I knew what this was and what it wasn’t.

“Do what?” He frowned, settling into his seat across from me. “Have dinner?”

“Yeah, I hope you don’t think that just because you weren’t able to make it to the wedding, you owe—”

“Of course I don’t think that,” he said, waving away my concern. “But I still wanted to make it up to you. After all, I heard you had to go with Briggs.” He winked at me over his menu. “Must have been a rough weekend.”

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