Page 170 of Alive At Night

“Can I get you anything?”

Julian’s gaze was nervous as he took my coat from me in the entryway of his apartment. We parted ways with Gemma pretty quickly, not wanting to hang around in case Greg made another appearance. And while Julian said he would understand if I wanted to go home with Gemma instead, I knew I needed to talk to him about earlier. And I knew he would have been reluctant to actually let me go.

“Maybe a glass of water,” I said, realizing how dry my throat was. “I want to change into something comfortable, too.”

Julian nodded before taking off for the kitchen. A few minutes later, I was curled up on his couch with a glass of water, wearing one of Julian’s old sweatshirts. He was so tense that even though I saw his gaze warm when he saw me walk out in his clothes, he didn’t say anything. Instead, Julian sat stiffly beside me, turning his body to face mine before resting his elbows on his knees.

“Juni…” He paused to run a hand down his face. “I—I need you to tell me what happened with Kennedy before I arrived.”

I nodded. I’d been prepared to talk about what happened at work, but I wasn’t surprised that Julian needed to get this out of the way first.

“He—” I hesitated, knowing how Julian would respond to my next words. “I think he threatened me. And you.”

Julian grew even more rigid as he studied me closely. “What did he say?”

I curled into a tighter ball, wrapping Julian’s sweatshirt around me. “He didn’t like that we’re dating. He said Iowehim and that you need to experience what it feels like to have everything taken from you. He’s still mad about football, I think.”

Julian balled his hands into fists, his eyes squeezing closed as if he could shut out Greg Kennedy from his life.

“Fuck, I regret not kicking his ass now,” Julian said brusquely, opening his eyes again. They blazed bright blue.

“No,” I argued. “You made the right choice.”

Julian’s jaw clenched as he remained quiet, clearly not agreeing with me. Reaching out, I sifted my fingers through his hair, and he relaxed slightly at my touch. “Julian…” I whispered, wishing I could take all the tension, the worry, the responsibility from his shoulders.

As soon as his name left my lips, Julian scooped me up and pulled me onto his lap. He tucked his head close to mine, his lips grazing my ear. “He doesn’t get to do that,” he said, a soft growl. “He doesn’t get to threaten taking you away. Because when he says he’ll take everything, he’s talking about you. That’s what you are to me, Juni. You’re everything, absolutely everything.”

It was my turn to close my eyes, basking in Julian’s fierce grip and those words that sounded an awful lot like a promise. I should feel nervous or scared at what Greg had said, but when I was wrapped up in Julian, I couldn’t feel anything but safety and security.

“We’re getting that restraining order,” he added. “That kind of threat combined with his stalking tendencies should be enough to convince a judge.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “If that makes you feel better.”

I just wanted Julian to feel better.

“It does,” he grunted before burrowing his face deeper into the crook of my neck. “Does it make you feel better?”

I nodded, mostly to appease him. But I did like the sound of not having to worry about a repeat of what had just happened.

He squeezed me harder before mumbling the softest “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You wouldn’t have been there, wouldn’t have called Gemma to get a drink if I hadn’t been such an utter asshole today.”

The desperation in his voice made my chest feel like it was cracking. I had to catch my breath before words were able to come out. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel worse, but I knew I had to be honest about how he’d mademefeel.

“It felt like you were pushing me away, and it hurt. It hurt, Julian.”

With a deep sigh, he pulled back to look at me properly. His eyes were sad and resigned, as though he already knew what I was saying was true.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated. “I’m struggling to…find a balance. I got a text from Grayson—oh,fuck.”

He extracted his arm from where it was wrapped around my middle, checking his watch. And whatever he saw wasn’t good.

“Shit, I told him I’d call a half hour ago.”

“You can call him now.” I started to move off Julian’s lap, but he quickly replaced his arm around me.

“No, I’ll call Grayson later. I need this,you, right now.”

“You don’t need to pick between me and your friends, Julian.” I sighed. “I just need you to communicate. And I…I should have talked to you before leaving, too.”

---