Page 48 of Alive At Night

I licked my lips before frowning. “Maybe you should lighten up on the vodka next time.”

“Stop making that face,” he muttered. A light chuckle filled the space between us. “If you want Kennedy to fuck off, you’ll need to do a better job than that.”

“A better job?”

“A better job pretending you like me.”

“Oh my God,” I groaned as a car door slammed behind me. “Do I have to?”

Julian chuckled again, appearing to find this far more amusing than I did. I couldn’t be sure, though, because I refused to look at his face. Not when we were so close like this. But then he slid an arm behind my back, yanking me closer, and murmured, “Come on, Rosie.”

Begrudgingly, I raised my gaze to meet his. Those bright blue eyes were already trained steadily on me.

“This is ridiculous,” I hissed, unnerved by his direct attention. “Why did Greg even come back?”

“I think he was here with his parents. He probably returned for them.”

“Did you know he’s engaged to Kelly Mcvarish?” I asked, remembering the conversation with my parents earlier. I was curious how Julian would react, considering how much he hated Greg and how he’d dated Kelly.

Julian’s brows rose. “Really?”

I shrugged. “According to my dad.”

“Your dad would know,” he said with yet another chuckle, surprising me. That was three times now. A noise resembling laughter had come out of Julian’s mouth three times while talking to me. Couldhebe drunk? That would likely explain everything. Especially how his thumb was rubbing my side slowly, his touch burning through my thin shirt.

“Yeah.”

Yeah. All I could think to say wasyeah.

A knowing smile lit up Julian’s face, but it quickly dimmed. His eyes darted over my shoulder as footsteps splashed through the pools of rainwater. “That makes me hate him even more if he’s engaged and still pulling this shit,” he breathed, shocking me yet again. He didn’t seem to care that Greg was marrying his ex, but he did care that…what? That Greg had talked to me?

We were so close that I felt Julian’s words against my hair, similar to the night he carried me through the parking garage.

I still couldn’t believe he’d carried me through the parking garage.

“Me too,” I agreed, and before any other words could be ripped from my throat, Julian tugged me into his side instead so we were both facing Greg as he trudged back through the garage. A breeze blew in with him, and I shivered. Julian’s grip tightened. The alcohol turned my limbs to jelly, and I melted against him.

“Back so soon?” Julian asked, a clear challenge in his voice. I would know. I was used to hearing that challenge.

Greg’s eyes narrowed as they shifted from Julian to me, tucked beneath Julian’s arm. I could tell he hadn’t believed it until this moment—that I would ever get into bed with Julian. Or, more likely, that Julian would get into bed with me. His lips flattened as he visibly bit down on a response.

But his self-restraint only lasted a moment.

“You never could shut up about him when we were dating,” he said to me, bringing heat back to my skin.

And then he walked away, returning to the party before I could tell him to fuck off. Goddamn Greg Kennedy and his massively annoying mouth.

Julian only waited a second before he turned to me, dropping his chin with a smirk. “Aw, you talked about me?”

I pushed Julian away with a hard shove, scowling as a flush worked further up my neck and into my cheeks. “Believe me, it was nothing good.”

“Of course not.”

It was hard to tell if he meant that. If he did, in fact, believe me. Considering his slight grin, I doubted it.

After a glare over my shoulder, I put as much distance between Julian and me as possible without walking into the cold autumn rain. “Right now would be a good moment to hop into your DeLorean and find a time warp to get stuck in, McFly.”

Julian leaned against the side of the garage, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Oh, yeah?”

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