Page 92 of Alive At Night

“Iwasdrinking,” I mumbled before gulping greedily. Admittedly, the water tasted a whole lot better than the whiskey had.

“Water,” he clarified. “You’ve had more than enough alcohol.”

Julian punctuated his statement by glaring at Grayson, who threw his hands up in defense.

“She was too quick about it,” he said, looking apologetic.

I lifted a brow, staring at the fuzzy NFL player sitting next to me. “Aren’t you supposed to have good reflexes or something?”

Nessa howled with laughter, which made me smile.

I liked her.

Julian shook his head, his lips curving up as he leaned down next to Grayson, pulling him into a hushed conversation I couldn’t make out. A few seconds later, he sat in the available seat beside me, scooting close so he could speak in hushed tones.

“If you would feel more comfortable, you could stay with Nessa tonight,” he said. “Their room is just down the hall from ours. Grayson and I could share.”

I frowned. “Are you trying to get rid of me, Julian Briggs? Tired of having me around?”

Honestly, I was surprised it took this long. But now I wondered if I should have grabbed that last shot just so I could dull the pain.

His eyes widened with alarm, more than I would have expected. “Juni, no. It’s just—” He sighed raggedly, looking away while running a hand through his hair. “I just wanted you to have the option.”

“Why?”

He lowered his gaze, peering at me beneath feathery lashes before saying my name. Just my name.

“Juniper…”

The unspoken words that should have followed told me all I needed to know. He thought that whatever had just happened on the dance floor was dangerous. But I’d already told him; he always kept me safe. Tonight would be no different.

“I want to stay with you,” I whispered, “if you’re not sick of me.”

His eyes fluttered shut momentarily as though my words had tortured him. When he looked at me again, his gaze was bright.

“I’m not,” he said firmly.

I wasn’t sure if I believed him, but I wasn’t sure how much I cared. He was too hard to figure out tonight. And I was still too focused on his eyes. How were they so blue even when the lighting was so low?

“Juni,” he prompted when I continued to stare silently at him.

“You have pretty eyes,” I said beneath my breath—like it was a secret.

It sort of was.

“Jesus Christ,” Julian cursed as I swayed a little in my chair, trying to put my drained cup on the table. He put a hand out to steady me.

“Come on,” he muttered. “You, bed. Now.”

I suppressed a grin, thinking I didn’t hate hearing those words come out of Julian’s mouth.

God, what waswrongwith me?

This entire situation should be mortifying. Itwasmortifying last night. Well, in the beginning, maybe. Then, it was nice. It had been nice like Julian had been nice, and now I was having a hard time trying to be upset that there was only one bed in a hotel room that I needed to share with Julian Briggs. In fact, my body ached pleasantly at the thought of it.

After saying quick goodbyes to Grayson and Nessa, Julian led me by the hand out to the hotel lobby and up to our floor. When he pushed open the door to our room, I shivered. There was a draft.

Or something.

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