Page 10 of Forever Yours

“Finally,” Jayson said from the couch as soon as I walked inside the condo. I had my own key, one that Julien had given me the other night.

I kicked off my sneakers and added them to the pile next to the front door. Something smelled good, and it wasn’t pizza. Not seeing Julien or Ryder, I sauntered my sock-clad feet over to where Jayson was lounging back on the sofa cushions, a beer held loosely in his hand as he watched some basketball game on the wall-mounted wide-screen television. Since the four of us were still a little over two years shy of turning twenty-one, where he kept getting his endless supply of alcohol was a mystery. Then again, we all had fake IDs. Mine, Ryder’s, and Julien’s were thanks to Fallon. I wondered where Jayson had gotten his. He would never tell us.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, looking around.

There were a couple of moving boxes shoved against the wall, but otherwise, the place looked the same as the last time I was there a month ago when we helped Julien move in.

Jayson took a swig from his bottle, his attention riveted to the game being played. “Jules is in his room. Ryder has been banging around the kitchen for the last hour.”

“He was serious when he said he wanted to cook a family meal.”

“Unfortunately.”

Things remained somewhat tense between Jayson and Ryder, stemming back to when Jayson went behind Ryder’s back and claimed Liz as his own after Ryder told them he was planning to ask her out. Dick move, yes. But in my opinion—and one I would never share with Julien—was that you couldn’t claim someone who didn’t want to be claimed. Liz could have said no to Jayson. But she didn’t. She loved him. Her only problem was that she also loved Ryder. She loved Julien too, and he loved her right back. It was tragedy of heartbreak in the making. Three guys wanting the same woman, and vice versa.

But I understood it. I got it. You couldn’t help who you loved, regardless of its messy complications. I fell in love with Julien knowing full well his lingering feelings for Liz. I trusted the relationship he and I painstakingly built. The friendship that blossomed. The love that grew between us. Our commitment to one another. Julien was my forever, just as I was forever his. Love worth having was love you fought for. Bled for. Hurt for. And I loved Julien with every ounce of my soul. I would continue to fight for him, for us, with everything I had in me. Didn’t mean I wasn’t still upset with how he acted at Fallon’s party or how he treated Jessi. He owed her a huge-ass apology.

Settling a hip on the arm of the couch next to Jayson’s head, I touched his shoulder. He angled his face up to look at me. The sadness in his eyes spoke volumes. Solemn eyes on a face that were exact replicas of Julien’s.

Jayson had been on a downward spiral for months. He drank too much. Got into too many fights. He even turned down the swim scholarship he was offered and had stopped swimming altogether. That gutted me because he was phenomenally good. Olympic-level good. Then again, I had no place to talk. I hadn’t competed in a couple of years. Did I miss swimming? Yes.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

He reached up and gripped my hand, and I noticed the newest scabs dotting his knuckles, telling me he’d been in another fight recently.

“Not good.”

I figured as much. Fallon even said as much.

“One day at a time,” I reminded him. “Want to talk about that?” I dropped my gaze to his busted hand.

“Nope.”

“If you change your mind…”

Jayson smiled a small smile, but I was glad to see it.

With Julien at CU the last month, Jayson and I had gravitated toward one another in his absence. We talked, a lot, hung out even more. Being around Jayson helped with the loneliness of missing Julien, and vice versa.

“Thanks, E.”

I gave his hand a squeeze before letting go.

Walking down the short hallway that led from the living room to the bedrooms, I stopped at Julien’s open door, a huge grin creasing my face when my gaze landed upon him. Bare-chested and dressed only in a pair of loose basketball shorts, Julien had his earbuds in and was singing off key to whatever song he was listening to while he typed away on his laptop.

It was such a simple, innocuous, carefree thing, but everything, if that made sense. There had been too many months of darkness and depression. It was good to see some of his light peek through.

And damn, did he take my breath away every single time I laid eyes on him. The month of intense pre-season training had chiseled his body into perfection. His muscles were more pronounced, his skin kissed golden by time spent outdoors on the field. There were new copper streaks smattered throughout his dark brown hair that my fingers were itching to play with.

It was funny how he and Jayson were identical twins, but to me, they were two completely different people.

Sensing my presence, Julien’s eyes lit up when he noticed me leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb, quietly watching him.

“Hey, babe.” He removed the earbuds and beckoned me over to the bed.

I crossed the distance in two steps and slid over the blue bedspread to lie beside him, snuggling in. He smelled like soap, citrus, and sandalwood.

“What are you doing?” I asked, glancing at the laptop screen.

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