Page 5 of Forever Yours

She twisted, slinging a leg over my thighs, and jumped into my lap, digging her fingers into my ribs. Damn her knowledge of my ticklish spots.

“Jessi. Shit.” I laughed, trying hard to buck her off. “Stop. Uncle! Uncle!” I yelped for mercy. The girl was like a barnacle I couldn’t dislodge.

“What the fuck is going on?”

Jessi and I stopped, and my laughter died as soon as my eyes connected with Julien’s pissed-off glare. He stood in front of us, his face pinched in anger and cheeks flushed red. He’d disappeared inside the house a half hour ago, looking for Jayson and Ryder.

Jessi pushed her hair off her face, a few strands sticking her cheeks, and slipped off my lap. She smiled up at Julien. “We were just—”

He cut her off, his words slurred. “You need to keep your hands and your lips off my fucking boyfriend.”

I had no clue where this was coming from. Then again, Julien had been acting like a completely different person for months now. Grief was tenacious in how it could mess with your mind.

Jessi’s eyes rounded, then she frowned. She might’ve had the stature of a small woodland fairy, but the girl could hold her own and never backed down from a fight.

“Excuse me?”

I stood up, noticing the bottle of liquor Julien gripped by the neck. “Are you drunk?”

Stupid question. Of course he was drunk. It was a common state for him to be in lately, just like his twin brother.

Julien leaned over me and pointed a finger at Jessi. “He’s mine. You’re not taking him away from me. No more fake girlfriend benefits. No more sitting in his lap and kissing his neck. Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Him. Period.” He punctuated each word with stabs of his finger.

Jessi hadn’t come out yet like Julien and I had. No one knew she was gay. I grabbed Julien and hissed in his ear, “Stop. You need to stop right now.”

Julien stumbled backward, ramming into a patio chair, and I caught him before he could topple over.

“You said you loved me.”

“I do, Julien. Very much.”

Several partiers stopped to watch the scene unfolding. I swear to God, I was never coming to another of Fallon’s parties again. They all ended in drama or someone getting beat up.

Jessi came up behind me. “Why don’t you take him home.”

Julien threw his arm up, sloshing Jack Daniels all over himself. “Why don’t you shut the hell up?”

That was it. I loved him, but he was not going to disrespect my best friend. I didn’t give a shit if he was drunk or not. I took the bottle away from him and handed it to Jessi.

“Don’t say another word. I mean it,” I warned Julien when I saw him open his mouth. Grabbing my inebriated boyfriend, I pushed him down the back patio steps. “Are you okay to get home?” I asked Jessi as she leaned against the marble balustrade.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she assured me.

She had driven herself there and hadn’t had anything other than water to drink all night.

“Find Fallon and ask him to make sure Jayson and Ryder get home safely. Better yet, tell him to throw them in one of the guest rooms for the night.”

If Julien was drunk, I knew Jayson definitely would be, and more than likely Ryder as well.

Jessi looked on with concern and sadness. This was our last night to hang together. Tomorrow, I would leave for CU, and she would be heading to NYU. Six hundred miles would separate us. Our friendship would be relegated to texts, video calls, and occasional meetups over holiday breaks when we were both home.

“Call me in the morning before you take off.” She folded her fingers and held her hands together to make a heart and mouthed, “Love you.”

“Love you, too. I’m sorry,” I mouthed back.

Julien groaned as I half carried him around the side of the house. There were people ambling about, not paying any attention to us as we walked by. A high-pitched moan came from our left where the foliage of the manicured landscaping was too dense to see through in the darkness.

“You’re mine. Not hers,” Julien mumbled.

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