Page 117 of Julian

I lean my head back against the couch cushions and stare up at the ceiling while Beau lets out a sleepy sigh. You think I’d be mollified to hear from him after a week of being radio silent. I hadn’t heard a word from him since I walked out of his home. No calls, no texts, nothing.

He’d let me go. Ghosted me. Then out of nowhere today, he texts me five times.

I let out a sigh. “He says he needs to see me once the Vipers get back today from their road trip.”

Abby goes quiet for a second. “That’s… intense… and kinda odd.”

“It’s exhausting,” I say honestly. “This whole hot-and-cold thing doesn’t fly with me. I’m done. I haven’t responded to him and I don’t intend to.”

And that’s the truth of it. If Julian had just walked away, I could’ve started stitching myself back together. But instead, he keeps pulling me emotionally toward him only to disappear again. Admittedly, I’ve read every text he’s sent but I’ve resolutely ignored each one after.

I stare down at the melting pint of ice cream in my lap. “More importantly,” I say, “I don’t trust him right now, Abby. And you know without trust, what’s left?”

The words hurt to admit out loud since I did trust him once.

“But maybe you should listen to what he has to say,” she says softly.

Anger swells within me, because I tried on more than one occasion to get him to talk to me. “He hurt me, Abby. He really hurt me and then he expects me to just forget about it because now he’s ready to talk? I mean, come on…”

Abby exhales slowly through the phone. “I know.”

“And the worst part is I still…” I stop myself before finishing the sentence.

A knock suddenly sounds at my front door. I frown and glance toward the clock. Who would be coming by now?

“Hold on,” I mutter into the phone. “Someone’s at the door.”

“You think it’s him?”

My pulse jumps hard enough to make me instantly annoyed at myself for it. “I don’t know… No, can’t be. I don’t think they’d be back in the city yet.”

I push the blanket off my legs and stand, crossing the apartment while Beau readjusts himself on the couch cushion.

Another knock sounds just as I reach the door.

“Hang on,” I tell Abby before I press one eye against the peephole.

Percy stands in the hallway outside my apartment, wearing a dark wool coat.

“Oh my God,” I whisper.

“What?” Abby asks.

I pull back from the peephole slowly. “I need to call you back.”

“Harper—”

I end the call before she can finish. Then, with trembling fingers, I unlock my front door and pull it open.

“Percy?”

“Ms. Hawthorne,” he says. “I do apologize for arriving unannounced.”

I blink, still trying to recover from the sheer surprise of finding him outside my door. “Um… what can I do for you?”

His expression changes, more subdued and conciliatory. “I would greatly appreciate it if you came with me.”

My body immediately stiffens. “Came with you where?”