“No. That wasn’t Theo.” He bumped me out of the way and resumed his spot without looking atme.
“Oh.” I waited to see if he’d volunteer anything further, but he didn’t. A minute later, I could hear the phone faintly buzzing again. “You gonna getthat?”
Julian glanced at me briefly and, I swear, guiltily, then grabbed his phone again. This time, he turned away from me slightly and typed out a quick reply. This time I also caught a glimpse of the earliermessage.
Hey, Jules. Curtisagain.
Curtis…again.
Something unpleasant settled in my stomach, curdling the sandwich I’d thrown together for lunch. I’d never heard of anyone in town namedCurtis.
There were a hundred explanations, of course—college buddy, old friend, professional acquaintance—but he would have told me if it was any of those people. No, this was a boyfriend… a formerboyfriend.
Who was contacting Julian…again.
My brain stuttered for a second and the first emotion to surface when it rebooted washurt…which scared the fuck out of me, naturally. There was no reason whatsoever why Julian couldn’t have a male friend. A hundred male friends. Hell, even a hundred guys he… you know… hooked up with when he wasn’t withme.
I made an involuntary choking noise and tried to cover it as acough.
We weren’t exclusive. I mean, not that I had any desire to hook up with anyone else, but Julian could. If he wantedto.
Julian gave me a half-smile and slid the phone away again. “You wanna go grab some more stuff from thetruck?”
I nodded shortly and followed him around the back of the little booth, and then over to the truck that bore the Ross logo. A dozen small fresh pine trees—each about three feet tall, flocked with fake snow, and festooned with ribbon—were standing in the bed. Julian clambered up and passed four down to me before jumping backdown.
“I think we’ll arrange these in front,” he said, grabbing two of the trees. “Since they’re nearly the height ofthe…”
The high-pitched buzzing of his phone interruptedhim.
Jules tried to ignoreit.
“Something important?” Iasked.
Julian shook his head, but he still set down the trees and reached for his phone. “Old friend is in the area. Wanted to get together. I told him I wasbusy.”
“Oh.” I felt stupid. “That’s cool. We could all go out, if youwant.”
A little smile twisted the corners of Julian’s mouth. “You want to go out with me and an old friend? When I practically had to pry you into the car to cometoday—”
“Hey! Nottrue.”
“Oh, yeah? Name one time you’vehung outwith anyone besides me, not including Thanksgiving, since you’ve livedhere.”
I spread my hands wide. “Uh,now! Look at me hanging out with all ofO’Leary.”
“Right.” Julian rolled his eyes and tucked the phone back in his pocket. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you werejealous.”
“Jealous.Pfft.No.”Yes! Oh, motherfucker. Yes, I was.Holy shit. That was the last thing I needed, because if I was jealous, that would mean I really cared, far beyond friends with benefits, and if I reallycared…
Julian’s lips twitched again, like he was somehow finding humor in this incredibly terrifying turn of events. He took a step toward me and slid his palms up mychest.
Despite the two layers of cotton and the thick fleece jacket I wore, his touch made meshiver.
“You weren’t jealous?” he askedcoyly.
“No.”
“Not even alittle?”
