Julian’s arm tightens just enough around my waist to make a point. A point I can’t quite read yet, but I know it’s there. His gaze locks on Malakai, and suddenly the easygoing husband I know is gone. This version of Julian is colder, like someone threw a bucket of ice water over him.
“I did,” my husband says, words cold.
“I see you’re renovating?” Malakai asks. “Apparently I’ve volunteered my services.” He looks at me briefly before continuing. “I also wanted to apologize for last weekend.”
My eyes flick between the old friends, and I remove Julian’s arm, stepping back. “Why don’t I give the two of you some privacy?”
“Soph—”
I take another step back. “I’m going to make us lunch. Malakai, would you like to join us?” I ask.
“As long as it’s okay with Julian.”
My husband’s jaw tics and he shrugs. “Sure.”
Clapping my hands once, I smile at both men. “Wonderful. We don’t have much—just some leftover sandwiches from a place downtown. And a couple of cinnamon rolls that I can heat up, as promised.”
“Sounds great,” Malakai says, giving me a genuine smile. “Thank you, Sophie. I’m really glad we met.”
I wink at Julian before walking to the garage, where we have a small makeshift kitchen set up. I plate the leftovers and make a quick salad before bringing it all to the old bar table that Orionloaned to us so that we didn’t have to eat our meals on the floor. It’s dark in here, so I click the button to open the garage in order to bring some natural light in. A minute later, Julian and Malakai walk into the garage.
Their voices are too low to decipher. Julian is doing his casual-but-not-really posture, the one he uses when he’s pretending to be fine. I’ve seen it before—him keeping his guard up with my mother and his parents, especially—but he’s usually very warm to random strangers, let alone people he considers friends.
I set the salad down, watching as Malakai places a hand on Julian’s shoulder, only for Julian to flinch, like he didn’t expect it. I don’t think Malakai notices, but I do. Julian hates people catching him off guard, but he doesn’t usually react that way to old friends. I cross my arms as I observe them some more.
This isn’t the same banter I usually see when Julian reconnects with old friends. I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering if there’s more to their story than the neat little version Julian gave me years ago. Racking my brain, I try to remember what he’s said about Malakai over the years. Whenever he talked about living in Crestwood, Malakai always came up. Julian seemed to have mostly fond memories of their time as friends, and I can’t recall any sort of falling out.
What really happened between them?
I set the sandwiches down on the table, grabbing a bag of Julian’s beloved Flamin’ Hot Cheetos from the stash he keeps hidden behind the cereal. He discovered them shortly after moving here, and now he’s obsessed.
I toss them onto his plate, catching the quick smirk he tries—and fails—to hide.
“I knew I married you for a reason,” Julian says, popping one into his mouth.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” I tease, nudging him with my elbow.
“Thank you for lunch,” Malakai says.
“Of course.” I take a seat across from them. “So? Did the two of you reconcile? Because we could really use Malakai’s help around the house,” I add, cocking my head at Malakai. “That is, if you’re still able and willing to help?”
He gives me a dashing smile and removes his leather jacket, his muscles contracting underneath a fitted, gray T-shirt.Good God.I swallow and look down as he sets his jacket on the back of a spare chair, mentally chastising myself for checking out another man right in front of my husband.
“I’d love to.”
I look over at Julian, and he’s watching me with some kind of unreadable expression.
I can’t tell if he actually agrees to all of this, or if he’s going along with it for some reason I don’t understand.
“Great,” my husband says, grabbing a sandwich.
“Great,” Malakai echoes, narrowing his eyes at Julian as he grabs a sandwich, too.
My lips twitch as I look between them.
This is going to be…interesting.
“Great,” I tell them both.
