“Miss, come with me.” The guard stood in front of the girl as she looked around him at Keaton and shook her head angrily.
Keaton went completely still. Tears filled her eyes as the girl shrugged away from the security guard and started to cry. “I can’t believe I used to look up to you! Were you even together? Was it just some giant publicity stunt to get Instagram likes? How could you even move on? Real love wouldn’t let you! You’re so fake!”
“That’s it.” The security guard physically grabbed her and moved her toward the exit, amidst all the hushed whispers around us.
I reached for Keaton’s hands.
She held them in her lap.
And when I squeezed her thigh for comfort, she stiffened.
The rest of the evening was ruined.
And I had a sinking feeling that all of the progress we’d made together, dealing with our grief, the book, this thing between us, just took two giant leaps backward.
Chapter Thirty-Four
KEATON
I felt physically sick that night as I stared at the laptop. True to my word I came back to Julian’s.
All that mattered was finishing the book.
Releasing it to the masses.
Moving on.
That and Julian.
I had no idea what to do. My followers meant the world to me, and for them to have the wrong idea—I didn’t know if I should address it publicly or just lie low and let it play out.
Julian had gone to bed, saying he was tired, and I’m sure he was, tired of me not taking a leap, tired of me needing him and taking everything without giving him all of me.
I’d be tired too.
I stared at the laptop.
I hadn’t touched the keyboard since the morning I’d found out about Julian’s birthday party. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
I couldn’t sleep.
And both Julian and I knew we only had less than two weeks to finish, though at the rate we were going, it would be done sooner rather than later, we were already at two hundred and fifty pages.
Already close to the end.
Part of me didn’t even want Julian to type those words, though I knew they were necessary, and another part of me felt like I was the one who needed to do it.
I sat at the table and opened the laptop. It was on the last page Julian had typed out.
I frowned and scrolled through the last chapter.
In the margins, he had left comments like That’s my favorite part and Any man would fall in love with a smile like that.
There weren’t just a few comments but hundreds of them, about his own opinions, about how he didn’t blame Noah, even some on how he was jealous of him.
I quickly shut the laptop, my body buzzing with awareness.
Julian had no idea, did he? That as he was writing the end of Noah’s story—he was writing the beginning of ours.
Tears filled my eyes as I stood and made my way into the bedroom. Julian was lying there on his side, sleeping in all his masculine glory.
His skin looked tanned against the white silk sheets. He turned in his sleep, and the sheet fell past his abs down to his waist. A sudden craving for him whipped through me, and I licked my lips.
I couldn’t compare them.
They were so different.
Where Noah was all jokes, Julian was more reserved.
Where Julian was more controlled and dominant, Noah was carefree.
I took care of Noah.
And Julian?
He took care of me.
This would be the moment where I should call my mom and ask for advice, but I knew what her answer would be.
Jump.
She was carefree just like Noah had been.
I bit my bottom lip as I watched Julian toss and turn. I wanted to fight his monsters, I wanted more.
“Noah,” I whispered. “What do I do? How do I handle this?”
I squeezed my eyes shut as the sound of the TV got my attention. I hadn’t even realized it was on.
Tears blurred my vision as I saw a commercial for adopting cats.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Tears fell down my cheeks.
“Really, Noah?” I whispered through my tears.
“Hey.” Julian’s sleepy voice filled the room. “Are you okay?”
I turned to him, his concerned green eyes and his wavy hair, his perfect jawline, intense gaze, and caring attitude. He was a bossy ass who I was falling in love with despite my heart still belonging to someone who no longer had one that beat.
And it was time to jump.
“How do you feel about adopting a cat?” I crossed my arms.
Julian’s eyes narrowed. “Are you drunk?”
“Come on, a tiny little kitten just roaming around—”
“Shitting in a box, in my apartment.” He stared me down and then fell back against the bed. “I’m going to regret this.”
“Yes!” I made a beeline for the bed and jumped on, then wrapped my arms around his neck and lay across his body.
“Is that the only reason you were hovering in the doorway watching me sleep?” He licked his lips.