Chapter l431

Chapter 0431

“Maybe we should try a different game,” Julian said. “Something easier.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Go fish,” he said, and we both laughed. A game for children might have been more fitting, honestly. At least then, I might have stood a chance. I had no proof but I had a feeling, just knowing Julian, that he had been counting cards at poker.

As he started to deal for our competitive game of go fish, I said to him, “See

this is how it should be.”

He side–eyed me. “How do you mean?”

“Easy. Being with the person meant for you should be easy, just like this. Fun and silly. Full of more laughter than heartache.”

lian hummed as he set down the deck. I checked my cards. I had a truly

lousy hand. Looked like I was going to lose at go fish too as badly as poker. Julian would never let me live it down.

“Does Bridget play cards?” I asked.

Julian’s smile twitched downward, just a hair. “I’m not sure.” He placed down two matching cards. He was already ahead of me. Of course.

Julian obviously enjoyed playing cards. It seemed unfair that he had no idea if the person he thought was his true love even liked it.

I was enjoying it myself, though admittedly, I wasn’t any good. But this was another point I wanted to prove. The right person for him would try to learn his favorite games, just because he liked them. She would want to try just to spend time at his side.

I wished I could make him see, but the longer we spent together, the more I wasn’t sure if any of my lessons were being learned. He seemed so

entrenched with his feelings for Bridget, like he’d harbored them so long, he had no idea how else to be.

As we continued to play, and Julian continued to beat me at cards, I noticed Nicholas walk out into the garden. His gaze cast over the flowers and the fields before he spotted me and Julian at our small two person table. We were both leaning over the table, far into each other’s personal space.

Part of my lesson in how a girlfriend should act included being more touchy feely. I had been making efforts to touch his arm or his hand, to lean into him. Even now, my leg pressed against his under the table from knee to ankle.

“Nicholas is watching us,” Julian said. He plucked a card from the pile, then dropped three three’s. “He looks rather annoyed at our closeness.”

“Let him look,” I said, huffier than I meant. “Today isn’t about him.”

“It’s about us?” Julian asked.

“It’s about you,” I said. I didn’t know why it was so important to me to Save Julian from his unrequited romance. Maybe it was because we had gotten to be such good friends. Maybe it was because, unlike me and my feelings for Nicholas, Julian had a chance to be free of his love and live his

best life.

“He looks like he’s about to come over,” Julian said.

I glanced up in time to see Nicholas step forward. My breath caught in my throat. What would he even say? Would he try to split up Julian and I? Would he want to sneak me away to some closet for a secret tryst?

I didn’t know what I expected, or what I wanted.

But then Bridget appeared behind him and grabbed his arm, stopping him. She gave him her high–beam smile and thoroughly distracted him. As she pulled him away, Nicholas didn’t even glance back.

My heart sunk down as my disappointment surged.