Addicted (The Addicted Series, #1)(101)

"Not much. You two go enjoy yourselves, and when John comes home we can all get together and figure out what to do later. In the meantime, I'm off. I'll see you soon." Mom got up and left, and Julian watched her go before turning to me.

"She's still not cool with us, is she?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "But she's trying, Julian. Give her time."

"I understand. If I were her, I'd be a little worried with my daughter dating a guy like me too." He walked towards the kitchen, and stopped about halfway there, turning towards me. "Whoa."

"What?"

"I just said dating in connection with us. It's true, isn't it? We're boyfriend and girlfriend now."

I sat there, surprised as well. "I'd never thought of it that way. I was just kind of going with the flow, you know?"

Julian thought about it and nodded. "Me too. Hold on though, I do need some food before I can actually think more."

Julian ended up with leftover hamburger patties with a bit of barbecue sauce, which he heated up and then ate in efficient, large bites, wiping his mouth with a napkin in between. "If we have time later, I'd like to head down to the community center. I want to see if my record is still on the wall," he said as he washed the plate and put it away. I noticed that the washing caused the kitchen staff to whisper in surprise to each other, and they watched Julian like he was a total stranger. In a lot of ways though, he was. "I mean, that and get a workout in."

"I'm sure. But we should probably be back by early afternoon. My Aunt Gina is coming in."

For the first time, I saw something pass over Julian's face that I didn't understand. "Gina?"

"Yeah, you remember her. She was the maid of honor at Mom's wedding, and you had a dance with her at the reception."

Julian nodded like he was in shock. "Um yeah . . . yeah. I remember Gina."





Chapter 20


Julian




Gina.

Fuck.

Of all the people in the world, why did Krystal's aunt, who I had just happened to have had sex with, come to visit at the exact same time that Krystal and I came out to our parents about our relationship? Talk about karma coming to bite me in the ass.

"Julian? What's wrong?"

I blinked and saw Krystal looking at me, concern mixed with something else on her face. She was confused, and I could see why. But what was I supposed to say? "Uh, nothing. Just something crossed my mind. Okay, so we'll be back by early afternoon. Before that though, I'd like to find Yuki and ask her some stuff. Would you mind letting me cut loose and talk to her? Some of it goes back to before you and I met, and I don't want to drag up too many old problems."

Krystal looked at me, that same expression on her face, and nodded slowly. "Okay," she said, and I knew I had to do some serious thinking and quick. "Maybe we can head down to the community center at about eleven?"

"Okay," I said. I wiped my hands on the kitchen towel and hung it back on its rack. Leaning in, I whispered in Krystal's ear. "Please. I know it's weird, but it'll be okay."

Krystal nodded again, and whispered back. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I love you."

"I love you too."

We headed off our separate directions, and I looked furiously for Yuki. It wasn't that I really needed to apologize for anything, or to rehash old issues from my high school days. Instead, I wanted to find Yuki for the exact purpose my father had her around. Besides being an excellent house manager, she was smart as hell, and had given my father plenty of good advice over the years. If she could advise Dad, maybe she'd have some advice for me as well. My father already had enough to think about with Krystal and I, and I didn't want to bother him.

I finally found Yuki in the place I least expected, her office, which was next to the servant's dining room. She rarely used it, preferring to be out and around the grounds either doing things herself or monitoring the other workers. However, she was also responsible for the household budgeting, which meant a couple hours a month on the computer using Quicken, and that was where I found her, going through receipts and double checking account balances. I knocked on the door frame, causing her to look up. "Yuki? Do you have a minute?"

"Of course Julian," she said, closing the lid on her laptop. "Come in, have a seat. Is there something I can do for you?"

I came into the office and closed the door behind me. She looked at me with the same inscrutable eyes she always had as I collapsed into the chair across from her, and put my face in my hands. "Yuki, I think I've seriously f*cked up."

I heard her sigh, and I looked up to see her pursing her lips and putting her chin in the cup of one palm. "How so?"

I laid it all out for her. My original plan, how I ended up f*cking Gina in the library, and the entire aftermath. I even told her the truth about what caused me to go from Los Angeles to Chicago, and how Krystal had changed me. I told her everything, editing out only the parts that would be considered a bit too pornographic.

"Yuki, you've helped my Dad so often with advice. I don't really want to talk to him or Sandra, they're already skeptical about my relationship with Krystal. I don't know who I can turn to. What should I do?"