Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9)(46)

“Oh.” Relief crossed her face before her features fell. “They shouldn’t need a babysitter. I should be watching them.”

For a split second, I panicked, hoping I hadn’t started another episode. So I straightened the tray more squarely over her lap and said, “He got you a little something to eat if you’re hungry.”

Perking to attention, she sat up and eyed her breakfast with new interest. “Noel made this?”

I snorted. “Of course. You think I could create this kind of fancy setup?” I flicked my finger against the flower. “And look, he left you another note.”

“Did he?” Her relief was palpable. After she snagged it and opened it to read, her shoulders fell and face relaxed.

“Need anything else?” I asked.

She looked up, happy tears sparkling in her eyes. At first, she shook her head no. But a second later, she said, “Oh! Wait, could you take this to him?” She snagged a pen and piece of notebook paper from her nightstand and scribbled something down before folding it a few times and extending it to me.

I almost cracked a joke about this being like grade school, and I was the messenger delivering notes back and forth between two people with crushes on each other. Was there a check yes or no box on her note?

But yeah…with the sensitive state Aspen was in these days, I wasn’t sure if she’d take it as a joke. So I took the paper without cracking a Colton, and hell yes, I opened it as soon as I hit the hallway.

Hers said:



Seriously, these two were so weird. And yet, kind of sweet.

Noel was in the living room, changed into his “Economics Teacher” clothes as he settled Lucy Olivia into a car seat carrier and instructed Beau to put his shoes on.

When he looked up and saw me, anxiety crossed his face. But he quickly cleared it and asked, “Everything go okay?’

“Yep.” I waited until he was finished with strapping in Lucy O and was sliding the diaper bag over his shoulder before I held out his note between two fingers. “For you.”

He paused when he saw it. Then his gaze sought mine. “She sent it back?” The dude seriously thought she’d rejected his love note.

I rolled my eyes. “She sent a response.”

That surprised him. He tore the paper from my fingers and whipped it open. The relief that swept off him mirrored the same relief I’d seen on his wife moments earlier. When he looked up, the grin on his face was the biggest I’d seen in months. “Thanks.” He tucked the note into his front jeans pocket and called to Beau, telling the runt it was time to head out.

When the door shut behind them, I blew out a breath and waited a beat, letting the entire morning soak in. Waking up to Julianna and experiencing a whole load of I-don’t-knows concerning her, then coming home to this had left me strangely morose.

But life was going to carry on without me if I just kept standing there like a contemplative dumbass, so I turned away and headed down the hall toward my room so I could get ready for classes, which started in under an hour.

Once I was under the full spray of the shower, I finally allowed my mind to return to Julianna again. I knew I was sending her mixed signals. But then, I was experiencing mixed emotions. Half of me still wanted to flirt with her. Half of me wanted to argue with her, half wanted me to stay bitter and rude, and half…shit. Four halves didn’t make a whole.

I was so screwed.

I kind of wanted to stay mad at her, and yet I kind of also wanted to not care at all because she’d made me care too much, but then I also kind of wanted to totally forgive her. All those wants and halves and thoughts went haywire in my head. But then, whenever she was right there in front of me, she was just so sassy and challenging, I started to act like I instinctively wanted to act before my brain commanded me to act another way. It was all just f*cking confusing, and I was pretty much ready for it to end.

But the more I told my brain to forget about her, the more it thought about her.

She was a tough nut to crack. Some people might refer to her as bitchy, I guess, but I knew she wasn’t. Something Sarah had said once really cemented that fact for me. When Sarah had crashed Brandt and Julianna’s one date, she’d told me Julianna had been really cool about it. She’d been kind and understanding to Sarah while Sarah had been in crisis mode and had needed Brandt more than anyone. Julianna had even hopped into the back seat of his truck to give Sarah the front without complaint. Then she’d gone and introduced herself, very pleasantly. A bitch wouldn’t have done that, which had started my in-depth curiosity about her.

Honestly, I think she purposely put up walls to appear tough and independent, but also to hide her true self, meaning, of course, I had to breach all these walls and find out what she was so desperately trying to guard. I bet once she let a person in—

But then, yeah, everything between us was just wrong, so I should really stop wondering about all that. Brandt would always be right there between us, and she still f*cking regretted what we had done together at the wedding, so…

That killed it for me. At least it should have.

And speaking of Brandt, he texted me on the way to class. Just a simple big-brother check in that said:





I think it was our first form of communication since he’d returned from his honeymoon. I didn’t want to feel any resentment that he was the main reason I was stupidly achy-breaky hearting it these days. He didn’t have a clue what was going on. But I still wanted to get through a conversation with him as quickly as possible.