Absolute Lovers (Absolute #2) (17 page)

"You're really good."

"Thanks," she said softly. "Do you
play?"

"I used to. My mom gave me lessons when I was a kid, but
school took up so much of my time and I gave it up when I went to
college."

"Play something," she encouraged and moved down
the bench.

"I'll try," I said, because I didn't want to deny
her anything. "Just don't laugh if I make any mistakes."

"I swear," she said and gave me a sweet kiss.

I played a little of Beethoven's "Moonlight
Sonata" because I was able to do so without sheet music and it was a
favorite of mine.

"That was beautiful!" Julia exclaimed when I
finished. "You should play more often, baby."

"Maybe I will when you get your grandfather's
piano," I said with a smile, secretly hoping that we would be living
together by then.

Julia returned the smile and we gazed into each other's eyes
for the longest time.

"Here you guys are!" Matt barged into the room,
throwing up his hands. "I've been looking for you two
everywhere
.
Do you realize how boring it is out there without you?"

"Sorry. We're coming."

Julia went to the bathroom before we stepped out into the
garden again. I looked around for any signs of Michelle and apparently I wasn't
being very stealthy, because Matt quickly saw what I was doing.

"I don't know where she is," he said. "I ran
into her earlier when I was looking for you guys and when I asked if she had
seen you, she just looked really pissed and stormed off."

I had a pretty good idea why Michelle had done that. Julia
smirked up at me and leaned into my body.

"Anyway, you wanna get something to eat?" he
continued, rubbing his stomach. "I'm freakin' starving."

"Yeah, me, too,” Julia said, “I seem to have worked up
quite an appetite."

I laughed and Matt looked at us. Then he laughed, too.

"For a second there I thought that you guys had been
off screwing or something," he chuckled. "But then I remembered that
I was thinking about my brother, who would never do something like that. Come
on, let's eat."

"You're right, Matt. I would
never
do something
like that," I said and stifled a laugh as we followed him.

The person I used to be wouldn't have, but the new me
sure as hell would!

"What are we having?" Julia asked us.

"Barbecue," Matt and I answered in unison.

"Seriously? That's awesome!" she said. "I was
worried it would be all caviar and
pâté
.
Do you think I could get a cheeseburger?”

"Absolutely. Just place your order and the chef grills
your meat," I said, pointing straight ahead to where the barbecue was set
up.

"A chef? Isn't the whole point of a barbecue to grill
your own stuff?"

"Thank you!" Matt said emphatically. "I've
been telling our mom that for years, but will she listen? Women, you
know?"

"Totally," Julia deadpanned.

"I like you." Matt nodded. "You're cool.
You're also way too smokin' hot for my brother. You do realize that,
right?"

"Yeah, probably," she said and gave me a wink,
showing me that she didn't really feel that way. "But the thing is,” she
continued. "I'm also smart enough to know that when I find a hot, sweet,
and wonderful guy who also happens to be the best lay ever, he's a
keeper."

She sauntered ahead of us toward the food and called over
her shoulder, "I'm even smart enough to fall in love with him."

Matt stared after her with a stunned look on his face and I
was sure that I matched his expression. I watched as she went up to the chef
and placed her food order. She held up her hands, indicating that she wanted a
huge burger, and I couldn't help but laugh as she did, clearly smitten with
her.

God, I love her. I can't believe she's really mine.

"You're
so
gonna marry her.”

"What?"

"You are," he insisted.

"Matt, officially we've only been together a few
weeks," I said, although I wanted his statement to be true. "Besides,
I thought you didn't like the idea of marriage. Being with just one woman for
the rest of your life and all that."

"Yeah, but you're so traditional that it was just a
matter of time before you settled down with one of the duds you dated. If you
have
to get married, I'd prefer someone like Jules as a sister-in-law. At least
she's fun to be around.”

I couldn't believe that he had actually considered this. I
thought I was the only one thinking of our relationship in terms of forever and
“for as long as we both shall live.” Evidently, that wasn't the case, and it
made me wonder if Julia was having similar thoughts now that we had declared
our love for each other.

"And she makes you all happy and googly-eyed, which is
a big step up from boring, sullen Stephen," he added. "It's just…it's
nice to see you happy for a change."

"Thank you, Matt," I said, feeling a little
stunned. "I hope you and Megan work out, too."

"Yeah, we'll see how it goes," he said. "Come
on, bro. Let's get our burgers on."

We joined Julia at the buffet table and I made sure to let
the chef know in a very subtle way that she was taken. Well, maybe not entirely
subtle, since I chose to convey it by giving her a searing kiss that almost
made her drop her plate. Luckily, she didn't seem to mind at all based on the
smile she gave me. We sat down to eat and once again I noticed that people were
staring.

"I feel like I'm on display or something," Julia
whispered.

"They're all just shocked to see Stephen with a
girl," Matt said around a huge mouthful of burger.

"Why?"

"I think they all assumed that he was gay." My
brother grinned. "You know. A single guy of a certain age they've never
seen with a chick. Plus the whole literature thing. You can't really blame
them."

Julia quirked an eyebrow. "Liking literature is gay?
Fuck me. I guess I'm a lesbian then."

Matt laughed, shaking his head.

"I thought you weren't going to swear, you naughty
girl," I whispered in her ear. She smirked and shrugged.

"I figured it was OK as long as it's just the three of
us. Besides, I think you like my dirty mouth."

I truly did. Mostly in the bedroom, where I was now almost
as vocal as her.

Everything was so different now. I was even enjoying the
party and talking to my parents' friends who came over to say hello. I
introduced Julia as my girlfriend and every time it made me grin like the
lovestruck fool I was. I was purposely vague when asked how we had met and how
long we had been dating. There wasn't any danger anymore since I was no longer
her teacher, but I still did my best to keep speculation about us to a minimum
and simply told people that the relationship was new and that we had met at the
university.

"I need pie," my brother announced, leaving the
table after devouring his third burger.

"Pie?" Julia echoed. "Which kind?"

"Apple," I said with a smile and an eye roll.
"My mom loves to embrace the clichés."

"You shouldn't take all of this for granted," she
said quietly and motioned around the garden. "Your parents, your brother.
Family, you know. You're very lucky. To belong somewhere."

She let out a small sigh and her expression turned sad. It
made me feel horrible because I realized that she was right. I had never really
appreciated the comfort and safety of having supportive and loving parents, and
a brother who actually seemed to enjoy my company. I had a place to go for
holidays and people to celebrate birthdays and specials occasions with. Julia
didn't have any of that.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," I whispered, hesitantly
placing my hand on top of hers.

It was times like this when I felt just how inexperienced I
was when it came to women and relationships in general. I didn't know if I
should hold her or if it was better to give her a little distance. This was a
family party and Julia had lost hers. And to make matters worse I had just
poked fun at my mother right in front of a girl who probably missed hers,
especially on a day like this.

"It's OK," she said as she shuffled her chair
closer to mine. I took it as an invitation to wrap my arm around her and kissed
her temple.

"I'm really happy to be here with you," she
whispered and played with the button on my shirt cuff before she laced our
fingers.

"I am, too," I murmured, tilting her head up until
she looked at me.

"I love you, Julia. You do have a place where you
belong."

"I do?" she whispered and gazed into my eyes.

I nodded. "You belong with me.”

And then I discarded proper social conduct entirely, pulled
her into my lap, and kissed her as though my life depended on it. Julia
responded eagerly and pressed herself against me while both of us ignored the
fact that we were sitting in the middle of a garden in broad daylight at a
semi-formal function.

"Dude, you look like you're trying to eat each
other," Matt snickered next to us. "Have some more grub."

Reluctantly, I pulled my mouth away from Julia's and met her
eyes.

"I love you, too," she whispered.

I lifted her back into her own chair and turned my attention
to my brother, who was busily shoveling pie into his mouth.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "but I think people at
the buffet were starting to take bets on whether you were going to mount her
right here on the table."

I blushed, but Julia just laughed softly.

"They all would have lost," she said. "If
anyone was doing any mounting, it would have been
me
."

Matt chortled and went back to eating.

"Would you like some pie?" I asked her.

She nodded and started to stand up but I stopped her, saying
that I wanted to get it for her.

"I can get it myself," she protested.

"I know. But let me, please?" There was a lot more
to my question than merely getting dessert. I was asking her to let me treat
her like a lady. She hadn't ever been with a gentleman before and was under the
mistaken impression that they only belonged in movies and books. On the
wonderful day when she had agreed to be my girlfriend, I had told her that I
wanted to do all those gentlemanly things, but I hadn't really had the
opportunity until now.

"Will it make you happy if I agree?" she asked.

"Ecstatic," I replied honestly.

"All right," she said with an indulgent smile,
leaning back in her chair. "But if you skimp on the whipped cream, the
deal’s off."

I laughed and went to the buffet, where I made sure to get
her an extra-large slice of pie with plenty of whipped cream. I also poured her
a cup of coffee and was about to walk back over when I stopped dead in my
tracks.

Oh, no. What the hell does
she
want?

Michelle was standing by my empty chair next to a very
uncomfortable-looking Matt. Julia regarded her with a neutral expression and I
was thankful that she didn’t seem upset. I quickly walked over and sat down
next to my girlfriend, handing her the dessert. She gave me a grateful smile at
the same time Michelle cleared her throat in a way that demanded attention.

"Hello, Michelle," I said curtly, finally raising
my head to look at her.

I had seen her in passing over the last decade, but this was
the first time since that night that we had spoken. She looked different than I
remembered her. She used to be beautiful to me. Now I couldn’t help but notice
the heavy makeup she wore as a mask and the inappropriately low cut of her
dress. Something had definitely been altered in her chest area, which looked
much larger than it had before. I wasn't intentionally looking at her breasts
but it was impossible not to, which I supposed was the point of her dress.

Implants? How odd.

I found her to be wanting in every way and I couldn't for
the life of me understand why I had ever been attracted to her. She was nothing
like the woman I remembered. It was entirely possible that I had put her on a
pedestal, but now I saw her for what she really was: someone who was trying to
remain young and attractive by dressing inappropriately and getting cosmetic
surgery. It was quite pitiful. Youth was great and all, and God knows I
worshipped Julia's young, supple body. But if there hadn't been more to her
than perky breasts and a firm backside I might have slept with her a few times,
but never would have fallen in love with her. Julia was the complete package:
brains, personality, and beauty, and that was how I knew that I would still
want her just as much when she changed into a natural-looking, mature, still-gorgeous
woman.

"Hi Stephen," Michelle said in a strange, breathy
voice.

Apparently, she took my greeting as permission to join us
because she sat down next to Matt while keeping her eyes on me. I wondered what
on earth she could possibly want and if she was going to pretend that she
hadn’t been spying on my intimate time with my girlfriend less than an hour
ago. I didn't know if she realized that she had been caught doing it, but
either way she was being very rude.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your date?" she
asked and looked at Julia. I sighed. I really wanted to tell Michelle to take a
hike, but seeing that she was a guest of my parents', I couldn't very well do
that.

"Michelle, this is Julia Wilde. My girlfriend. Sweetheart,
this is Michelle Kingston. She's a friend of the family."

But not a friend of mine.

"Pleased to meet you," Michelle said.
"Stephen and I go
way
back. We have a lot of history."

"So I've heard," Julia replied dryly, leaning a
little closer to me. Michelle nodded in a knowing way and for some reason she
looked smug. I had no idea why. Sleeping with her was one of the worst
experiences of my life and it was hardly something for her to feel proud about.