help but feel bad for his older brother. He knew how much Rob liked her, and he knew his brother was still hurt over their breakup.
“What happened? She realised you were the vagina in the relationship and she couldn’t let her balls out freely?”
“God, you can be such an immature dick. Clara’s impatient to see you. Can you hurry your annoying ass up? Everyone’s waiting for you,” Rob said, exaggerating his irritation.
“Whoa, don’t get your panties in a knot, Roberta! I’ll be there soon.”
His brother let out a sarcastic laugh. “Whatever. I’ll see you when you get here.”
“All right, Rob,” he said, ready to hang up.
“Julian.”
He tensed at the sound of his name because Rob tended not to use it. He usually called him ‘dipshit’ or ‘asshole’ as a suitable replacement.
“Yeah?” Julian asked as he saw the sign for the Mornington Peninsula exit.
“I’m happy you’re finally coming home for good,” Rob stated then hung up.
Julian placed his phone in his lap and looked out the window once more. He knew it was time to let her go, but he couldn’t. He wanted to see her again, and he had made that promise back in Boston. However, it was time he settled back in to a life in Melbourne. Tapping his fingers on his thigh, he continued to gaze out the window. Slipping his hand into his dress pants pocket, Julian took out the Thai coin they had made promises with and stared at it.
“I’ll always be all in,” he whispered as he placed the coin heads side up on his palm. Then he smiled sadly.
“Someday, Blondie. Someday, I’ll find you again.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Noel and Clara to the dance floor as they share their first dance together as husband and wife,” Ross, the lead singer of the band, announced.
From where she stood, Stevie Appleton watched her best friend smile and lead her husband to the dance floor.
“One, two, three,” Ross counted the band in. Then they began to play and sing Lady Antebellum’s “Can’t Take My Eyes off You.”
Stevie’s smile deepened as Clara’s eyes widened, recognising the song. Noel had wanted to surprise his wife with their first dance song choice. When Stevie asked why that particular song, Noel had just said, “It was the song that played when I first told Clara that I loved her. The first time I had ever said it to a woman and really meant it.” He truly loved Clara, and Stevie had known it the moment she had met him. Soon, her best friend would be moving to the U.S., and Stevie would be without her.
Looking across the dance room, Stevie noticed Rob standing alone by a table. Guilt settled in the pit of her stomach. She found it hard to let go of her past and be with him. Something about his eyes and his smile reminded her of the man she had left behind all those years ago. Being together was initially meant to make Jewel, the woman from the bar, jealous, but somehow, Rob fell deeper. And as hard as Stevie tried, she couldn’t make herself fall in love with Robert Moors.
Julian.
His name made her flinch. She’d tried not to remember it, but it had been hard. Stevie rubbed the back of her neck where she had a tattoo of his initial. He had made that spur-of-the-moment decision to push her out of her comfort zone. Looking back, she should have had it removed, but she couldn’t do it. Somehow, they had been the better chapters in her life, even though she wished she could forget. There were days when she wondered if he’d kept her initial tattooed on his chest. According to him, that was where it belonged. She had been foolish to believe him then. They had been just a summer fling.
After Thailand had been her darker times. Only her stepbrother, Jarred Harper, had been able to bring her back. When she had left for London, she had vowed never to reveal her secrets about Julian to Jarred.
Sighing, Stevie placed the envelope on the table next to her and glanced back at Rob. Telling him it was over was something she hadn’t wanted to do. She knew well that she had never had a problem being with men. But Rob was different. Rob was an exception.
If only I’d met him first, then maybe things could have been different.
Rob had never looked at her the same since she had called it quits. But Stevie knew why he