Page 141 of Pretty Mess

“Are you sure about this?”

I pause in the act of putting my wallet in my jeans and look at Julian. He’s sitting at the breakfast bar with his laptop open in front of him, but all his attention is on me.

“I don’t know,” I admit.

“So why do it?”

“Because I have to.”

“Why?”

I try a playful tone. “Aren’t you justfullof questions this morning?”

“Better than being full of bullshit.”

“What doesthatmean?”

“It means that you’re about to tell me that you need to see Mac because you’re so cross he intruded in your life and tried to save your brother.”

“Is that voice meant to be me?” I say indignantly.

He carries on remorselessly. “But the reality is that really youwantto see him, and this is the perfect excuse. You’re just covering it up in all this faux outrage because you’re an idiot.”

I slump onto the stool beside him and stare at the cupboards sightlessly. “If you’re my conscience, I have to say you’d make aterrible Jiminy Cricket. He never swore or called Pinocchio an idiot.”

“The book would have been a lot shorter if he had. And the thought of being your conscience is too horrifying to contemplate. I’d have cut your strings within thirty seconds of knowing you.”

He taps away on his laptop, obviously dismissing me, so I wait a few seconds and then nudge him.

“What?” he snaps. “Wes, I’ve got things to do this morning. Our exam results come out at lunch, and I can’t deal with you fidgeting like a grasshopper on speed.”

“You can’t end it there with your advice.”

“Why ever not?”

“Because… Because?—”

“Goodness, I can see why you were at the top of our class.”

“Numbers I’m fine with. Words are hard.”

“So is falling in love with your client, Vivian Ward.”

“That film was so crap. It never prepared me for this.”

“Write Julia Roberts a letter of complaint.” He turns on his stool and contemplates me, his blue eyes intense. “Do what you must, but at least be honest with yourself.”

“I try never to do that before breakfast.”

“You fell in love with Mac.” I open my mouth to argue, and he points a judgey finger at me. “You did. And you think he didn’t love you back.” That hurts, and my flinch is far too noticeable. His eyes soften. “You made a snap decision to leave when you were scared and in pain, and that’s totally understandable. Except now you miss him and want to find a way back to him, but it’s completely hopeless because according to you he doesn’t want you in any capacity apart from the hooker element.”

I return to the interesting bit. “What do you mean Ithinkhe doesn’t love me back?”

“Oh, you heardthatbit.”

“Julian!”

He shrugs. “It’s my opinion that he’s got feelings.”