Page 52 of Stone: The Precursor

Turning at the deep voice, I smile, watching Julian walk my way. Damn, he’s gorgeous. His thin whipcord body is graceful and sexy. Both of his arms have a tattoo. His hair is braided back, and the denim shorts he’s wearing cut off mid-shin, leaving strings hanging down. I like the dark surfer energy mixed with the broody artist thing he has going on. His dark-framed glasses are a nice touch. I could reciprocate the flirty energy he’s been giving me all night, but my mind can’t help but conjure up another broody artist.

“That’s Jagger. He’s my new pet. I let him crawl around and he seems to like the heater in the bathroom the best.”

“Scared the shit out of me when I was pissing and saw a pair of beady eyes staring up at me. He was watching my dick like it was his next meal.”

The bark of laughter that explodes from Cinda’s mouth startles me. “That doesn’t sound complimentary to your manhood. Their food is minuscule, right? Like small meal worms.”

Julian doesn’t take offense and flips her his middle finger. “Shut up.”

Grinning, I love how they feed off each other. I giggle when Jacinda sticks out her tongue. “Sorry about that.”

“No worries. So you’re beardie mama, huh? MILF and all that.” His smile is perfect, braces or good genes, I don’t know, but I do feel a slight tingle at his hot stare. Not the inferno I feel around Stone, but it’s still nice. It’s not the first time he’s been flirty since I’ve met him. But I’m not sure if I can’t get more into him because I’m caught up in a tizzy by the asshole sharing my wall. Julian is funny and doesn’t give me monosyllabic answers like another man I know. I bet he wouldn’t tell me to go find someone else to fuck if I flirted back with him. Not that I even remember how. I haven’t gone on a date, not to mention had sex in over nine months, so I’m definitely out of practice.

“Stop flirting, Julian, she’s not interested,” Cinda mocks, and then blinks. “Wait, are you interested?”

I swallow, unsure how to answer her. I laugh her off, deflecting and ignoring her question. “I was thinking of opening in July. Your show would be opening night.”

“That gives me enough time.” Cinda nods, pulling out a notebook and scribbling inside it. “I gotta go. I need to stop by the pharmacy. My Uber should be here any minute.”

“You okay?” Julian perks up, frowning. From the very beginning of our friendship, Jacinda told me about her diabetes. “Do you want me to drive you home?”

Jacinda shakes her head. “No, I got it.” She wraps him in a one-arm hug. “My blood sugar is good. I just need some stuff from the pharmacy. I’ll catch you later, bro.” When she turns to me, I smile. “I’ll call you this week,” she says to me. “Email you some of my pieces and we can make a plan about which ones you think would be a good fit.”

“Perfect.” I clap, and Jacinda approaches me, offering me a tight hug. I feel light as air. Tonight was good.

Jacinda leaves through my front door, her braids swinging. Julian stares after her, a frown still marring his handsome face.

“What?”

He glances my way. “Nothing. I just worry about her. The last time her blood sugar went low, she was driving. She crashed.”

My eyes widen at the news. “Was she okay?”

Julian nods. “She had a concussion, but it scared her enough that she doesn’t drive anymore, but I’ll stop by her apartment later. She’ll probably be up late creating now that you’re giving her an art show.” He smiles and walks closer to me. “Thanks for this by the way. She’s excited.”

“She’s amazing. You are as well.”

He grins. “You like me.”

Laughing, I shake my head and sit back down on the ground where our leftover pizza sits in the box. Picking up a cold slice, I take a huge bite, mumbling around the cold cheese and spicy pepperoni. “I like your art.”

He sits next to me, stretching out his legs. “Aww, that hurts. You like my creations more than me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well since you love my art, I better get started if you’re going to give me an art show too.”

I jerk and widen my eyes. “You’re agreeing too?” Excitement barrels through me. Julian’s art is very different from his sisters, but no less impressive. Each piece is made purely of colored glass. The sculptures I’ve seen of his are ghastly beautiful. Morbid, mythical creatures. Pure dark fantasy.

“Why not? You won’t go out with me, so I need to have an excuse to see you.”

He winks again, and I wonder why I can’t like him more. His charm is off the charts. I smirk and shake my head.

“You never answered Cinda’s question.”

The coward in me wants to pretend like I don’t know what he’s talking about.

“We could grab coffee, just us.”