The Game Changer (28 page)

“Wow,” Melody said. “That's...”

“Unexpected? Fast?” Julian sighed and rose from his stool. He stepped around the counter and began pacing back and forth. “I was happy for him. I’d never seen him so animated, so...I don’t know, joyful seems like a weird word, but it fits. He was in love and it changed his whole world.
She
changed his whole world, and it seemed like I no longer had a part in that world.”

He stopped and turned to face her. “I’d like to be a big man and say I wasn’t jealous, but I was. I was hurt and angry, and a million other things, but what could I do? I put a smile on my face, agreed with him whenever he talked about how great she was, and I stood up as his best man when they got married. I even wrote and delivered a heartfelt speech about how they were clearly meant for each other, and I couldn’t be more thrilled for them.”

Melody knew her smile must look slightly wilted. She could sympathize with the way he was feeling, even if things hadn’t progressed quite that far with Olivia and Cameron. “What happened after that?”

“They moved away,” Julian told her. “Carrie was from Niagara Falls, so they went to live there. I get a card from them at Christmas every year—they have two kids now, and they dress them up like elves every damn year for their family card—and a promise from Gil that he’ll visit soon, but he never does.”

“You miss him,” Melody said.

“Hell yeah,” Julian agreed. “Even after all these years, and even though I was left behind. High school friends usually move on, you know? I just thought we’d be different."

Melody nodded. “I’ve met a lot of people who said the same thing. I was never as close to anyone as I was to Liv, but I had a few other friends in high school. I have no idea where any of them are now.”

“Exactly,” Julian said. “You hear of it happening, but you never think it’ll be you. Not when you’re so close to someone. You and Olivia are the exception, not the rule.”

Melody's stomach clenched. She suddenly missed Olivia fiercely. “So you carried on with the game even after Gil left?”

Julian nodded. “It was a way of life for me by that point, as messed up as that sounds. After having a front row seat to the Gil and Carrie show, I knew that love could make you completely stupid, and I wasn't interested in that. My business was just starting to take off, and I couldn’t afford to fall in love and go crazy.”

“It’s not always like that,” Melody pointed out, thinking of her own experience.

“I know,” Julian agreed. “Or rather, I know that
now
. I didn’t necessarily know that then.”

“Have you ever met a game changer?” Melody asked.

Julian thought about it for a moment. “Once or twice I thought I had, but then I realized they were playing games of a different sort.”

“What do you mean?”

He waved his hand around the apartment. “I’d bring them here when we left the club, and they’d take a look around and realize I was...well off, let’s say. They’d try to spend the night, or make plans to see me again, but I knew it wasn’t actually me they were interested in.”

“Must be hard,” Melody commented.

“Yeah, it sucks. Luckily my
huge
ego lets me bounce back quickly.”

Melody burst out laughing. For the first time, it hit her: Julian used his confidence as a defense mechanism. Some people used humour, others used sarcasm, but Julian employed his confidence, good looks, and ability to charm. She couldn't blame him, not after discovering what his early teen years had been like.

Julian’s lopsided grin was so endearingly boyish, it made Melody want to close the distance between them and wrap her arms around him.

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” Julian said in a conspiratorial tone, leaning against the counter. “I’m getting tired of the game.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Julian confirmed. “I’ve been doing this for almost ten years now. It’s getting old.”

Holy shit
, Melody thought.
Ten years
?! Ten years. How many women had he slept with in that space of time? She tried to do some quick math in her head, and as the numbers climbed to ridiculous heights she began to feel sick.

“Melody? You got quiet all of a sudden.”

“Sorry.” She slid off her stool and took a minute to collect herself by checking on the casserole in the oven. She turned to face Julian, and leaned against the opposite counter. “So the game is getting old.”

“Yeah. Has been for awhile. I used to love it because it was exciting and it was a challenge. It was also an escape from reality, but I kind of like my reality right now.”

“Well, that’s good, right? That’s what most people strive for in life.”

Julian hummed his agreement.

“When did things start to change?” Melody asked.

Julian hopped up onto the counter behind him and sat on the edge, legs swinging. He rubbed his chin again, dark stubble making a scritch-scratch sound from the movement. “Okay, this is going to sound like a line, but I swear it’s not. It was the night I met you.”

Melody stared at him with wide eyes. “The—what? You’re kidding.”

“I’m not,” Julian said. “I watched you all that night. I could sense almost immediately that Olivia would be the type of girl I’d normally go for—she had that quality, that certain something that let me know she was a game player in her own way. But it was you who kept drawing my attention. There was something about you. I could tell there were times when you felt a little out of place and self-conscious, but you loosened up as the night went on. I watched you brush off guys when they approached you, and the way you concentrated on Olivia…well…I have to admit, I briefly entertained the notion that the two of you were a couple.” He smiled wickedly at her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Melody made a disbelieving noise and smacked Julian’s arms. Despite the rising heat in her cheeks, she laughed. “You
would
think that.”

Julian shrugged one shoulder unapologetically, wicked smile still in place as his eyes danced with laughter. “You two would make a seriously hot couple,” he said. When Melody hit his arm again, he laughed and held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, moving on. Anyway, I got the impression you weren’t a one-nighter. When I finally approached your table, I had every intention of hitting on Olivia, but I changed my mind halfway there, and decided I had to talk to you, even if you shot me down cold. Which you did.” His boyish grin returned, and Melody laughed quietly to herself.

She had a hard time wrapping her mind around the idea of Julian really being interested in her. Now she understood why he’d warned her it was going to sound like a line. If she didn’t know him so well, and know that all he wanted from her now was friendship, she’d think he was flirting.

“Is it bad that I’m flattered by that?” she asked.

Julian chuckled. “I don’t think so. And look at us now. We’re, like, practically BFFs,” he said in a high-pitched voice that made Melody laugh so hard tears came to her eyes.

“You’re insane,” she told him.

“Maybe,” he agreed easily, shrugging again. “But I bet you don’t know what you’d do without me.”

Melody contemplated that for a minute, and discovered he was right. Damn him anyway.

When she didn’t say anything, he added, “I can be your new Olivia. We can do all the girly things you guys did together.”

Melody started to laugh again. “Oh yeah, and what kind of
girly things
do you think we did?”

“I don’t know, but I’d like to find out.” He slid off the counter and came at her with his fingers extended to tickle her. She shrieked and shoved him away, but somehow ended up in his arms. When she realized he was no longer trying to tickle her, and that he wasn’t moving away either, she relaxed against him and allowed her arms to wind around him.
Just for a minute
, she told herself.
He’s so warm and comforting, and he smells so good…

“I don’t like to admit it,” Melody said, burying her face in his shoulder so he couldn’t see her face, “but I really don’t know what I’d do without you. You’ve been a great friend.”

“Aww, Mel,” Julian said, rubbing her back. “I feel the same way, you know. You’re amazing. I didn’t think I’d ever come to count on anyone the way I do with you. There are no pretenses, no games.”

Melody sighed. She tried to tell herself that the gnawing in her stomach was simply hunger, but she knew that wasn’t true. Before she could explore that line of thinking any further, the oven timer went off with a jolting ding.

“Well…” Melody said, pulling away from Julian and tugging on a pair of oven mitts that were hanging over the stove
. Lighten the mood, lighten the mood,
she thought. “If you’re a good boy and eat all your dinner, I’ll tell you about the girly things Olivia and I usually do.”

Julian laughed. “Sounds like a deal.”

*****

“I think we should go out tonight.”

It was several hours later, and Melody and Julian were sitting in Julian’s den watching television. Melody had discovered that Julian’s couches were as comfortable as they looked. She’d also discovered a new side of Julian—a more relaxed and open Julian, who shared things freely. She liked this side of him.

“Out?” Melody asked. “Out where?”

“Well, there’s always Atlantis,” Julian suggested.

Melody scoffed. “I’m not exactly dressed for Atlantis, Julian. More like Sweet Home Alabama.”

She regretted her words the minute they were out of her mouth. Julian’s eyes sparked and he sat up from his comfortable leaning position next to her. “Sweet Home Alabama,” he said.

The glint in his eye made Melody shake her head. “No. No way. I’m not going to Sweet Home Alabama. I don’t know how to dance to country music.”

“Oh come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” Julian asked, grabbing her hand and gripping it tightly.

“I left it at home with my cowboy boots.”

Julian’s quick flash of a grin was devilish. “Do you really have cowboy boots?”

“No! Can you see me wearing cowboy boots?”

Julian cocked his head to the side and examined her. “Yeah, actually. I think it’d be hot.”

Melody pulled her hand from his to smack him on the shoulder. “Can’t we just hang out here?”

“Uh-uh, sorry. You planted the idea of Sweet Home Alabama in my head, and now I think we should go.”

Melody groaned. “You’re worse than a child. You’re like a giant man-child.”

Julian threw his head back and laughed. “I’ve been called worse. Come on, please?”

Julian’s smile was infectious, and Melody couldn’t help the twitching at the corners of her lips. “Fine. But you have to wear jeans and a t-shirt. Or better yet, a plaid shirt, but I don’t suppose you own one.”

“I do, actually,” Julian told her. “It’s one of those short sleeved button ups with blue plaid. My mother bought it for me, and I’ve never worn it because it’s not my style at all.”

“Well, it is tonight, cowboy. Go change.”

Half an hour later when their cab pulled up in front of Sweet Home Alabama, Melody could hear the twang and boot-stomping beat of country music from inside the building that looked like an old-fashioned saloon.

“Is it too late to change my mind?” she asked as Julian gently tugged her toward the door.

“Yes,” he replied firmly. “Sometimes different is good. Give it an hour and if you really hate it, we’ll go home.”

They paid their cover, then Julian led the way through the crowd. The place was basically one big open room—the bar ran half the length of the right wall, and to the left of the door were several pool tables and dart boards; white deck tables and plastic chairs were beyond that; and the large dance floor took up the rest of the space, with a few more tables scattered beyond the bar. Melody had been here once or twice with Olivia during their college days, and it hadn’t changed a bit.

She did a visual sweep of the room, and her stomach plummeted when she spotted Rick and Sydney at the tables on the far side of the bar. “Shit,” she muttered.

Julian glanced at her. When he saw her expression, he scanned the room himself until he spied the pair. “Ahh.”

Sydney looked much less out of place here than she did at Atlantis. She was wearing a tight, short jean skirt, cowboy boots, and a ruffled white shirt that tied at the front and had cap sleeves. “Guess we found their Friday night hangout spot,” Melody said.