All The Wild Ones | Wildfire Series

Match-Making - Bonus

N E S S A

I was already halfway out of my seat when Grayson nudged me to follow after Julian and Juniper.

While I loved Julian, he was acting a bit dense if he thought Juniper wanted to be followed at the moment. Not by him, anyway. Who knew what was going on between them, but she looked like she needed a moment.

I caught Julian right before he was about to barge into the bathroom after his girl, and he whipped around with wild eyes at my gentle touch on his arm.

"Just give her a second, Jules," I said, keeping my tone soft because it was clear he was a few seconds away from a crisis.

He dragged his hand over his face. "I just want to make sure she's okay. Something's not okay."

"Events like these can be a lot sometimes," I reasoned. "Sometimes people need a minute to refresh."

"I would have taken her back up to our room," Julian said with a heavy sigh. "Or outside. Or anywhere."

Or anywhere.

I'd never seen this side of Julian, and it was a little refreshing. Even when he had dated other girls, he always acted so...casual about it. It had felt almost like he was playing a part, and while he clearly liked the girls, it was nothing compared to the desperation he was showing right now.

He really would take this girl anywhere.

"Let me go check on her," I said, giving his arm another pat and biting down on a smile. I loved that he stopped masking how he felt about Juniper; it was so good to see. Even if it had surprised the hell out of me. After all, his graduation party hadn't been that long ago, and he'd still been deep, deep in denial then.

Julian nodded with gratitude and watched me disappear into the bathroom.

"Juniper?" I called and found her a second later, standing in front of the panel of mirrors by the sink. When she turned to face me, there was definite worry in her gaze. Julian's gut had been on point; something wasn't right.

"Hey, is everything okay?"

"Oh, I—" She bit down on her words, shifting from foot to foot. "I'm just a little overwhelmed. I apologize if my silence during dinner was rude."

"It wasn't," I reassured her. That was the last thing I wanted her to think that I thought. "Julian was worried about you."

I felt like she deserved to know that. Because as expected, her expression told me she didn't quite believe that could be true.

"Look, about Julian..." She sighed. "He's not... we're not dating. I don't want to give you the wrong impression."

I blinked twice. Was I surprised they weren't dating when they so clearly acted like they were? Yeah, a bit, for sure. But also...I didn't imagine what I saw.

"I don't think I have the wrong impression."

Which was that they should be dating because they both clearly wanted it.

"Noah was going to be my date this weekend," she said, looking like she was trying to convince me that my impression really was wrong.

I wasn't fooled, but maybe a bit confused. I tucked my hair behind my ear and looked at Juniper thoughtfully. "Noah London?"

She nodded. "Something came up at the last minute, though."

Typical. I scrunched my nose with irritation. Shame on Noah for bailing on this lovely human. "Noah always was a flakey little shit."