All The Wild Ones | Wildfire Series

Ridiculous - Bonus

G R A Y S O N

When Juniper danced off with her sister, I watched as Julian's eyes remained glued to her backside and chuckled.

Julian and I talked when Nessa went with Juni to the bar, and things were operating more clearly in my head. I finally had a sense of what was going on between these two.

Well, a bit of one, anyway. I didn't wholly understand Julian's restraint. As we'd all known for years, he was completely head over heels for Juniper. Yet he still refused to do anything about it. And as someone who immediately chased after Nessa the moment I saw her and knew I had to have her, I struggled to relate.

I supposed that made Julian more selfless than me. Because part of his reasoning for holding back was on account of his family, his sister, and Juniper's relationship with all of them. He pushed her away because he thought he was supposed to.

I wanted to tell him that his sister almost certainly wouldn't care. Based on what I'd seen in the past, Gemma was more than aware of the vibes between her best friend and her brother. But all I could do was give him little nudges and watch as he all but drooled after her.

Finally, Jules turned back to us.

"What does Wednesday Elevett have on the schedule these days?" he asked Nessa, whose face lit up at the question.

"I'm starting to record my next album," she said, beaming at Julian.

Nessa continued telling Julian about what the recording process looked like, and I sat back and let them chat.

But after a few minutes of listening, a guy on the dance floor distracted me, inching uncomfortably toward Juniper. He was getting way too fucking close, leering at her. But Julian must not have noticed because he was still sitting, listening to Nessa.

"Jules," I said, regretfully interrupting my wife. But it got Julian's attention, and I pointed to the dance floor.

"Oh, hell no."

Julian was out of his seat without another word, storming across the hotel ballroom until he'd pushed his way into the crowd. Not a moment too soon, either, because the asshat on the dance floor definitely just touched Juniper's ass, and I'd say it was on purpose.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nessa's eyes widen as Julian grabbed the guy's shirt collar with a snarl that I couldn't make out.

Nessa slid off my lap, placing herself in the chair next to mine. It was like she had read my mind. Because as I watched the happenings on the dance floor, I sat forward on the edge of my seat, readying myself just in case Jules needed my help. By the look on the guy's face, I assumed he was about to slink away with his tail tucked between his legs. But if he tried to swing, I wanted to be prepared.

As I guessed, though, he split as soon as Julian's grip slid off him. Then Julian turned back to Juniper, expression softening, body melting into hers. I tracked the asshole as he walked through the crowd, moving to dance along the outskirts.

Nessa put a hand on my knee, and I relaxed at her touch, slouching back into my chair.

"I tried to talk Julian up," Nessa said offhandedly. "To Juniper."

"I'm sure he secretly would appreciate that," I said. "Although he's still heavily in denial."

Nessa snorted. "Seriously? After his whole little desperation drama over there in the bathroom? And what just happened?"

A chuckle slipped through my lips. "He doesn't think it would work for them to be together."

"I don't know if it's up to them at this point," she said, gesturing to where the couple now danced together amidst the other wedding guests. They were close, murmuring to each other about something. Neither of them had a clue about what was going on around them as their eyes remained glued to each other.