Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 25

Isla

I was having dinner with a guy whom I've only hung out with for a total of 7 days tonight. It was a strange thing to think about, but honestly, it wasn't about Julian. This dinner was about his father and how he wanted to make it right for me—lashing out on me when he didn't know who I was. He felt incredibly bad, and I was also bad for the fact that he thought he had to have dinner with me in order to apologize. It makes me feel worse knowing that I'm staying, but he did say he wanted me to stay.

For the last hour, I have been watching Jack and Julian play video games. They had started off by playing by themselves, but then Julian won  the game, and I remember cheering for him. That made him cheer as well, and before Jack could press another level, Julian turned over in his spot and said, "You want to play?" So with him asking for me to play, I played with Jack a few times before complaining that the little kid was too good and that I wanted a fair competition.

That made Julian get offended, but I knew he was exaggerating it because he had a smile in his eyes as he defended himself. Julian and I played together a few rounds before I passed off the controller back to Jack. I've been watching the boys play for the last thirty minutes now, my body pressed in beside Julian from where I was playing before. My feet were digging into his leg, but he didn't tell me to move, and from where I was sitting almost directly behind him, I could see perfectly.

So when Lorraine walks into the room, she finds the boys shouting at the screen, another rendition of "this game is rigged," and me with my chin propped up on Julian's shoulder from where I wanted to get a closer look at the screen. The three of us were on the couch together, and yet when their mother walks in, I feel as though Julian and I are so close.

It didn't feel awkward to sit so close to Julian before, and as Lorraine speaks, I slowly want to move away.

"Boys!" their mother shouts, but her voice barely carries through all the chaos of just two boys. She claps her hands together, standing in front of the screen now and saying, "Your dad is done making dinner now."

Julian groans at the fact that his mother is covering the screen and moves his head to the side to get a better look. "Mom, move."

"Yeah, I can't see!" Jack shouts back, and their mother lets out a snort, finding the boys actions incredulous. She crosses her hands over her chest and says, "This is ridiculous. You guys have been playing for an hour, and your dad has worked far too hard to make dinner. You're going to eat it cold."

"One more minute," Julian grumbles, and with a sigh, Lorraine moves away from their screen. But as the boys start to play, they take longer than a minute (or five), and Lorraine and I look at each other. For the first time, her eyes take in my frame where I was sitting close to her son, and her eyes hold a smile as she looks at me. I feel my cheeks heating up as I look away from her and peer closer to Julian.

"Julian," I say softly, my mouth level with his ear. He hums in response, and with a laugh, I say, "Come on, your mom is waiting for you guys." Julian doesn't respond, but in a second, he dies on screen and groans as he places the controller back on the table. I shake my head as Jack does the same and then flips the television off. He stands off, stretching his arm up, and says, "What are we having?"

"You have to come in order to see that," Lorraine says as she beckons her younger son over, and the both of them head in the direction of the kitchen.

Julian sighs, making a move to stand up from the couch as his hand presses into my thigh. My eyes jumped from his face to his hand because, all of a sudden, I could feel my entire body erupt from his touch. His hand was far too high on my thigh, touching the hem of my shorts. As my eyes jump back to his face, I wonder if he knows where his hand fell. But I don't think he realizes it because his hand releases from my thigh as he stands up straight.