The Best Mate He Trusted Wanted Me More Chapter 11

The Best Mate He Trusted Wanted Me More Chapter 11

I turned back, surprised.

Of course he’d heard me.

The candlelight was almost dead.

Wax dripped slowly down the cake.

Julian’s expression was calm, but his eyes were bloodshot.

I looked at him, on the verge of tears, and answered honestly.

“Not just that. I also like the beauty mark under your left eye.”

A cold, mocking laugh.

He didn’t answer. A tear slipped down his cheek.

That night, Julian was careful with me, almost distant, like we had just started dating.

The next morning, he was sitting at the edge of the bed, a small bandage taped under his left eye.

When he saw I was awake, he turned.

“I had the mark removed.”

I blinked.

He stared at me, voice flat.

“Anything you want to say?”

Looking at the bandage, I felt tired.

“Let’s break up.”

Julian just smiled, a faint, hollow thing.

“That’s all it took?”

We broke up.

The reader feed was cheering.

“I thought Clara was hopelessly in love. Turns out she had one very specific weakness.”

“Over one mark? That’s shallow.”

“Shallow? Julian ignored her, doubted her, and let his friends run the relationship. Then he removed the one thing he knew she loved. That’s not romance. That’s self-sabotage.”

Julian said he needed space.

I packed up and went to a seaside B&B in Brighton with my best friend Poppy.

The beach was incredible.

Especially in summer, when hot college guys outnumbered the seagulls.

I’d just pulled out my phone to swap Instagrams with a cute student when a familiar voice cut through the air behind me.

“Clara. I got a beauty mark under my left eye. Now you’re looking at another guy with one. Should I cover my whole face in them just to keep you interested?”

I turned, surprised.

When I saw Rowan, I nearly choked.

Rowan had always been more aggressive-looking than Julian’s cold, restrained beauty.

Now he had a mark under his left eye too. Not bad-looking, exactly.

But it looked deliberate.

Then he opened his mouth, and whatever elegance he had evaporated.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not uglier than Julian, am I? With this, I should look even better than him…”

His expression soured.

“Clara, could you at least try not to look so disgusted? Is it really that bad?”

The reader feed was cracking up.

“He copied his rival’s beauty mark and still wants a compliment. Incredible.”

“Rowan really saw Julian’s one advantage and said, add to cart.”

Rowan was a ticking time bomb.

He scared off the college guy and just kept talking, giving me a headache.

“Fine, it looks good. Now lower your voice.”

The man who’d been ranting went red instantly.

“Really? Better than your ex?”

I rolled my eyes.

There was no end to this man.

“Yeah. You’re the best-looking. Prettiest. Happy now?”

He either couldn’t tell I was humoring him or didn’t care. He lit up and trailed after me.

“Don’t you want to know how I found you?”

“Your uncle isn’t exactly an ethical private investigator…”

I was done.

But Rowan was thrilled.

He jogged ahead to face me, eyes blazing.

“You remembered that? Clara, do you remember everything about me? You’re just pretending to be tough. You actually like me too…”

The reader feed was cracking up.

“He’s doing all the flirting in his own head again.”

“Rowan found one clue and immediately built a love story. Someone take his phone.”

He didn’t stop until we reached the B&B.

“I’m next door. And it has a kitchen. Figured you’d be craving my

cooking by now.”

I didn’t argue. I just nodded.

“Your food is good. Cook tonight.”