A Two-Seater Was Never Meant for Three Chapter 05

A Two-Seater Was Never Meant for Three Chapter 05

Julian had been staying at my place the past few days.

He walked straight over and pulled the door open himself.

He caught sight of the man standing outside and narrowed his eyes, something icy sliding into the look he turned on me.

I hadn’t quite processed it either.

My colleague had mentioned Gavin was thirty-I’d pictured someone older, worn down by middle

age.

Instead, there wasn’t a trace of that in him.

Sharp, clean features, a well-tailored suit that hinted at the shape of real muscle underneath.

Standing face to face with Julian-who himself stood over six feet-Gavin still had half a head on

him, and the air around him pressed in like weight.

“Hi. I’m looking for Ms. Hale.”

Gavin greeted him politely, his eyes flicking briefly toward Chloe and me.

My mind, unbidden, dredged up all the things Julian had said before.

He wasn’t the first to say things like that.

“If it weren’t for Chloe, who’d even know who Wendy Hale is?”

“People should have some self-awareness. Trailing after Chloe all the time just makes you look

pathetic by comparison.”

“She’s just background scenery. That’s all she’s good for-why else would anyone want to hang out

with her?”

Even covering my ears, the words still found their way through the cracks, relentless.

Even Julian, of all people, the one closest to me, had said the same thing.

Heat crept up my face, humiliation prickling under my skin, and I was steeling myself to introduce

myself when-

Gavin smiled and produced a bouquet of roses from behind his back.

He walked straight toward me, the tips of his ears faintly red, like he was gathering his nerve.

“My mother talks about you often, Ms. Hale.”

“Meeting you today-you really are… something else.”

Coming from anyone else, that might have sounded like sarcasm.

But he was standing close enough that I could hear his heart pounding.

There was something bright and restless in his eyes that I couldn’t quite read.

I took the roses. When our fingers brushed, Gavin pulled his hand back like he’d been shocked.

“Let’s go.”

The whole time, he hadn’t so much as glanced at the other two people in the room.

Not until he noticed Julian blocking the doorway, deliberate and unmoving, did his eyebrows finally

draw down.

The look he gave Julian was sharp enough to steal the air from the room.

Julian didn’t look at him. His eyes stayed locked on me, cold.

“You’ve really outdone yourself. Hiring a model to play boyfriend just to spite me now?”

“Wendy. If you walk out that door with him today, don’t ever think about getting back together with

me.”

Under the weight of three sets of eyes, I walked toward Julian.

His smug smile was just forming—

I hugged the bouquet to my chest and turned, calling out to Gavin instead.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Didn’t you say the hallway’s dangerous? Weren’t you here to walk me down?”

Gavin strode over to join me without hesitation.

Julian’s smile froze on his face. He stood rooted where he was.

He watched us head down the stairs together, watched the taillights disappear into the night.