He Was Never Untouchable, Just Untouched By Me Chapter 02

He Was Never Untouchable, Just Untouched By Me Chapter 02

So that was it.

All this time, I’d been stupid enough to think I meant something to Julian.

I’d met him at the airport for the first time.

Their parents’ divorce had split the family clean in two. Julian and Audrey went a full decade without speaking.

Audrey resented him for it. Ten years of silence had turned her brother into a stranger, and she refused to pick him up out of pure spite.

But on the day of his flight, something cracked. Whatever little-sister instinct she had left kicked in, and her stubbornness caved.

She just lived too far away to make it in time, so she begged me instead.

“Chloe, I’m sorry for dragging you away from Gavin. But honestly, Julian was cute when we were little. Unless he peaked early, he might actually be decent-looking. Maybe even better than Gavin…”

I cut her off. “Babe, you know my rule. Friends’ brothers are off-limits. Julian could look like a Greek god and I wouldn’t bat an eye.”

Then I saw him.

And every word I’d just said went up in smoke.

One look and I knew the universe hated me. Audrey’s brother had no right looking like that while being off-limits.

The man was wearing the plainest suit jacket, and he made it look editorial. He stood maybe six-one or six-two, with shoulders that filled out the fabric, a narrow waist, and legs that went on forever.

The body alone was devastating, but it came wrapped in this untouchable, almost clinical coldness that had no business being as attractive as it was. He didn’t blend into the crowd. The crowd blurred around him.

My legs were moving before my brain had signed off on it. “Julian!”

He watched me hook my arm through his, clearly thrown by a total stranger latching on.

“Julian, you look like you just stepped off a magazine cover.”

He smelled like cedarwood and clean soap. His eyes were lowered.

Those pale pink lips looked like they were made to be kissed raw…

That crisp collar was begging to be ripped open…

“You’re not Audrey.” His voice cut straight through the X-rated highlight reel in my head.

I’d planned to play the sister card and fish for information. That was clearly dead on arrival, so I pivoted.

“You’re sharp. I’m Chloe, Audrey’s best friend since middle school. Same university, different departments. I’m in computer science.”

“What about you? What did you study overseas?” I sweetened my voice and tilted my chin up with my most irresistible smile.

I know how it sounds.

But this move had a perfect record. My whole life, no matter how guarded or standoffish someone was, one look at this face when I turned the sweetness all the way up and they folded. Every single time.

Julian took a clean step back.

“Medicine. Miss Brooks, we’ve just met. There’s no need for first names.”

My undefeated weapon had just gotten swatted out of the air. I blinked, recalibrated, and closed the gap again.

“Audrey’s brother is basically family. And you should call me Chloe.”

Julian offered nothing.

I pushed on before I lost momentum. “So, Julian, did you leave a girlfriend behind overseas?”

His gaze landed on me, steady and unreadable. I got the sudden, sinking feeling that every thought I’d ever had was pinned to a board behind my eyes.

“No girlfriend.”

I stepped onto the next landmine. “A… boyfriend?”

“Straight.” He didn’t even let me finish.

I exhaled. “What kind of girls are you usually into, then?”

He was still rationing words like they were expensive. “Haven’t dated.”

This ridiculously perfect man had never been with anyone.

My eyes lit up. “So what do you think of someone like me?”

He paused.

I wondered if I’d overplayed it. Audrey had mentioned once that Julian ran cold, always had, even as a kid, and he’d spent most of his time in Scandinavia, which probably didn’t help.

“Miss Brooks, I believe Audrey mentioned you have a boyfriend.”

“Broke up this morning. So, can I take you out?”

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and looked up at him with everything I had.

“You’re a Scorpio, right? We’re a perfect match.”

Julian didn’t blink. “Astrology isn’t real.”

…

Looking back, maybe that was the exact moment he started finding me insufferable.