You Only Loved The Version Of Me That Needed Nothing Chapter 04

You Only Loved The Version Of Me That Needed Nothing Chapter 04

Of course, the only empty seat was right next to me. People love a reunion storyline — especially when it looks like a scene from a bad drama.

Julian pulled out the chair and sat down next to me. The cold outside still clung to his coat.

The whole table shifted the second he sat down. Everyone who’d been talking so freely about us fell silent.

They’d stopped talking, but their eyes kept moving — bouncing between Julian and me like they were watching a tennis match.

“Didn’t think ‘next time’ would come this fast.” He said it to me, but every ear at the table caught it.

“What next time?” Chloe’s eyes narrowed at me.

I kept my face neutral. “I ran into him when I got back. We said hi. That’s it.”

Simple enough. But from the way everyone reacted, you’d think I’d confessed something. Toby jumped right in.

“See? It’s fate.” He grinned wider. “I heard Julian’s been single this whole time. Three years, Hazel. Maybe he was waiting for you.”

Chloe cut in. “Can you ever shut up?”

Toby raised both hands in surrender. I glanced over at Julian.

He didn’t look embarrassed. Didn’t look annoyed. He looked like the conversation had nothing to do with him.

Instead, he ordered a ginger ale and slid it toward me — close enough that his knuckles almost brushed mine. Too familiar. Too effortless.

“Ginger ale. It’ll settle your stomach.” Toby shot the person beside him a look. Neither of them even tried to be subtle.

The whole table thought they were watching the start of a second chance. One little shove, and we’d tumble right back into each other. Something inside me went cold and flat.

That was Julian. He never showed his cards. He just let things happen around him and left you to do all the guessing.

Guess right, and maybe he’d give you just enough to keep going. Guess wrong, and you’d spend days wondering what you did.

It took me years after him to unlearn that. Love wasn’t supposed to feel like a test I could fail. I didn’t push the glass away. I said thanks and let it sit.

I never took a sip. I just watched the condensation drip down the glass.