G R A Y S O N

I'd spotted Julian long before Nessa had, but she was so cute when she rambled that I hadn't wanted to cut her off.

Julian didn't seem surprised to see us, which I supposed made sense. He would have noticed us right away if he had been here for the ceremony.

"You two were looking good up there earlier," he said, closing the distance to pull Nessa and me in for a hug before returning to the side of a pretty woman with brown hair who I immediately recognized as Juniper, his sister's best friend.

I tried to hide a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Nessa cried, delight coloring her face. She had such a rosy glow when she was pregnant, and I loved it so much.

"Sofia is Juniper's sister," Julian explained, looking down at his date attentively.

"Half-sister," Juniper corrected. She melted into Julian's side, seeming a bit shy. Which was odd because everything I remembered about her was the exact opposite of shy.

"Wow, really?" I lifted my brows, surveying how Julian's arm tightened around Juniper. It was about damn time the two of them got together, but I had to admit I was surprised to see it. The last I heard, Juniper had been talking to Noah. "It seems Julian and I have some catching up to do," I added.

"Oh, I think it's pretty obvious without any catching up, Gray," Nessa said with a laugh. "It's been obvious since that party our sophomore year. And do you remember Julian's law school graduation? I mean, come on."

Julian shifted on his feet while Juniper's eyes grew wide and her cheeks pinkened. Nessa turned to her, and I was sure she was about to introduce herself. I chuckled inwardly. How many times in a night would I have to remind her that she was famous?

"I'm sure you don't remember meeting me," Nessa said, "but I'm—"

"Nessa," Juniper finished, looking a bit awestruck. See, Adler? "It's so lovely seeing you again. Your performance during the ceremony was amazing."

Nessa blushed, and this time it wasn't because of the pregnancy. I knew what she was about to say, and I internally groaned because we had been working on things like this.

"Thank you, but—"

"Just take the compliment, baby," I cut in, nudging her.

She'd gotten a lot better with me giving her compliments but still struggled with other people doing it. Nessa's eyes flicked up to mine with a look like she'd been caught. But still, she reworded her response with a smile as she turned back to the other couple.

Damn, they were really a couple, huh?

To be completely honest, I was a bit hurt that Julian hadn't said anything. It did seem knew, though, and was likely a recent development.

"Thank you so much, Juniper," Nessa amended.

Juniper's smile was bright as she nodded back at Nessa. Then she tipped her head to look up at Julian. He stared back, and it was nice to see him not trying to hide his feelings for once. His eyes shone with pure adoration as he raised a brow, and the two of them shared a secret look. Some kind of communication was happening there.

"The four of us should go on a double date sometime," Nessa said. She was chipper and bright, making me wonder if a heavy dose of adrenaline was still coursing through her. She seemed a little oblivious to the moment Juniper and Jules shared, which was odd for Nessa. She was usually pretty tuned in. "Grayson loves double dates."

I rolled my eyes. "I do like double dates," I muttered. "Bren and Madie just ogle each other a lot."

Out of all of our friends, Bren and Madie lived the closest. Meaning they were usually our date night companions. But it always ended the same way, with Madie and Bren disappearing for some portion of the evening to undoubtedly get it on.

Nessa snickered, but I ignored her, facing Julian.

"We should really do dinner, though, man." I put an arm around Nessa's shoulders while smoothing my free hand over her baby bump. "It's the least I can do after everything you've done to help me with Gabe's legal case."

Julian tensed, but only for a millisecond before he nodded. "Of course. You know I'd do anything for Gabriel."

I did know it. Even though an entire country was sandwiched between him and his godson, Julian had been there for him through it all. Birthday parties and first days of school, even if it was just over FaceTime. Julian was one of the busiest people I knew, with all of the people in his life who he needed and wanted to be there for, but he always made time for Gabriel. And us.

A part of me felt bad for putting this on him, the case. I knew he must be slammed at work with his real clients, but I just had to know if there was any chance of fighting this in court.

My son had a congenital heart defect, and they missed it. His doctor missed the goddamn defect even though they knew exactly what to look for and where to look for it. It wasn't like there had been no clues, no warnings. I was the warning. His father, who also had the same exact condition.

Unacceptable. It was utterly unacceptable.

I cleared my throat, not wanting to go down this rabbit hole in my brain right now, not when this should be a good time, this impromptu get-together.

"He misses you," I said.

"Yeah?" That seemed to lift Julian's spirits even higher, and I smiled.

"Yeah, when I got back from that New England game this fall, he threw an entire tantrum because I didn't bring him with like last time so the two of you could hang out in the stands."

"I think he just likes going to his dad's games," Julian replied wryly.

"No." Nessa shook her head. "He really loved that game. You're way more fun to go to games with than I am."

"Aw," Julian said, looking like he meant it. "Well, I guess I'll have to come out there and bring him to one of the playoff games."

"I don't know about our playoff chances this year," I said, a sour note seeping into my voice. Our season hadn't been the greatest, and I probably shouldn't even be here right now, considering we had a game on Monday night, but I didn't want to miss this getaway with Nessa.

Julian shrugged, and even though we both knew that what I said was true, he didn't say it. "It's early enough. There's still a chance."

"Definitely a chance," Nessa said, tipping her head back to look up at me with one of her warm, supportive grins.

"Where's the little man tonight?" Julian asked, bringing the conversation to Gabriel again.

When I turned back to him, his eyes were on Juniper, although she didn't seem to notice. She had a passive expression as she watched Nessa and me for our reply, not a clue in the world that my best friend was far more interested in her than in where my son was for the weekend.

God, I was glad that these two finally got their act together.

Although, something still seemed...off. Something seemed tense, especially in the last few minutes of our conversation.

"He's with Uncle Beau," I said, rolling my eyes. "Getting spoiled for the weekend."

Julian chuckled, eyes flicking back to me. "At least Collins can be the voice of reason, right?"

"True," I agreed.

Although Collins was easily influenced by her husband.

Unsurprisingly, Julian's eyes shifted back to Juniper as soon as I gave him an answer, and I decided that perhaps it would be an excellent time to give these two a moment while I finally got my girl a drink—a non-alcoholic drink to replace what those finance bros gave her.

It was pretty fucking bold to hit on my wife when they knew I was in the building, but I couldn't really blame anyone who wanted some attention from Nessa. If they tried talking to her a second time, though, that wasn't going to fly.

I glanced over at Nessa. "Should we grab a drink, Adler?"

"Yes, please." She practically purred those two words, but I suspected it had more to do with needing some ginger ale or something to tame nausea than anything else.

"We'll be back in a bit," I said to Julian and Juniper before leading Nessa toward the bar. I had to resist the urge to walk behind her; that dress of hers was ridiculously short tonight, and while she looked amazing in it, I didn't need everyone else noting how amazing she looked in it, too.

I ordered Nessa a drink, keeping an arm around her while I waited for the bartenders to make it. She garnered some attention from the people around us, but the good thing about going to an event like this was that we were far from the only higher-profile people in attendance. Celebrity—or whatever we were—sightings clearly weren't uncommon in this crowd.

"I cannot believe we didn't know they were dating," Nessa said as we strolled away from the bar.

My eyes trailed to Juniper and Julian, who sat together at the table now, huddled together in what looked like an intense conversation. I frowned. That was what I thought; something was off.

"I'm not convinced they are," I said, looking back to Nessa.

"What?" Her incredulous look made it clear what she thought about my response. "What do you mean? Julian couldn't keep his hands or his eyes off her."

"I know," I acknowledged. "But that just means Julian's obsessed with her, which we already knew."

Nessa scowled. "They better be dating. I've been waiting for this for years."

"I'm sure Julian's been waiting even longer," I chuckled. "But there's something off about it all. I can tell."

"Well, at least they're not trying to bite each other's heads off," Nessa reasoned, clearly trying to hold onto hope. "This is definitely progress. Juniper looked so comfortable with him, too."

She did. I agreed with that.

But a lot of that comfort seemed to vanish throughout dinner, after we sat back down with the couple-not-couple. Julian seemed to notice it, too. Even though he maintained a conversation with me about football, he was a lot more interested in worriedly watching his date.

Fuck, I wished I could help, do something somehow. Because a war of sorts raged on in my best friend's head, and I hated feeling like there was nothing to do for him.

I was almost glad when Juniper excused herself to use the bathroom, and then Julian stood to follow. My eyes trailed them as they walked toward the ladies' room, and that was when I realized that Julian fully intended to go into the ladies' room after her.

I nudged Nessa.

"Already on it," she said, putting her fork down and following them.

I watched Nessa cross the hotel ballroom, daring anyone to even try to approach her as she made a beeline for the bathroom, her swaying hips proving that she was on a mission.

After not even a minute of pacing outside the bathroom, Julian put his hand out to enter it right as Nessa pulled up beside him. She shooed him out of the way, wagging her finger at him, before pushing her way into the bathroom after Juniper.

A slight chuckle slipped through my lips, and I waited, expecting Julian to retreat to the table. But he didn't. He waited outside the door, pacing again.

I sighed and reached for my phone. There was something I was missing, and I knew who to ask to get answers: Noah London.

ME: I'm at a wedding, and Jules is here...with Juniper.

NOAH: No shit, really?

Damn, I was hoping that he'd have some answers. But evidently, he was just as surprised as I was. And hopefully not feeling put out, considering I thought he was interested in Juniper. Although I didn't usually see Noah expressing any serious interest, otherwise I would have tread more carefully.

ME: Yes, really. I was going to ask if you knew, but it seems you were as clueless as me. Sorry, man.

NOAH: Oh, no.

NOAH: I knew about them.

I frowned, waiting for a follow-up text. But when it came, it still didn't clear up much.

NOAH: If Jules hadn't gotten his shit together to take her this weekend, I would have kicked his ass. But Cameron told me he finally asked her.

NOAH: I was just surprised that you were there, too.

My frown deepened. I knew Collins' brother worked with Julian and Juniper, but I still felt I was missing some crucial information.

ME: Nessa performed at the ceremony.

ME: So... they're not dating? Or are they?

NOAH: They fucking should be. But Julian's still in denial.

ME: Well, they're acting like they're a couple. So maybe he isn't in as much denial as we think.

NOAH: He didn't tell you? They're faking it.

My brows furrowed. It didn't look fake to me.

NOAH: I was going to take Juniper this weekend. She wanted me to play boyfriend around her sister. Was looking forward to it, honestly.

ME: Did Julian say something to you, then?

NOAH: Fuck no.

I could almost hear his scoff through the phone and laughed to myself.

NOAH: He's way too stubborn for that. Denial, like I said. No, I gathered that going through with this weekend would be ....detrimental to my health. And our friendship. So I backed out.

ME: Oh, come on. You don't think you could take Julian?

NOAH: I could take Julian, easy. But he's fixing my bike right now, and I don't need my brakes tampered with before I get it back.

I shook my head with another laugh before seeing Nessa from the corner of my eye. She was striding back toward me with a satisfied expression.

Noah's texts explained why something still seemed off between Julian and Juniper. And it also explained why he hadn't told me they were dating. But it didn't explain everything, like the odd tension permeating the air at dinner.

Hopefully, Nessa had answers for me.

Based on the expression on her pretty face, I was guessing she did.

As soon as she slid in beside me, she checked over her shoulder and smiled while taking a drink of her sparkling soda.

"Good," she said, satisfied to see Julian bringing Juniper onto the dance floor.

I lifted a brow, waiting for her to say more than that. When she didn't, I decided I'd start.

"Noah says they're not really dating."

"I know," she said, looking smug that I hadn't surprised her.

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I asked, "What else do you know?"

Nessa smiled, and I sighed, ready to hear the rest of the story.