Julian (Beautiful Mine #1) by Gia DeLuca Read Free Book Online Page A

life.
    “What’s going on?” my mother said as she silently entered the room. She was always sneaking up on people like that. “He’s got you up extra early today, Evie.”
    “It’s fine,” she said, her gaze still fixed on me.
    “Julian, you look… different,” my mother said, her arms crossed and her icy blue eyes looking me up and down. “Jeans today?”
    “We’re going on a walk,” I replied.
    “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she said, her thin lips pursed.
    “It’ll be fine,” Evie assured her. “I’ll be there every step of the way.”
    My mother paused before turning on her heel and leaving the room just as quietly as she’d entered it. I cleared my throat and took a seat next to the nebulizer and began prepping it myself.
    “Ready?” Evie said as soon as I’d finished. She walked over, her arm outstretched to take my hand, but I refused her help.  She stayed close behind me as we walked down the stairs, and she watched as I slipped on a pair of shoes and slid my arms through a thick, woolen coat. Determination made many things possible for a man.
    We started down the path in the backyard toward the English rose garden. Spring was right around the corner, just mere weeks away. Roses bushes would be budding soon, and the birds above us chirped in the still-naked trees.
    “I bet it smells divine in spring,” Evie mused. “The grass and the flowers. All of it.”
    I hadn’t played in the rose garden since I was a kid, but those kinds of smells—clipped grass on a sunny day and the roses I picked for my mother in an attempt to forge some kind of bond—stayed with me still.
    “I need to rest for a second,” I announced, stopping on a bench outside the family cemetery masked by iron gates and tall, evergreen shrubs.
    “Of course,” she said, rushing closer to me and helping me down onto the bench.
    I rested, trying to catch my breath, determined to keep going.
    “Take it easy, okay?” she said, rubbing my back. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she wasted no time in pulling it out. I glanced over and read the caller ID, which read “Spencer.”
    “Is it him?” I asked, a bitter taste filling my mouth.
    Her face was blank, yet her eyes couldn’t hide the shock. “Yeah.”
    I shook my head.
    “Do you mind if I take this?” she asked, though I doubted my answer would’ve stopped her. “I’ll be right back.”
    I sat on the marble bench as she walked away, smile on her face, and returned two minutes later.
    “So, that was Spencer asking me to dinner tonight,” she said.
    “Oh, geez.” I rolled my eyes and said nothing more.
    She sat down and placed her small hand over mine. “I hope someday you get to fall in love, Julian. It’s really amazing. The good, the bad—all of it. You feel like a million bucks, and at the same time, you feel like someone else is walking around completely in control of your heart and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
    I huffed. “If he cheated on you, he obviously doesn’t love you. Someone who loves you wouldn’t hurt you like that.”
    “You don’t think people can change? You don’t think people make mistakes sometimes?” she said, growing defensive. “Look. He’s just an old friend, and we’re just hanging out. That’s it.”
    “What if he hurts you again?” I asked.
    “You’re getting way ahead of yourself now. It’s just dinner with an old friend,” she laughed, sitting up tall. “You have to take risks in life, Julian, and you have to know how to forgive the ones who hurt you. You can’t live your whole life inside your magic, protective bubble.”
    “Oh, so now we’re making this about me?” I asked, squinting at her. “If you only knew what my life has been like, maybe you wouldn’t be so quick to judge.”
    She leaned over and took both of my hands in hers. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Sometimes I just forget you’re…”
    Her voice trailed off as she let go of my