seem to notice the tension, or if she did, she let it roll off her as her gaze moved to his plate. “Do you really want to eat that much? This food is so rich.”
Will made a soft noise, but Julian reached back and touched him. “I’m fine. I’m going to sit with Dad and eat my breakfast, then we’re going to explore around a bit.”
“Bryce has plans,” she started, but at Julian’s look, she stopped. “I expect you’re not going to be a complete wallflower. I’ll at least see you at dinner.”
She spun and walked off, and Will reached for him almost like he couldn’t help it. “Jesus. Is she…”
“Yes,” Julian said. “She’s always like that.” He carefully shrugged Will off, not wanting to rely on someone else’s comfort to soothe his mother’s shallow wounds. He’d gone through most of his life without it, and he didn’t want to depend on anyone now—even if it was only for this little while. “Do you want to get coffee while I take our plates to the table?”
Will seemed to understand Julian needed a few seconds alone to breathe, so he nodded, then glanced around before leaning in and brushing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. He didn’t react other than to close his eyes and absorb it, and he tried not to think about how badly starved he was for touch.
Ilan never hesitated to hold him when he needed it, but even though this was fake, this was not the touch of a friend. It truly had been so long, and there was an ache there he hadn’t been expecting. He lingered only a second, then spun on his heel and made his way back to the table where his dad was still sitting.
He could feel the way people were staring at him—distant relations with shared drops of genetics that were only there because this was more of a circus than a wedding. He knew what they were hoping for—a spectacle, an outburst. They wanted to see him protest, or rage, or cry. They wanted to see if it hurt, watching his ex-husband so blatantly trade men with the same last name and different fortunes.
Right now, they were curious, but he was fairly sure no one really believed Will was anything more than the expensive pretend that he was.
“You’re quiet this morning,” Fredric said as Julian set the plates down. “Is your boyfriend with you?”
“No.” Julian leaned his elbow on the table and turned his head, finding Will taking his time at the coffee bar. “He’s getting drinks.”
Fredric’s fingertips danced across the starched tablecloth until they bumped his arm, and Julian didn’t pull away as his dad circled his wrist in a firm, comforting grip. “Has your mother found you?”
“Yes,” he said tightly. “She made her opinion known on the amount of food I put on my plate and my lack of social skills.”
“Fuck her,” he said under his breath, and Julian startled in his seat. It wasn’t like his dad to display such open hostility. He knew he didn’t always agree with her, but he never went that far. “She has no right. I’m so…I’m so tired, Julian.”
Pushing his plate forward, Julian leaned in toward his dad. “Do you need to talk?”
“Yes,” he said, and Julian again blinked in surprise, because he had asked his dad that question hundreds of times over the years, and he was always met with the same answer, ‘No, son, but thank you. I’ll be fine.’
“Okay. Um…”
“Not here,” Fredric said after a beat, and his mouth softened into his old, familiar smile. “Later, after this sham of a wedding is over.”
Those nine words felt like they held the weight of the world, and Julian was pretty sure his anxiety over them would eat him alive before the week was out. But he also knew better than to push. With a sigh, he pulled his plate back and extracted his arm from his dad’s grip so he could eat.
“Can I ask you something?” Fredric said after a beat.
“Yes.”
“Is he good looking? This man of yours?”
The words echoed, a painful reminder of the first time his dad had asked. Julian had been excited to tell him that yes, Bryce was very good looking. He was suave and charming and shouldn’t want a man like Julian, and yet he did.
The same applied to Will, and the truth was—he wouldn’t be here if Julian hadn’t paid, and yet there was a kindness to him that Bryce had