“I’m just saying, it’s clear that you don’t care much about your safety.” I ripped the guts out of a bell pepper with more force than necessary. “Do you know the percentage of dating app hookups that end in murder?”
“No,” he said darkly. “And neither do you.”
The silence that descended between us was sharp and jarring. I wasn’t sure why I could hear Tiller talk about Mikey all day and feel nothing but thrilled for him, or catch Sam pushing Truman up against the elevator wall at the hotel this weekend and think it was kinda hot, but the thought of Julian doing anything with another man made me feel like vomiting. No human alive was good enough for him as far as I was concerned.
“Just let me know when you need the place to yourself, and I’ll go… out. Or whatever,” I muttered after a while.
“Shut up, jackass.” He focused on cutting onions into perfect thin strips. “I’m not having anyone over with you here.”
“It’s fine. Just because I got screwed over doesn’t mean you have to go without.” I added a little sniff for good measure since I was already feeling sorry for myself. I hadn’t had sex in a very, very long time. Erin had read an article about abstaining for a month before the wedding to make the wedding night more special, but with her job in Denver and mine in Vail, it hadn’t even been necessary to declare an abstinence pact.
Jules placed the frying pan down on the stove a little too hard. “Stop sulking. I hate it when you do that.”
His bubble butt was calling my name, so I kicked him in it with my socked foot. “Feel sorry for me, bro.”
“Don’t call me that.”
I kicked him again. “Feel sorry for me, Peanut.”
“I hate you,” he muttered, swirling some olive oil into the pan.
“You love me.” I moved the piles of cut-up veggies over to his side of the kitchen before pressing a kiss to his cheek. “And thank god for that.”
I moved over to the fridge and poked my head in to see what we had to drink. After grabbing a bottle of water for me and a beer for Jules, I cracked open both and handed him the beer bottle.
I studied his face as he began to throw the chicken into the pan. “So tell me what else. I know there’s something you’re holding back, or else you would have just stayed home and worked this week.”
He huffed out a laugh. “I told you I’m going to be doing work for Mikey and Tiller, right? Well, it turns out I really like it, so I’m moving here permanently.”
I blinked.
“You know my dad always wanted me to take over his mining company.” He shook the pan firmly. “So that’s what I always pictured myself doing. But when I started working there, I discovered it didn’t make me happy. Working with Mikey and Tiller at the resort, though… it’s new and exciting with so many different legal challenges. Later this week, we’re meeting with some potential investors about financing a new property acquisition, which is going to involve a ton of negotiation. And there are liability issues, and vendor partnerships, and various on-mountain concessions to organize legally under the resort umbrella. It’s…”
I stared at him, realizing exactly what had put that spark in his eye. I hadn’t seen it since his college days. “It’s what?”
Julian’s teeth came out to bite into his plump bottom lip. “It’s… it’s fun, Parks. And it’s… I don’t even know how to describe it.”
“It’s yours,” I said simply.
He blew out a breath. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s mine. Every day is something new and exciting to learn about.”
Julian and Hazel had both followed their dad into the family business. The successful mining company had been the center of their family for several generations. Jules had grown up knowing his dad would want him to take it over one day, so he’d gone off to college and followed it up with a joint business and law degree.
But he hated it.
He hated working for his family business while Hazel thrived in the role. I wasn’t surprised Julian finally found something that excited him; I only worried about it being something that would require his relocating to a tiny town in the boonies.
There was no denying how happy it seemed to make him, though, so I would suppress my disappointment and support him.
“Jules, that’s fantastic. Holy shit.”
He held up a hand. “Don’t get too excited. I’m not completely sure yet. That’s why I didn’t tell you before. You always get so excited, and I really need to be smart about this.”
Okay, that stung a little, even though he was right. “I can be smart,” I promised. “Besides, what’s to know? It’s a ski resort, which happens to be my specialty. Who knows more about skiing than anyone you know?”