Noah

"Don't ask." Tennyson smirked.

I stupidly ignored that and lifted a brow at Sophie.

She huffed, since she was good at that. "Well, for one, I'm selfishly annoyed because you didn’t tell me sooner— Shut up, honey." She threw Tennyson a look. "I know, I know. It's big, they had to work things out, blah-blah, I get it. Hence, selfishly. Jeesh." She blew out a breath and Tennyson and Julian chuckled. "And, secondly, Noah and Julian are on my shit list because I'm not the reason my trailer smelled like sex earlier."

"Oh my God." Julian buried his face in his hands.

Tennyson grinned, and I winced before amusement took over.Chapter 20

When Julian and I returned to our suite, I could tell he was anxious.

"It's late…" He scratched his head and walked toward the bedroom.

Checking my watch, I saw it was past midnight. I followed him and silently helped him remove the bedspread. I didn’t wanna push him, but if he wanted his grandparents to learn about us from him, he couldn’t wait forever. James's folks were hardly gossip readers, but that wouldn’t stop younger generations in their lives from finding out and telling them.

I gave Julian some time while we changed into sweats and brushed our teeth, but it was becoming clear he wanted to avoid the phone call today.

"I'm so tired." He left the bathroom, and so did I after turning off the light. "We should get some sleep."

"Julian."

He didn’t face me. Instead, he adjusted his pillow and pretended to be busy with setting his alarm. As if we didn’t have the day off tomorrow.

"You should call them, baby," I reminded gently.

"Like I said, it's late—"

"Not back home."

This time, he turned to me. Had this not been so serious, I would've cracked a grin at his look of frustration and annoyance. It was cute.

"Come here." I walked over to him and cupped his face. "I know it's hard, and there's a chance they won't approve. Unfortunately, our hands are tied. It's either finding out from you, or from the press."

He swallowed hard and looked down, and I kissed him on the forehead.

"I have a feeling I know the answer to this, but do you want me to call 'em?" I'd be happy to; I'd rather take the brunt of any amount of anger. But to confirm my thoughts, he shook his head. "I figured." I kissed him again. "I'll be here, though. You can put them on speaker. I'll do my best to shut up."

A promise I could keep unless things got ugly.

"You're right," he sighed. "I've postponed enough in my life. I have to stop being a chickenshit."

I didn’t like how far he went with that, but his determined expression made it clear he wouldn’t listen. The guy was on a mission now, and he gave me a quick kiss before he retrieved his phone and started pacing by the foot of the bed.

A moment later, he put the call on speaker, and I heard the dial tone.

It put a rock in my gut, but I was ready for whatever.

"Hartley residence, to whom am I speaking?" It was Trudy who answered.

"Hi, Grandma. It's me—Julian."

I sat down on the edge of the bed, near where he stood. His voice had faltered a bit, and I realized it was easier said than done to be a bystander. I wanted to protect him from everything, but that would do him no good.

There was a pause before Trudy spoke in a careful tone. "Oh…hello, dear."

Fuck, they knew.

I scrubbed a hand over my beard and made sure I looked confident when Julian threw me a nervous glance. I gave him a nod; he could do this.

"I, uh—" He cleared his throat. "I-I take it good news travel fast?"

Reaching over, I tugged him closer to me. The distance was fucking unbearable.

"So, it's true? It can't be." Trudy almost sounded like she was pleading. That couldn’t be good. "He's your uncle, Julian. I can't believe he'd take advantage of you in such a way—" She cut off as she got emotional, and I clenched my jaw, steeling myself. "When the girls at the club told me at lunch, I refused to believe it. I thought he was a good man."

Julian looked panicked. "Grandma, that’s not—"

"I don’t want to hear you defending him," she said abruptly. "I know how these things work. Predators play mind games." Holy fuck, that was a punch in the gut. Predator? "You came to him for support and understanding because your grandfather and I clearly failed you after James died. That’s on us." She sniffled. "We are so very sorry, darling. And I want you to listen to me now. Come home. We will get this sorted. We'll get you help—"

"That’s enough!" Julian had evidently built up some anger. Meanwhile, I felt sick. "I don't need help. I love Noah. Stop thinking I'm some gullible prey, for the love of God. I'm a grown man!"