Chapter 10
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Julian watched Jace set his sights on winning Avery back and felt his chest tighten. Irritation and heat surged through him, but he didn’t have any reason to stop Jace.
He could only stand there, clenching his fists until his knuckles cracked.
Even with that restless unease gnawing at him, Julian stuck to the plan. On the day the direct admission slot was officially secured for Tessa, he confessed to her.
Under the prettiest blooming tree on campus, Julian opened a velvet box and held out a diamond necklace. His handsome face softened with just the right touch of warmth. “Tessa, will you be my girlfriend?”
Tessa gasped, clapping her hands over her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. She launched
herself into his arms. “Julian! Yes, yes! I’ve waited forever for this!”
Applause broke out around them, cheers rising as if a fairy tale had finally reached its happy ending.
Julian pulled Tessa into his arms. He should have felt happy and fulfilled. He had chased her and planned this moment for over ten years.
But the rush of joy he’d imagined never came. Instead, an emptiness yawned inside him.
Dating Tessa didn’t feel like he’d imagined.
Tessa loved to pout, always needed his attention and care, and sulked over the smallest things. He coaxed her patiently, though his mind sometimes wandered.
She leaned on him for everything, wanting him to arrange it all. He carried it out carefully, but it felt like nothing more than ticking off tasks.
Even when she dressed up and tried to get close, it left him oddly tired instead of stimulated.
Worse, he kept comparing her to Avery without meaning to.
Tessa needed constant attention and coddling, while Avery had quietly taken care of everything, even preparing what he might need before he asked.
Tessa complained whenever he was too busy to spend time with her, but Avery never did. She would simply hand him a warm glass of milk when he was tired and sit with him in silence.
Tessa was shy and passive when it came to intimacy, but his mind often drifted back to those nights Jace had described-Avery’s inexperienced yet eager responses, the muffled sounds she tried to hold back, and the way her eyes shimmered with tears when she was hurt but still yielded.
Chapel to
Wait!
Julian snapped the reel in his head, his brows knitting tight.
How could he think of that? That was Jace, not him!
Still, the comparisons kept nipping at him. His mind drifted every time he was with Tessa.
Meanwhile, Jace wasted no time. Within a week, the paperwork was done, and he was on a plane to Lambain.
It didn’t take him long to track down Avery’s university and where she lived.
He showed up at her doorstep, carrying an armful of roses and wearing his most charming
smile.
When Avery came out with her books, Jace stepped in front of her, flashing a grin full of confidence and charm.
“Ave, surprised to see me? I came for you,” he said, reaching for her hand. “I was wrong before. I lied to you, and I’m sorry. Julian’s with Tessa now, so you’re free. Let’s start over, okay? You spent almost every night with me for the past two years. I know you better than anyone. Be with me, okay?”
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