The Truth About Unspeakable Things by Emily Myers (novel24 txt) 📕

it’s the adrenaline from almost being eaten alive by giant rats. Maybe it’s just Julian? He doesn’t know about my past. He doesn’t know about Beaux or what happened the night we broke up, and I like that. But I still don’t know enough about him to let my—

As if sensing my moment of reprieve, the Devil strolls through the doors of Mimi’s hand-in-hand with the woman at the center of our demise.

“Emma?” Julian asks, noticing the change in my body. “Are you okay?”

I turn, searching for an exit or hiding place. There’s nowhere to escape to. I can’t . . . I can’t do this. I can’t see him. I haven’t seen him since . . . My hands begin to shake, and I drop my taco to my plate. My cheeks turn pale. My lips quiver.

“I—I . . .” I start, but I am unable to form a complete sentence.

My eyes find Beaux once more and as if paralyzed, I’m unable to look away. He walks, hand-in-hand with a brunette woman wearing a red dress. It’s the same dress I found on the floor of Beaux’s apartment right before opening his bedroom door to reveal her naked body on top of his. His blonde hair is slicked back. He wears a gray suit with a white button-down shirt. It makes his deep blue eyes even bluer.

“Emma?” Julian says again, following my line of sight as I watch Beaux and his new girlfriend walk up the stairs.

My heart pounds in my chest as my blood rushes to my head. I lift my hands to my head as it begins to pound.

“Emma? Is there a problem? Is that guy . . .?” Julian begins, but I cut him off.

“Shhh,” I say, managing to lift a shaky finger to my lips. It’s then that I notice my face is wet, wet with tears that won’t stop.

The room grows quiet. All I hear is my rapidly beating heart and the sound of Beaux’s Gucci loafers pounding against the metal of the staircase. What am I going to do? He can’t see me. I can’t see him! I can’t . . . I can’t do this!

Before I realize what’s happening, Julian stands before me. He moves his hand to my cheek and wipes a falling tear. His eyes search mine for the truth, for clarity, for permission. And just as Beaux reaches the platform, Julian’s lips crash into mine, blocking me from his sight.

Our lips move effortlessly together, soft, gentle, and yet completely intoxicating. I consider pulling away. After all, this doesn’t make sense. I’m not ready for this at all. But . . . I don’t. I let Julian kiss me. I let him tilt my chin up so he can slip his tongue into my mouth. I let him move his hands up and down my back. I let him shield me from Beaux, who makes his way to his table none the wiser.

When Julian pulls away, my body begs for more, but my mind knows not to ask for it. Somewhere in the middle of our moment, my tears dried, and no new ones fell. My heart rate steadies, as does my shaking body. And for a brief moment, I forget about Beaux and the woman in the red dress.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Julian asks, breathless. Unable to speak, I nod and allow Julian to help me down the stairs.

* * *

I push through the wrought-iron gate and take the steps two at a time until I reach the front door. I fumble for my keys. My body is weak after sprinting the whole way home.

I told Julian I’d wait outside for him to pay, but I couldn’t. After the adrenaline of our kiss wore off, I couldn’t stay one more second within fifty yards of Beaux. And not to mention, what the hell was that?

I fall through the front door, scaring Grey as she lounges on the couch. “Sorry, sweets,” I say through labored breaths. I slam the door shut behind me, locking it, and drop to my knees.

It won’t be long until Julian shows up at my door and I have no idea what to say. What can I? He can’t know about Beaux, about our engagement, my . . . He just can’t know. Everything will change and I was just starting to feel comfortable with him, with myself. But he’s not stupid. He saw what happened when Beaux came in, how I reacted. He kissed me to save me, but . . . what if it was more than that? Part of me wants it to be. Unfortunately, I confiscated my body’s right to make decisions for me a long time ago. And my mind knows this isn’t right, not right now at least.

Knock, knock, knock. “Emma! Are you there?” Julian calls through the door.

I gasp at the sound of his voice, covering my mouth with my hand. Grey watches me from across the room and hisses at the door. She thinks she’s a guard cat.

“Emma, look, if you can hear me, I didn’t mean to overstep. I just . . . I saw you were upset, and that guy obviously had something to do with why. I just wanted to help. I . . . I hope this doesn’t ruin anything between us. I know we’re just neighbors,” he concedes. “Of course, after today, maybe we could change that to just friends?”

I hear him sigh through the door. I take a deep breath to calm myself. He’s just as confused as I am.

Gathering my strength, I push myself up from the floor and work up the courage to face him.

Julian turns, surprise washing over him as he sees me.

“Emma . . .” he starts, but I stop him.

“Julian,” I say, raising my hand. “We are neighbors.” He nods, though I can’t ignore the disappointment in his features. “And friends,” I admit. At that, his eyes meet mine with a renewed hope that I wish I had more of. “It’s because of both that we can’t talk about what happened today, at Mimi’s, ever again.”

He nods.

“We had excellent tacos after a professional interview. No