Chapter 16: Yellow Roses

JULIAN’S POV

God d*mn, I had f*cked-up with Vivian. I couldn’t make her words stop. They kept repeating in my d*mn head like a broken record that I couldn’t break. I wanted to pluck the pin from the record. I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide from the world, to hide from my responsibilities and never come out. I wanted to—I wanted to break every jar instead of filling up more.

I wanted to lower my shoulders for only a moment and slice my arms open to bleed out all of my pent-up emotions. I wanted to fall onto my knees at Vivian’s feet and lay my head on her lap. I wanted to devote all of myself to her. I craved her touch like a hardcore drug, but I couldn’t let that happen.

My gaze locked on a massive and expensive bouquet of yellow roses sitting in my entryway on a round cherrywood table. Friendship. Shock and confusion took over my senses and for one moment I was distracted.