Free Julien's Book by Casey McMillin Page B

been a flash of lightning. The chemistry she felt was overwhelming, and she pulled back, after their lips had only been touching a few seconds.
    "Goodnight Julien," she said. She was smiling and trying to act aloof since she was almost certain there was no way he was feeling the same intensity she was. He sat back and put his head on the headrest with a sigh.
    He recovered quickly looking at her with a sweet smile. "I guess I'll see you at the gym, if you decide to take any of my classes."
    Nadine gave him a coy shrug. "I might just decide to look you up on the schedule." 
    Shit-fire, what was she thinking looking at him like that? He wanted to rip her clothes off. He wanted to get his skin on her skin, and he didn't really even care if it happened right there in the Jeep. Somehow, he harnessed the animal instinct, and reminded himself that he had much bigger fish to fry at that moment.
    He left the gym, headed straight for Shea Miller's house. It was 10PM on a random Tuesday night, and Julien drove to Shea's with no concern whatsoever for the speed limit. He had the windows down with no music playing and his hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. His palms were wet with sweat and his heart was racing. He thought about calling the author a few times on his way to her house, but he couldn't get his thoughts together enough to work his phone.
    Julien would normally consider himself a reasonable person, but as he drove to Shea's house he talked to himself out loud like a lunatic. He told himself that everything that was going on was still well within range of normal coincidence , which was obviously a lie.
    He pulled into Shea's driveway going about twenty miles an hour, and his Jeep skidded to a stop before he put it in park and climbed down in a hurry. His long strides covered the distance between his Jeep and her front door within a matter of seconds, and he pounded on it with a heavy fist.
    Less than a minute later, Shea came outside in her pajamas looking at Julien with an expression that was more worried than annoyed.
    "Fucking Justin Timberlake!" he shouted. "Why'd it have to be mother fucking Justin Timberlake?"
    Shea's expression turned into one of annoyance as she closed the door behind her. "Julien you need to keep it down out here." She swung her right hand out and pointed at the window that was behind her. "My kids are sleeping in this bedroom right here. They probably heard everything you just said. What in the world is going on? Are you drunk?"
    "No I'm not drunk ." He raked his fingers across the sides of his head with both hands in a frustrated gesture. He was standing a few stairs down from her on ground level, and she was on her porch looking down at him with her arms crossed. He began to pace back and forth. "What made you write what you wrote, Shea?" His voice was still booming in spite of his efforts to keep it quiet. "Are you some kind of fucking witch or something? Because I didn't sign up for that."
    "Shhhh, Julien, God, my kids can hear you! And no, I'm not a freaking witch . I'd appreciate it if you never call me that again. What the hell's going on with you? Is this about that girl at the gym? I heard you had another one. I'm sorry about that. I never dreamed—"
    "It's not another Nadine," he said, looking up at her. "She's the real one ." He started pacing again. He went back and forth in front of her porch. "She's exactly the girl in the book, Shea. The fucking book is coming true, and I'm living in it like a puppet. Fifteen minutes ago, I kissed her with that damn Justin Timberlake song playing. It was like I couldn't stop myself. We were sitting in my Jeep, and she said she had to be going, and I did it. I kissed her during that Mirrors song just like the book said."
    Shea gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "Yeah, but in the book you're not in a car when it happened."
    "In the book I have brown eyes and I live in an apartment downtown. In the book I don't even