روايات بقلم Joanne Woods

Evelyn's POVWith four people suddenly squeezed into Julian’s not-even-that-large living room, the apartment instantly felt smaller, louder, warmer—like the air itself had shifted into something dangerously social.Dean had already turned music on somewhere.Not loud enough to overwhelm conversation, but rhythmic enough that the bass hummed softly through the floor and furniture, giving the whole apartment the atmosphere of an improvised afterparty that nobody had technically agreed to host.

Evelyn's POV“Your housewarming party,” the pierced guy announced proudly, shaking the bag of alcohol in his hand like he was delivering a heroic contribution to society. “Frank literally just got off a flight and I dragged him straight here. Tell me that’s not friendship.”“I don’t remember agreeing to host a housewarming party,” Julian replied, sounding deeply tired in the specific way people only sound around longtime friends.Not annoyed, though.

Evelyn's POV“Why?” I looked up at him before I could stop myself.“Because she doesn’t believe they were prepared for her,” he said quietly.The words sounded less like an answer and more like a sigh he’d been holding in for a long time, threaded with something dangerously close to self-mockery.“Well… that’s possible too,” I said awkwardly, suddenly unable to speak smoothly anymore. “You are kind of too good at this whole charming-people thing. Maybe don’t treat all your hookups so well. She might misunderstand.”The moment I said it, I regretted how bitter it sounded.But Julian didn’t look offended.If anything, his gaze softened.“Then I hope she misunderstands even more,” he said steadily, taking another small step closer. “Enough that one day she finally admits she likes me back.”His voice was low.Certain.And the closer he got, the more impossible it became not to notice the warmth of his breathing, the calm intensity in his eyes, the terrifying sincerity underneath all the

Evelyn's POVHe glanced once at the screen, almost like he was waiting for a line of dialogue to pass before answering me, and only then slowly turned to look back at me. The timing of it made him impossible to read. I couldn’t tell whether he had genuinely been thinking about the question, or whether he simply enjoyed letting certain moments linger a little longer than necessary.“Didn’t I already tell you?” he said at last. “They’re for the person I like.”The answer came out so naturally that it almost startled me.No hesitation. No awkwardness. No attempt to soften it.As if this were the simplest thing in the world to admit.My fingers unconsciously tightened slightly against the sleeves.“But you said she hasn’t fallen in love with you yet.”“Not yet,” Julian replied easily, leaning back into the sofa with the kind of calm confidence that somehow suited him far too well. “Sooner or later, I’ll win her over.”Then his eyes flicked briefly toward the clothes I was wearing before r

Evelyn's POVAnd there I was, still standing barefoot in the warm fog of his bathroom with my fingers resting against impossibly soft fabric, when a thought entered my head that was neither calm nor dignified.He said he was single.So then… who exactly were these clothes prepared for?The answer that appeared first was also the one that immediately made my chest tighten.Maybe they were for one of his hookups.Honestly, that explanation made perfect sense. Julian had slept with plenty of women before. He had never pretended otherwise. And he was the kind of man capable of separating sex from emotion with terrifying ease. Even if there was someone he genuinely loved somewhere in his heart, he could still calmly sleep beside other women, kiss them, play the role of a lover flawlessly if the situation called for it.I looked back down at the neatly folded clothes in my hands.The fact that everything had been prepared so carefully somehow made the thought worse.Because this didn’t feel

Evelyn's POVRight then, fragments of dialogue from the movie drifted faintly through the bathroom door, softened by distance and the steady sound of running water.Thank God.I desperately needed something to distract me from my own thoughts.So I kept washing my hair while listening to Nick and Judy awkwardly stumbling their way through couples therapy, arguing in that ridiculous, lovable way only they could. Apparently they weren’t the only partner duo in desperate need of psychological intervention either—their coworkers clearly had enough emotional damage to start an entire support group.Somewhere between the ridiculous dialogue and the familiar rhythm of the scenes, I felt my shoulders slowly begin to relax.I seriously loved this movie.I found myself unconsciously mouthing along with certain lines from memory while rinsing the shampoo from my hair, right until that line came through the speakers—“The safe word is coconut.”The sentence arrived slightly muffled through the do