betareader: Fleur LB
I knew something was up from the moment Mrs. Taylor said that Julie and Tim were spending lots of time together, lately. There was a bunch of things wrong with that sentence, mostly that Julie Taylor and Tim Riggins' name were in it together.
I asked Julie what it was about and she immediately got defensive, throwing in my face that I wasn't there when Matt left her and Tim was. She said they were only friends, nothing more.
Again, something was wrong with this sentence, too. Tim Riggins wasn't friends with females and I'd be damned if it changed in the last few months I spent in Austin.
But I left it to Julie, trying hard to convince myself she wouldn't lie to me about something like that and that she was smart enough not to get mixed up with somebody like Tim.
It even worked for a few hours, right until I saw Tim walking toward Julie. Right until that moment I could lie to myself, but not anymore. When I saw the look on Tim's face as his eyes found Julie I almost got shocked.
I didn't know if I could even find the words for what I saw. Care? Amazement? Pure admiration? I wasn't sure these words were enough to describe the look on his face. I'd never seen it before, not even with Lyla.
I watched them silently all night, every move they made. Julie mentioned I was unusually quiet but I shrugged it off, saying I was just tired because of the long drive from Austin.
It was a strange thing to watch them. They didn't actually do anything, mostly they just made small talk about recent subjects. And still I could almost saw the sparks between them, a strange atmosphere surrounding them.
It was like there was an invisible bound between them, like they were tied together, perfectly mirroring and matching each other's every little move.
I realized what I was seeing as I watched them dance, slowly swaying with the music, Tim towering over Julie, pulling her body to his, holding her like he never wanted her let go. Tim Riggins was in love with Julie Taylor and I think he doesn't even know it.