Juniper curled up beside me like it was the most natural thing in the world — like we hadn’t nearly fucked in the kitchen, like I hadn’t almost ruined both our lives getting arrested this morning. She tucked her legs into my lap, blanket pulled up to her chest, and laid her head on my shoulder.
I felt her everywhere.
The movie played quietly in front of us, but I hadn’t registered a single frame. Not with the heat of her thigh under my palm. Not with her fingers curled lightly into the fabric of my shirt. Not with the way she shifted every now and then, hips dragging over my lap like she didn’t know what she was doing. But she knew. Sheabsolutelyknew.
She tilted her head back, her voice quiet. “What time was your call today?”
I kissed her hair before I thought better of it. “Couple hours ago.”
She twisted to look at me. “Wait. Youmissed it?”
“I was a little busy getting arrested,” Isaid dryly.
Her laugh cracked through the room, startled and bright. God, I’d missed that sound.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I did text them,” I added, dragging my hand a little higher on her thigh. Casual. Innocent. “Told ‘em something came up.”
She narrowed her eyes. “And what, exactly, came up?”
I grinned. “Me, mostly.”
Her entire face went hot — a deep flush racing down her throat and into the neckline of her shirt. She slapped my chest playfully, half-laughing, half-horrified. “You’re disgusting.”
I shrugged, pretending I wasn’t already half-hard just from being near her.
“Ansel?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“If I straddle you right now and kiss you until we both forget our names, will you stop me?”
A beat. “Probably,” I said. “But it might ruin me.”
Her grin turned wicked. “So you’re saying I have options.”
“June,” I warned, voice low. “Watch the movie.”
“Make me.”
I turned to face her fully, hand still resting on her thigh. “You’re not playing fair.”
“And you’re not playing at all.”
The movie kept rolling. Juniper wasn’t watching it. I wasn’t watching it. But I made a point to keep my eyes trained on the screen like it was the most riveting thing I’d ever seen. Even while my hand crept higher up her thigh. Even while my thumb brushed just beneath the hem of her —my— shorts.
Even while shesquirmed.
She made this little noise — almost a gasp, caught in her throat like she didn’t want me to hear it. But I did. I heardeverythingwhen it came to her.
“Something wrong?” I asked, all casual-like.
She glanced up at me with a look that could’ve peeled paint. “You know exactly what you’re doing.”
“No clue what you mean,” I murmured, letting my fingers stroke a lazy line down the inside of her thigh. Just a taste. Just enough to make her breath catch. “I’m watching the movie. You should too.”
Her eyes narrowed. Her whole body was rigid beside me, tense and expectant — like if she even twitched, she might break into flames.
