Admiring Christmas displays with her wasn’t on my list of things to do today, but now that we are, I’m fucking thrilled. I haven’t done this in years, haven’t breathed without feeling like ice is blocking my chest indecades.
Having sex with her in the bathroom wasn’t in the plan. I wanted to tease her the rest of her shift, but seeing how goddamn devastatingly beautiful she was behind the bar, her entirety disheveled and strained with want, I had acted on instinct.
And howsweetit had been to feel her around me…fuck. I’m still groaning inwardly, still replaying her noises and dreaming of her slick pussy on my lips…
After tonight, I know I’m done for.
I should walk away right now, but I know I can’t.
It’s already too late.
Juniper holds onto my arm tightly as she walks me down her street, telling me stories about all of her neighbors—secrets,gossip, and simple musings. I’m savoring the touch and safety of having her in my arms. It’s our little pocket of joy, and the longer we’re together in small moments like this, the more I realize how much it’sthisthat I’ve been craving. It’s as if seeing her awoke something inside me, like I truly was dissociating hard enough that I didn’t bother truly looking around these last few decades.
She’s pried my eyes open, and I’m never going back to sleep.
“This guy cheated on his wife last year,” she’s telling me. “He was meeting the other woman at Hudson’s actually. He always checked to see when I was working and not Marge because he thought I’d keep it a secret.”
“And you told his wife?”
“She worked at the same accounting firm as him. I thought they were just co-workers. The day I figured out he was actually going home with her, though, was the day Marge came in to get her paycheck, and when she saw them, shit got crazy. Marge threw a drink in his face.”
“Wow,” I manage.
“Yeah. It was wild. His wife had her car packed up by the time I walked home that night. They were still outside arguing. Pack and I had to walk fast so we didn’t get anything thrown at us. He used to do their entire house in lights for Christmas. This year, he hasn’t done anything. I barely see him in town anymore.”
“The other woman broke up with him, too?” I ask.
“Yeah, she moved in with his wife one county over.”
I stop in my tracks and stare at her. “What?”
Juniper laughs. “Yeah. You heard what I said. They started dating a couple of months after she left.”
“That is… Wow, that’s diabolical. Good for her.”
“Sweet revenge,” Juniper says with a grin.
I scoff as she presses both of her hands to mine and entwines our fingers together. The fevered look she peers up at me withmakes my stomach sink, heart skip. I release an uneven breath when her lips press to mine.
“We won’t make it to your house if you continue this,” I tell her.
“Luckily for you, we’re already here,” she replies.
Pack begins barking a worse bark than she did when she first met me. It breaks both Juniper and I’s attention. The dog pulls and yanks at her leash as if she’s going to slip out of it trying to get to whatever it is up ahead.
“Pack! Stop—calm down. What is it?”
While Juniper tries to calm her, I squint down the street. It’s well-lit from the Christmas lights. For a moment, I wonder if North is hiding amongst the shadows. The only reason I push the thought from mind is the fact that my brother would never hide, especially from me. He’d appear in the open as if he’d been there the entire time.
Which leaves one of two things: either there’s a serial killer stalking us or, worse…
A spy.
I cringe inwardly. If it is one of my mother’s spies, it would explain me not being able to see them. She uses sprites. Tiny little flying demons in their own right. They always blend in with the fireflies or street lamps—and they love to hide amongst Christmas lights.
My mother’s worst fear is North or I getting mixed up with a mortal, especially after…
I curse under my breath.
