I glance down at my blue sweater. “You’re…yeah…I never thought of that. How do you remember what I was wearing to prom?”
“I brought you home, remember?” He moves toward me.
“Yeah, but you weren’t exactly looking at me that night.”
“Ah, Juliana. I’ve always been looking at you.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
COULD BE BETTER
CAMDEN
Past: Camden, age 20, Juju, age 18
I was excited to be home from school. I loved New York City, but I’d never want to live there. I missed the tranquility of St. Paul too much. And my family.
But fuck me, I kept getting knocked sideways by seeing Juju. She’d always been beautiful, but during my time away, she’d grown up. It shouldn’t have been any surprise that she was stunning, but it was like a body slam from Bigfoot every time we ran into each other.
Today I was in some kind of fresh hell, because I was walking out of my bedroom and I ran into her…literally.
“Oof,” she said.
When she looked up at me, her mouth dropped and we stared at each other for at least a minute.
“Didn’t know you were here,” I finally said.
Lame opener, for sure, but it had been a while since I’d seen her, andfuck me, I could swear her eyes were greener, and herhair was even more vibrant than I remembered. Her chest rising and falling drew my eyes down, and despite what I’d said to her as a kid about her small tits, I thought they were the perfect handfuls. Her long legs were on display in her short shorts, and I took in a quick breath, forcing my eyes back to hers. Hard to do because I wanted to investigate every inch of her.
She motioned to Goldie’s room. “I’m getting ready with Goldie. Prom,” she added.
“Ah. Right. Well, I’ll get out of your way.”
“Yeah, you’re good at that. Until you’re not.”
I frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing. Just that you’re good at running, hiding, etcetera…until, say…I kiss a boy you don’t approve of.” She leaned in, and I inhaled her berry shampoo.
My eyes closed when I smelled her. God, I’d missed her. Even though we hadn’t talked in a long time, not really, it helped just to see her. I didn’t have that luxury anymore, living in New York City.
“Do me a favor,” she said, and I tried to focus. “Don’t punch Eric while we’re getting prom pictures taken.”
I scowled. “Who the hell is Eric?”
“Is that all you heard from what I said?”
“No. But why do you say that? Does heneedpunching?”
“No,” she snapped. “But neither did Mitch, and that didn’t stop you!” Her hand went flying out when she said Mitch’s name, and I took a step closer to her.
Her breath hitched, and I freaking loved that sound.
“Mitch was Jackson’s friend, and he knew you were off-limits. Plus, he was a dick to girls.”
“Do you hear yourself? First of all, I’m not off-limits to anyone just because they’re Jackson’s friend.” She gave my chest a shove, but I didn’t budge. “And second of all, it’s none of your business who I kiss or do anything else with.”
My eyes widened. “What, you’re having sex now?” My chest pinched. I was too, so I didn’t know why it pained me to think of her having sex.
