Page 17 of Sugar

Juno blinked at him, then shook his head. “Jesus Christ, you’re something else. Come in.” He stepped aside, and Piper shut the door behind him.

The apartment was very small and very dark, all the blinds drawn. It was lit by a small lamp on with a dim bulb in the corner of the room.

There was a bed in the corner, a dresser that held Juno’s TV, and a very small kitchen with a two-burner stove and a small table with two chairs beside what looked like a pantry. One of the doors off to the side he assumed was a bathroom, and that was it.

It was everything and nothing like he’d expected.

“I’d give you the tour,” Juno said, walking over to his kitchen table, “but this is pretty much all there is.”

“It’s nice.”

“It’s a dump,” Juno said with a small laugh, “but thank you for being kind about it. We don’t have to hang out here, though. We can go literally anywhere else.”

Piper walked up, abandoning all pretense and worry about what he was or wasn’t allowed to do, and he wrapped his arms around Juno’s waist. Lowering his head, he kissed his neck. “I don’t care where we are. I just like spending time with you.”

Juno shivered and leaned back into his grasp. “You’re being nice.”

“I am. Is it working?”

Juno laughed again and tilted his head up. “Yeah. It is. What did you bring me? Is it food?”

Piper winced. Fuck, he should have brought lunch. “No, um.” He stepped back and held the bag toward Juno. “I went to the bookshop this morning after I called out.”

Juno’s expression was unreadable as he took it. “I didn’t put books on my bucket list. I’ve actually been doing audiobooks for years now because I can read while I work. That won’t be a big change for me.”

Piper’s smile only lifted half his mouth. “They’re not for reading. It’s actually for your bucket list. I, um…” He hesitated, picking at his cuticle. “I read some stuff last night when I couldn’t sleep. Some websites suggested that for writing, you should use high contrast so you can see it. I mean, I know you can see it now, but in the future…just in case…” He trailed off when he realized Juno had frozen in place. “Sorry.”

“No.” Juno’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “No, this was…this was sweet.” His hands shook a little as he set the bag on the table and pulled the black journal out. His thumb traced the embossing, and then he opened the pages. “How do I write on this?”

“Metallic markers,” Piper said. He stepped closer and fished two of them out of the bag. “And if that one doesn’t work, I got a white one with Sharpies.”

Juno swallowed heavily, then dropped the journal and turned, pressing himself into Piper’s body. It was far too easy to hold him, to lean down and take the kiss he’d been craving. Juno was so open to him, so ready, so willing.

He groaned as Piper’s hands trailed down and cupped his ass, urging him to rock his half-hard cock against his hip. “God,” Juno moaned, his voice thready.

Piper sank his teeth into the crook of Juno’s neck, right where he bore his mark, and he felt almost drunk at the way Juno melted into his arms. “Like that?”

“Fuck. Yeah. Yeah, I really do. I?—”

The moment was shattered by the sound of Juno’s phone going off. It rang and buzzed against the table, and Juno went stiff all over before wrenching away and picking it up. “Babe, hey. Yeah. Yeah, no, I’m free. No, I’m not with anyone.”

Piper went cold all over, like someone had dunked him in the arctic sea. Babe? Not with anyone?

As naïve as he was when it came to relationships, and as much as he was willing to do almost anything for Juno, he wasn’t going to give himself over to a cheater. He just wasn’t. He caught Juno’s eye and pointed toward the door, mouthing, ‘I’m gonna go.’

Juno’s eyes went wide. “No, wait! No, babe. No, I’m not talking to you. Uhg, fine, no, I’m not alone, but we’re not talking about who I’m with right now. Hang on a second.” Juno pressed the phone against his front. “Please don’t go. I promise this won’t take long.”

Piper’s head was spinning. What was happening? “I don’t want to interrupt.”

“It’s Oliver,” Juno said. “I swore I’d talk to him today about Miles’s surprise birthday party. I promise I won’t be that long.” Then Juno mouthed very carefully, ‘I’m not ready to tell him.’

Piper let out a breath. He didn’t think his first reaction was wrong, but he trusted Juno. ‘Okay,’ he mouthed back.

Juno grinned, looking like he wanted to both laugh and cry, and he leaned on his chair as Piper turned and headed over to the bed. It felt strange to make himself comfortable there without being invited, but there was nowhere else to sit. He half hoped Juno would join him, but the younger man took a seat in the kitchen chair and pressed his face into his hand.

“…yeah. No, I’m not telling you who it is. Yes, it’s a hot guy, and that’s all you’re getting,” Juno said.

Piper flushed. A hot guy. He almost laughed. He hadn’t been called that in about a decade. He looked over and stared at Juno’s profile. He was so, so beautiful. He had his nose wrinkled and his brows furrowed, and he was playing with a small, white cardboard box that had a multicolored pattern on it. It looked familiar, but from where he was sitting, he couldn’t see what it was.

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