Page 33 of Sugar

He sat in the driver’s seat and eventually shot a text off to his brother, letting him know that his doctor had given him a clean bill of health. Nix texted back with a single thumbs-up, but Piper knew that was him ecstatic. He sent back a heart and a promise to see him soon, then turned his car on, pulled out onto the main road, and headed home.

Juno had stayed true to his word: he hadn’t moved from his spot on the sofa in the time Piper had been gone. He’d been away less than an hour, though, so Juno quirked a brow at him as Piper walked in and tossed his keys, wallet, and phone into the little bowl on the shelf beside the door.

“That was quick,” Juno said.

For some reason, Piper couldn’t speak. Juno looked like a tired mess with frizzy hair and socks with dirty bottoms, but he was the most beautiful thing Piper had ever laid eyes on. How could he feel so strongly so fast? There was no way it could be real.

But he couldn’t let go, no matter how much he tried.

He crossed the room and threw himself onto the couch, rolling until Juno was splayed out on top of him. He kneaded Juno’s ass with his hands, big handfuls soft and squishy against his palms. Juno groaned and surged into a kiss.

“Why?” Juno asked when he came up for air.

Piper bit his lip. “Don’t be angry with me.”

Juno stiffened. “I will never make that promise, honey. I have a temper.”

“I know you do.” Piper reached up and brushed a stray curl off Juno’s forehead. “I saw my doctor.”

Juno sat up as far as Piper would let him go. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I wanted to get her okay before I went on the road. And I wanted to, ah…to ask her about sex.”

Juno’s gaze flickered down, and Piper knew what he was thinking.

“Yeah. That. I want to fuck you so badly, and I wanted to know if there was something I could do about it. If it was safe.”

Collapsing back down, Juno put his arms around Piper and squeezed tight. “Please tell me everything’s okay.”

“Better than, sugar. She okayed me for all activities. I can’t go climb Everest, but I can hike with you. I can walk with you. We can drive and dance. And I can fuck you.”

Juno shuddered and pulled back to look down at Piper’s face. “Why would I be angry about that?”

“Because I didn’t tell you.”

Juno scoffed and nipped at his chin. “Trust me, I get it. I didn’t tell anyone about my eye appointment, and I don’t really plan to let anyone come with me until I need them to. There are things you need to process on your own.”

“Mm.” Piper’s hum rumbled against the back of his throat as he pushed his fingers into Juno’s messy bun and dragged him in for another kiss. “She wrote me a prescription.”

“For little pills?”

“For little pills.” Piper didn’t know if they’d help, but at least he could stop being afraid of what letting go would do to him. “I can pick them up in the morning.” He thought about being able to have Juno tonight, but he wanted to sit in his relief first.

Juno sighed and went lax against him. “So you can just hold me tonight?”

“Is that what you want?”

After a long beat of silence, Juno shrugged. “I think it’s what I need.”

Piper could understand that. His entire life had been turned upside down, and he wasn’t a fool. He knew Juno was using sex to distract himself from everything, but he was facing down reality now. He hadn’t made a decision about what he was going to do or where he was going to go when they got back into town.

Juno would no longer have his apartment, and as far as Piper was aware, Juno hadn’t put money down on anything. He wasn’t even sure Juno really had money for a deposit, considering how stressed he’d been about the trip. It was too soon to ask, and it was too sensitive of a topic for him to offer help, so he was resigned to physical comfort and quiet worry.

“Should I cook for us later?”

“Mm.” Juno propped up on his forearms and looked down at him. “I was thinking we could celebrate your good news. I could treat us to a little something.”

“Burritos?” Piper asked with a half-smile.

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