Page 57 of Sugar

He was too tired to keep fighting. He wanted softness. He wanted to be taken care of. And he wanted to take care of someone too. That was the crux of it—the reason he wasn’t as scared as he should be.

This wasn’t just about him. It wasn’t going to end with him stuck a prisoner of Piper’s whims. This was give and take. Piper needed him just as much. And wanted him just as much.

He’d made that so clear, but Juno hadn’t let himself believe it until now.

And he was going to fix that, damn it.

He gathered his curls into a bun and tied them up before splashing water on his face, and though it didn’t help him look much better, it cleared away a little bit of the fog.

He still felt like he was walking on clouds, but he was cognizant, and that was the only thing that mattered.

Piper was waiting for him on the second bed, back resting against the headboard with one leg crooked up. He looked at Juno and offered a small, lazy smile and patted the space beside him. “You need to eat something before you take more meds.”

“More?” Juno’s gaze moved to the nightstand, where he saw a bottle of ibuprofen and an open can of Coke. Meds and caffeine. “You get headaches?”

“No. I asked the lady downstairs what worked on migraines. They didn’t have the pills that worked for her, so she told me what to do.”

Juno went soft all over. Fuck, how had he been such a fool the last few days? Why was he pushing this man away—this man who would stick by him, even when things got hard. He swallowed past a lump in his throat and pressed his knee to the edge of the bed.

“Piper.”

“Yeah, sugar?”

Juno closed his eyes and reached out, and Piper gathered him to his chest. He wished he was smaller just for a moment, just to be cradled, but feeling the warmth of Piper’s broad chest was enough. A tentative touch ran up his arms, and then he opened his eyes.

They were nose to nose.

“I like you.”

“I know,” Piper said quietly, sadly. “I know you do.”

“You don’t know how much,” Juno corrected. “It scares the shit out of me because almost all the people in my life who were supposed to care about me left me. And the people who promised they were going to make things better didn’t.” He took a steady breath and reached for Piper’s hands, linking their fingers together. “But I want to be brave with you.”

“I’m here for that, sugar,” Piper said. “I promise.”

Juno shook his head. “I’m not saying this right. I want to be brave for you so I can keep you. Because I want this, okay? I want you, and I’m tired of running from my feelings. My life sucks so much right now. I’m shit-scared of what it’s going to be like when my sight gets bad. I’m, like, preemptively mortified that I’m going to need a cane in public. People are going to stare.”

“They are,” Piper said.

Juno’s cheeks heated slightly, but he didn’t look away. He wanted to drink in every second he could see Piper’s face this clearly. He touched his jaw, then dropped his hand down to his stomach, and Piper pressed his palm over it. “I don’t like being seen. But it’s different when it’s you seeing me.”

Piper licked his lips, then bit down on his lower one like he was holding back words. Juno wondered if maybe he’d gone too far. Or maybe Piper had already started letting him go. But he was going to be patient and wait.

“Are you sure?”

Juno closed his eyes. He hated that he’d been so difficult that Piper couldn’t trust those words. He opened his eyes and met Piper’s gaze. “More sure than I’ve ever been about anything.”

Piper’s face did something complicated. Juno couldn’t read his expression, but what came next was clear. Piper took him by the chin, holding him in a grasp so tight it was almost painful. He tugged him close, used his free hand to grasp the back of his bun, and then leaned in and finally kissed him.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Piper was almost afraid to believe that this was reality. That he wasn’t dreaming again. Up to this moment, there’d been no hint that Juno was ready to accept what Piper was willing to offer.

He felt like crying a little and like laughing. He felt like screaming, and he felt like pressing Juno to the window and fucking him in hopes that someone would see him lay claim to this man. Because that’s what he wanted—to claim him as his own. He’d never felt so possessive before in his life, but as he moved his kisses from Juno’s lips to his neck, he couldn’t stop himself from leaving a mark there.

And then one on his pec, and on his stomach, and on his hip.

He’d laid Juno out beneath him and stripped them both down in hurried motions, clothes piled at the foot of the bed, and Juno was flushed from toes to torso. His movements were still slow and sluggish, so Piper knew he needed to take care with him. He was probably teetering on the edge of another migraine, and the last thing Piper wanted was to trigger more pain.

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