Page 70 of Sugar

Piper took his time to respond. He didn’t want his words to startle Juno. He didn’t want to do anything that would stop his boyfriend from opening up. “Is that a good thing?”

“I think so. I didn’t think I’d feel this way,” Juno said. He started to play with the hem of Piper’s sweater, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger. “I thought I’d feel…I don’t know. Apathetic? Maybe curious? When I found my aunt and a couple of my cousins, I was just looking for some kind of connection, but they were so hateful and angry—like it was my fault my mom turned out the way she did. And I don’t know, maybe I was the reason.”

“You were not,” Piper said fiercely.

Juno sighed and shrugged. “Anyway, he’s my half brother through my dad’s side. He didn’t know him either. His mom died when he was little, and he was brought up by his aunt.”

Piper stroked a hand down Juno’s back, refusing to interrupt.

“He was kind. He was…I think he was happy to hear from me. He wants time to tell his wife and kids.” Juno let out a trembling breath. “He has a trans daughter. He’s a queer ally.”

“Were you worried about that?”

Juno laughed. “Very. He could have been some bigoted whacko who hated everything I am. But he’s not.”

Piper held him a little tighter.

“He lives in Connecticut. I don’t know where, but I thought maybe I could—we could—go visit when I get back. It’s close to Rhode Island, so I could see Oliver. Miles can come with. You could meet everyone.”

“Is that what you want?”

Juno pushed away from him and turned, resting his forearms on Piper’s chest. He held his gaze as he nodded. “That’s what I want. I want you. And they’re my family. It’s important to me.”

“And if they hate me?”

Juno laid his head back down. “Then I’ll dunk them in the fucking lake repeatedly like a medieval witch until they get their heads out of their asses and see how amazing you are.”

Piper blinked, then burst into laughter and held Juno as tightly as he could without stealing his breath.

Juno wanted to go antiquing the next day. Piper wasn’t sure Juno knew what that meant, but he looked up a few places on his phone and found a small town fifty miles down the road, so they went. They had lunch, and Juno bought a couple of vintage cross-stitches still in their wooden frames.

Piper had been browsing old telescopes and was debating about buying one when he looked over to see Juno running his fingers over the cloth. He walked over and leaned in, pressing a kiss to Juno’s cheekbone.

“You like them?”

“I was thinking I might need tactile decorations,” Juno said softly, tracing the letters. One of them was a poem that Piper thought he recognized, but he couldn’t place it. TS Eliot, maybe? Something about the moon and her memory, but Juno’s fingers were still in the way. “I don’t have a lot of art. You saw my place. There wasn’t a lot of space to decorate. But, uh…maybe when I move in…”

“We’ll figure it out together,” Piper promised. He took the cross-stitch out of Juno’s hands and set it aside, then held Juno’s knuckles to his mouth for a long moment. “The extra room will be yours. I want you in my bed every night, and I don’t think it’s too fast for me, but I want you to have space, okay? I want you to feel like some of what I have now belongs to you.”

Juno swallowed so heavily Piper heard it click in his throat. “Thank you.”

Piper had a feeling Juno needed to hear that. He lifted his chin and kissed him. “Get the cross-stitches. Whichever ones you want.”

So he did. And then he got a figurine of a crow sitting on some books. Piper didn’t end up getting the telescope, but he got a couple of old black-and-white photos of the Milky Way shot in Yellowstone. He laid everything carefully in the trunk, and then they found a quaint spot for lunch before heading back to town.

They had hours before they were supposed to meet Adam at the observatory, and for the first time since they hit the road, Piper was feeling the travel in his bones. He wasn’t an old man, but he was older. Life hit him a little harder.

“Do you mind if I nap?” he asked as he shut the door to their room.

“No.” Juno lifted high onto his toes, taller than Piper when he did that, and he kissed him. “I’m going for a walk.”

Piper almost asked Juno if he wanted him to tag along, but he realized Juno probably needed the space. It didn’t hurt his feelings like he thought it would. He understood it more than anything. So instead of saying that, he stole a kiss, then flopped on the bed and started to doze to the sound of Juno’s quiet laughter.

He was out before the door was shut.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“If I was interrupting your day, would you even tell me?” Juno had asked Oliver when he first picked up.

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