Page 27 of Sugar

He turned him down since he had everything covered, but he begged Emmett not to say anything. “I just need time to figure this all out. I hate asking you to lie to your boyfriend, but it would mean a lot to me if you could just keep it quiet for now.”

“I will, but you really should tell him soon,” Emmett said while he was driving Juno back into town. Miles had come down with a migraine, so Juno had kissed his forehead and then left him to the dark room while he headed home. “He’ll understand.”

Juno had sighed quietly and stared out the window at his blind spot. “I know. I just need to process it first. And honestly, I think I need to know how bad it’s going to get because he and Oliver are going to ask questions that I don’t have answers to yet.”

He could tell Emmett didn’t like that, but he respected it, which was all that mattered. On the drive in, he wondered if Emmett knew Piper, and it was very possible considering that Piper used to work near Emmett’s lab, but he wasn’t ready to draw attention to that either.

He wanted to see where the relationship was going before he let people in. He wanted to know if Piper could handle things if—and when—they got worse.

So, he had Emmett drop him off at the curb of Piper’s town house, and he spent the evening letting the older man pamper and tease him until he was a trembling mess, more spent than he ever had been in his life.

He slept hard, and when he woke, Piper was in such a deep sleep he looked almost dead. Juno tried not to panic that something was wrong, but after poking him repeatedly, Piper groaned, swatted at him, and turned away.

It was the perfect chance for Juno to slip out of the bed and creep down to the store. Piper had been doting on Juno to the point of absurdity, and the least Juno could do was the one thing he was good at. And he knew damn well Piper had a weakness for baked goods.

He wasn’t a great cook, but he was an amazing baker, and he could have a perfect coffee cake done in forty-five minutes. There was a grocery store a few blocks from Piper’s town house, so he hoofed it there and back for the few things Piper didn’t have in his kitchen.

He lost himself in the rhythm of baking. He measured, stirred, and poured, then threw together a little crumble for the top. He did it all unthinking, hardly paying attention to where his hands were going, and he had a moment where he realized that he probably wasn’t going to lose this at all. When he’d practiced blind at his shop, he’d been half out of his mind from the shock of it.

Now, he was sleep-heavy and lost in his thoughts, and he hadn’t missed a single step. His life wasn’t going to fall apart. He was going to be angry and sad, but ultimately, he was going to be okay.

Juno jolted when he heard footsteps padding into the kitchen three minutes before the timer was set to go off. He turned his head until Piper was in his visual field and then smiled. He had pillow wrinkles on his cheek, his hair mussed, eyes glassy and tired.

He was gorgeous.

He knew he was staring a little too hard when Piper cleared his throat and blushed.

“I know I’m no belle of the ball in the mornings.”

Juno laughed and beckoned him close. He kissed him, happily licking at his sour morning tongue. “I like you like this. I’m only staring because I don’t want to forget if I lose it.”

Piper’s eyes looked a little sad, but he just cupped Juno’s cheek and said, “Stare away. But let me get some coffee in me.”

He drank decaf, which made Juno want to fling the coffee maker into the sun, but he understood why. He’d already made his own cup from one of Piper’s little pods, and he was sipping at it when the oven began to buzz.

Piper spun. “Are you cooking?”

“Baking,” Juno said. He grabbed the hot pad and pulled the dish out of the oven. It was perfect. He gave it a little shake and was satisfied when it didn’t wobble. “Coffee cake.”

“I’m never letting you leave,” Piper mumbled into his cup.

Juno laughed and almost told him not to make promises he didn’t want to keep because he would be more than tempted to stay. Though Piper hadn’t repeated his offer to let Juno move in, he hadn’t stopped thinking about it.

It felt reckless and dangerous because he knew deep down he was probably going to say yes if Piper asked him again. And that could lead to absolute disaster.

He might be the grand love of Juno’s life the way Victor was for Oliver, or Emmett and Cosimo were for Miles, but he wasn’t sure he trusted himself not to fuck it up if he moved this fast. People usually needed time to acclimate to him.

And half the time, the moment they did, they realized he wasn’t their flavor and quickly left.

He was great window dressing. No one wanted to keep him for more than that.

“You look sad,” Piper said softly.

Juno cleared his throat and shook his head. “I’m not sad. Just thinking.” He reached past Piper and pulled out a couple of bowls from the cabinet, then grabbed a serving spoon.

Piper raised a brow. “Don’t you need to let that cool?”

“Cool is for fools,” Juno said.

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