Page 4 of Sugar

Until foot traffic got worse and bills got more expensive. And now, his vision was going.

But he could still do this, damn it. He could do his actual job. He used to joke that he could bake wedding cakes blindfolded, and, well, he supposed life would put that to the test. He almost laughed.

He would have if his grief wasn’t choking the life out of him.

Standing in front of a tray of cupcakes, Juno looked over at the stack of kitchen towels. He grabbed one off the stack and rolled it, then tied it around his head. The pressure was a lot, and the darkness made him feel like he was going to dissolve into a panic attack, but he told himself he could do this. That he needed to try. To prove to himself he was going to be fine.

His fingers felt around until he found the piping bag, and then he lifted one of the cupcakes and put it on the center of the wheel. He gave it a spin, then began to pipe…

And almost all the frosting immediately sloughed off the side. He heard it hit the plastic, and he fought the urge to throw the bag across the room.

“Did you lose a bet?”

Juno jolted, then ripped the towel from his face and looked up to see his most favorite regular. Piper—a name that didn’t fit the man at all. He was tall and fit, greying at his temples with a full head of dark hair on top. He was one of the hottest men Juno had ever seen, and though they hadn’t done much besides flirt, Juno was pretty sure the guy actually liked him.

Piper looked all wrong in the mall security uniform, but whenever Juno pressed him about why he worked there and what he’d done before he moved to town, Piper just smiled, shook his head. He said that he was the sort of man who played the cards he was dealt, and his past didn’t matter.

Juno wished he could adopt that philosophy, but he damn well knew there was no escaping his past. Just like there was no escaping his future.

He smiled, but he knew it looked all wrong. It felt like plastic on his face. “It’s been a day.”

“Can I eat your mistakes? Because my day hasn’t been that great either, and I could really use some cake.”

Juno grabbed a paper plate and looked down at the cupcake. There was still a bit of frosting on the top. He added a little more, then slid it over the counter to Piper, whose smile lit up his face. “I can give you something decent, though, you know. I have a whole display full of better-looking ones.”

Piper laughed. “You know I don’t care what they look like. Why let this go to waste.” He took a bite, and the orange smear on his cheek was so endearing it made Juno’s chest ache, and it allowed him to forget his own pain for a brief moment. Piper swallowed thickly, then asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

No.

No he fucking did not, thank you very much.

But also…yes. He had no family to tell, and his friends would put their lives on hold to baby him or whatever, and he couldn’t handle that right now. He needed someone who wasn’t going to treat him like he was made of glass but also knew how to treat him tenderly.

Piper was a zero-risk man.

“I’m going blind.”

Piper blinked at him. “Wait. Like…seriously?”

Juno shrugged. “Yep. Just found out today. I don’t know how blind. I had a spot in my eye, and then it got worse. Went to the eye doctor thinking I’d need Lasik or something, but it turns out it’s some genetic bullshit that is going to take most of my central vision, and I feel like I’m going crazy.” He’d started. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop now.

“Juno,” Piper said very softly.

Juno shook his head.

“What do you need?”

At that, Juno laughed. “I don’t know. To rewind the clock so I can have more time before I have to deal with this bullshit? Or…different genetics? Parents who gave a shit about me and didn’t throw me to the goddamn wolves so I’d have someone there who understood what I was going through?” Now he was just talking out of his ass. From everything he knew about his parents, he was almost glad they gave him up.

Piper frowned. “Wolves?”

“Sorry. Foster care,” Juno said miserably. He rubbed both hands down his face, then attempted to blink away the blurry in his eye before he remembered that oh, yeah. That was permanent. “I don’t mean to dump all this on you, by the way. You probably regret asking.” He tried for a laugh, but it came out strained.

Piper stared for a long minute, then said, “Close the shop for the night and come with me.”

Juno blinked rapidly. “What? Are you serious?”

“It’s a Wednesday. At most, you’ll get some assholes in here looking for free samples, but no one is in the mall right now. My shift is over in ten minutes. You need a drink. Can you drink?”

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