Page 15 of Juno

“You do know that I can read you better than anyone else, right? I can also tell when you roll your eyes at me, even over the phone.” Dare seemed to be feeling pretty smug with himself for figuring his brother out.

“Whatever,” Saint grumbled. “How about you meet us over at her place in twenty minutes? Oh, and Dare, leave the corny jokes at home,” he insisted, ending the call. The last thing Saint wanted to do was give his little brother time to make a sarcastic comment back. He was sure that Dare would have plenty of them by the time they got to Juno’s place—and that thought made him smile.

Juno

Juno knew that telling her friends that she had been lying to them wasn’t going to be easy. But she knew that she had to come clean with them all and the best way to do that was to call them and ask them to meet her at her place. She wanted to give them as little details as possible, but she knew that they’d all have questions.

She their group text on her cell phone and sent Vixen, Sprite, and Phoenix a message to meet her at her apartment in thirty minutes. She figured that would give her some time to pack and if the girls took the news badly, she’d be able to quickly escape. She couldn’t hide forever, and she knew it, but Juno wasn’t sure how to say the words about working in a strip club, let alone ask her friends for forgiveness.

She was thankful when the three of them sent back texts saying that they’d be there. It was how things worked between them. If one of them was in need, they sent out a group text and the others showed up. She loved them, and Juno opted that once she came clean with them, she’d still have them as friends because living without them wasn’t an option.

Juno found Saint waiting for her at the front door and asked if she was ready to go. She nodded and took the keys from him, wondering why he was wearing a goofy grin. Usually, he was a grumpy ass—especially after he broke his arm. She was sure it had everything to do with his pain levels, but the few other times that she had seen Saint, he didn’t seem overly friendly.

They made the drive over to her apartment in complete silence, and that worked for her. If she started gabbing, she’d spill the beans about inviting her three friends over to come clean with them. Juno didn’t want Saint telling her that she was doing the right thing, or that it was a good idea to be straight with her friends. She already knew all of that, but she didn’t feel that telling them the truth was the right thing. It might just cost her the only true friends that she ever had.

She parked in her assigned spot and cut the engine. Saint looked at Vixen, Phoenix, and Sprite standing in front of the apartment building’s entrance. “You want to tell me why they are here?” Saint asked.

Juno shrugged, “I asked them to come over to help me pack,” she admitted, leaving out the part about wanting to tell them the truth. “And what about him?” She asked, nodding to Dare who was pulling his motorcycle helmet off just a few spots over.

“Oh, I asked him to come over to help you pack,” he said.

“So, you lied and told me that you’d be able to help me with everything, but then, you called Dare to ask him to meet us here because you wouldn’t be able to help at all with your broken arm. Did I get that right?” Juno loved watching Saint squirm a bit, and the way that his cheeks seemed to heat with embarrassment was the cutest thing ever.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “I didn’t want to let you down, and my arm hurts like a mother fucker. I thought that Dare could do the heavy lifting.” Well, that was actually nice, and not at all what Juno was expecting.

“Oh, that’s actually sweet,” she breathed.

“And I’m such a monster that you weren’t expecting me to be nice?” Saint questioned.

“That’s not what I meant,” she insisted. “Just never mind. Let’s get me packed up while our friends are still willing to help. Once I tell them all that I’ve been lying to them the past four years, I’m betting they won’t be so willing to help me.”

“You’re going to tell them the truth?” she asked.

“I am,” she admitted. “You said it yourself—I can’t keep lying to everyone and my secret is already out there, so it’s only a matter of time before everyone finds out anyway.”

“Well, if it means anything, I think that you’re doing the right thing by telling them. So, does this mean that we are officially fake breaking up?” Saint asked.

She smiled and nodded, “Yep, I guess that’s what it means. Thanks for trying to protect my secret by being my fake boyfriend, Saint,” she said. Juno leaned down to pick up her purse as Saint leaned in towards her. He brushed his lips against hers and she gasped. “What was that, Saint?” Juno asked. She touched her fingers to her lips, as though trying to figure out if they were still there.

“I’m so sorry,” he breathed. “I thought that you were leaning in to kiss me. I guess I misread the situation.”

“Um, yeah,” she whispered. She looked out the windshield to where her friends were smiling back at her. Yeah, this just made things a bit more complicated, and that was the last thing that she needed.

“It won’t happen again,” he assured. “I’m sorry, Juno.” He started to get out of the truck and Juno grabbed his left arm, trying not to hurt him.

“What if I want it to happen again?” Juno breathed.

“Do you?” Saint asked. “Do you want me to kiss you again?” Juno looked back at her friends as Dare knocked on the driver’s side window. She knew that her time was just about up, and she wanted to give Saint an answer. He deserved at least that much for getting mixed up in her mess.

“I do,” she whispered, turning to push her door open as Dare moved out of the way.

“Took you guys long enough. Play kissy face on your own time. I didn’t know that you were going to invite my wife and the other women to help out. If I had, I would have ridden with Vixen,” Dare said.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Saint said, standing on the other side of the truck. “I didn’t know that Juno was inviting them. I guess we got our wires crossed, but I appreciate you doing this for us.” There was that pesky word that got her heart pumping, and her body worked up—“Us”. Hearing Saint refer to the two of them as an “Us” was quickly becoming something that she liked hearing and Juno worried that it was the one word that could completely break her heart if Saint changed his mind about her.

* * *

Juno had fielded questions from her girlfriends about her and Saint dating, and she was just about out of lies to tell them. They had finished packing her stuff—more than she’d need for just two weeks, and helped her put everything in the back of Saint’s truck. That worked for her because she wasn’t going to be able to keep her apartment for much longer, so the stuff that was left would be pretty easy to move later when she had to move back in with her parents.

---