Page 9 of Juno

“Okay, have you been discharged?” Juno asked.

“I have been,” Saint said, holding up his paperwork in his good hand.

“Great, let’s go then.” She smiled and waved back at the lady behind the desk and walked out into the crisp night air. She was exhausted, but the cold air helped to wake her up enough that she knew she’d be able to drive back to the club.

Juno unlocked Saint’s truck and helped him up into the passenger seat, even though he protested that he didn’t need any help. As soon as she got him buckled in, she shut his door and rounded the vehicle, getting into the driver’s side. She buckled in and started the truck, turning to face Saint.

“Why did you tell your brother that we’re dating and that’s why we were together tonight?” she asked. Juno was going to wait to have this conversation with Saint, but she was pretty sure that after tonight, they probably wouldn’t be seeing each other very much. Their paths barely crossed, and she was sure that wasn’t going to change.

“I was pretty sure that you wouldn’t want me to tell Dare the truth, so I went with the first thing that popped into my head. Why else would we be hanging out, Juno?” he asked.

“I don’t know—maybe we both ran into each other around town or something. You had to go with a lie that was going to be hard to keep up with?” She sounded a bit pissed off, and Juno wasn’t sure if it was the late hour or the fact that Saint seemed to get on her last nerve for some reason. Sure, the guy was hot as hell, but that really didn’t mean anything to her. He also annoyed the shit out of her, and she had a feeling that would cancel out his hotness factor.

“Hey, I was in a lot of pain when I called to let Dare know that I was in the ER, and I needed to come up with something on the fly. I don’t think you could have done any better,” he spat. She felt like an ass for pressuring him to answer her questions. He was right—if she was in that kind of pain, she wouldn’t be quick on her feet either. Hell, she’d be a complete baby, and coming up with any excuse would have been damn near impossible for her.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed, “you’re right. But now, we have to fake break up over our fake relationship because everyone down at the club will know about this by sunup, and I’m pretty sure that they’ll expect us to be together the next time we show up at Savage Hell.’’

“Shit,” he mumbled, “I hadn’t thought of it that way. I’m sure that we can put our heads together and come up with something, but do you mind if we do that tomorrow? I’m so exhausted that thinking straight won’t be my strong suit until I can get some sleep.” She wanted to point out that it was already tomorrow, but she didn’t want to sound like a bitch. Saint laid his head back and was almost asleep when she pulled into the parking lot at the strip club and gasped at the sight of her car.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Someone set my car on fire,” she shouted. The flames were almost out, and her poor car looked more like a charred shell. Juno pulled into the back of the lot and parked Saint’s truck. “Who would do this to my car?”

“Someone with taste,” he said, chuckling at his own joke.

“You’re no help,” she mumbled, “you’re high as a kite and practically useless.”

“Hey,” he said, “I am not. If I was high as a kite, as you put it, would I tell you that you should call the cops and file a police report?” he asked.

In a perfect world, she’d agree with him, but if she did that, she’d have to tell the cops everything—even about working at the club. The small-town gossip mill would have a field day with that news and by sunup, she’d have her phone ringing off the hook from Vixen, Phoenix, and Sprite. Juno needed time to think, and sleep would probably be good for both of them. She looked over to find Saint already passed out again next to her and she sighed.

“Guess I’m taking you back to your place,” she whispered to herself. The question was, how was she going to get back to her apartment without her car? Juno took one last look at her old grandma car and felt like she wanted to cry—but she didn’t have time for that now. She needed to get Saint home and they both needed some shut-eye before she figured out the next step in her very screwed-up life.

“I’m just going to take your wallet out of your jacket pocket and look at your license,” she whispered. She knew that he’d probably sleep right through her rummaging through his pocket, but she wanted to be careful not to spook him. Juno found his wallet and quickly memorized his address. He didn’t live far from her apartment, but his neighborhood was nicer, and he probably lived in a house rather than a tiny apartment.

Juno quickly returned his wallet to his jacket pocket and turned on the pickup truck. She was going to get him home, and then she’d have to figure out a way to get him into the house and bed—by herself, because the very last thing that she wanted to do was call Dare to help her. No, she’d have to figure this out on her own, and then, when they were both up in the morning, she and Saint were going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting to get a few things straight. Number one on the agenda was figuring out how to break up with each other and have no one suspicious of them—and that was going to involve one hell of a crazy plan.

Saint

Saint woke up to the smell of coffee and if he wasn’t mistaken, pancakes. It had been some time since his home smelled like pancakes—since Dare used to live with him after their parents passed. His little brother loved to make pancakes on the weekends when he didn’t have school, and he wondered why Dare would randomly show up at the house to make them for him now.

He stretched and shouted out in pain. His arm hurt like a son of a bitch, and he pulled the sheets down over it. “Fuck,” he swore. For just a second, while still in sleep twilight, he had forgotten all about breaking his arm. “How the hell did I get home?” He sounded like a crazy person asking himself that question, but he had no memory of driving back to his house or getting in his bed. The last thing he remembered was Juno telling him that her car was on fire.

“Shit,” he grumbled, getting out of bed and finding a pair of sweatpants to pull on. He didn’t bother with a shirt because that would have taken him way too long to maneuver over his arm. He needed to call Juno and find out what the hell happened after he was discharged from the hospital, then he was going to have to find a way to get his truck back from her place, and he was hoping that Dare could help him out since he wasn’t allowed to drive for two weeks. He’d eat some of the pancakes that Dare was making for him and take his pain meds before heading out. Saint planned on following the doctor’s orders to a tee because there was no way that he wanted to go through an operation to fix his arm.

He walked down the hallway to his kitchen, his stomach growling from just the smell of breakfast. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until now. “You know, you didn’t have to come over here just to make me breakfast, little brother,” he said, turning the corner into the kitchen. He stopped dead when he found Juno standing in front of his stove, flipping pancakes.

She smiled over at him and nodded. “Good morning,” she said.

“I thought that you were my brother, sorry,” he said.

“Not a problem. Dare did stop by the hospital last night,” she reminded.

“I remember that much,” he said, “unfortunately, the rest of it is a bit fuzzy. Did you drive me home?” Saint asked.

“I did,” she said.

“Oh, I appreciate that,” he said. “How did you get me up to my bed?” She was so tiny compared to him, there was no way that she’d be able to get him upstairs on her own.

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