Page 21 of Backhanded Compliments

“Try the coffee. It balances the flavor.” Juliette pushes her cup across the table to her. “I think you’ll like it.”

Kacic carefully takes the coffee, ensuring their fingers don’t touch. “How would you know what I like?”

“It doesn’t taste like lemon,” Juliette says, smirking.

Kacic rolls her eyes and takes a sip. Juliette watches her lips curve over the edge of the cup and she tries not to think about how her mouth was there a moment ago. Kacic’s lashes flutter as she briefly closes her eyes, considering the taste. She doesn’t screw up her nose or shudder in disgust. Then she sets the cup down and slides it back to Juliette. “It’s good,” she concedes.

Juliette lifts a brow. “Just good?”

“As I said, I don’t like coffee that much.”

Juliette cannot fathom that. “Is it the flavor? Not milky enough? Not sweet enough?”

Kacic’s eyes flash, her jaw ticking. “It makes my anxiety worse.”

Juliette startles, then shocks into stillness at the admission. “Oh.”She searches for words, guilt pulsing in her chest at having pressed Kacic too hard. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Why would you?” Kacic grits out through her teeth. “It’s not like you choose to know me.”

Juliette flinches, her own words thrown back in her face. She looks down, shame making her flush. “I’m sor—” she starts, but Claudia smacks her hands down on the table and brings everyone to attention.

“Let’s go get the bags and then, I think it’s beach time!”

ELEVENJULIETTE

Juliette avoids Kacic and busies herself with throwing out the trash. When she gets back outside, the familiar bickering she’s known all her life washes over her and she pushes the breakfast conversation out of her head.

“I swear to god, Claudia, we’re here for five days. Did you need your entire apartment?” Octavia is saying. Her words are immediately followed by a heavy thump and a flurry of curses.

“You did that on purpose!” Claudia accuses in a high-pitched voice.

“I did not! But serves you right, bringing all of your shit from London.”

Claudia whines and bounces up and down on one foot, her giant green suitcase tipped over after having presumably fallen on her other foot.

“Come on, I thought you wanted to get to the beach,” Juliette grouses, crossing her arms over her chest.

Octavia rolls her eyes. “Tell her to stop being so dramatic.”

“Can I help at all?” a timid voice asks from behind Juliette. Goddamn Kacic.

“Oh, of course!” Claudia grins, her foot landing on the ground as she gives up on the ruse of being exceedingly dramatic.

Juliette forces her shoulders down from her ears. She refuses to jump every time Kacic is near. Claudia shoves her backpack into Juliette’s arms, a slyness to her smile that Juliette hates. Once they’reladen with various bags and gear, Juliette bolts to the villa and heads upstairs.

“Put me as far away from those two as possible,” Claudia says, heading up to the third floor. “I do not want my beauty sleep disturbed by their fucking.”

“Claudia!”

Juliette snorts at Octavia’s outraged yell.

Claudia smirks over her shoulder and takes the room on the top floor with a view of the water. She drops her stuff unceremoniously onto the ground and rushes to the balcony, tossing the doors open and stepping out onto it.

A bag drops to the floor, and Juliette glances behind her. “I assume this is hers?” Kacic has another bag over her shoulder, black and monogrammed with the number eight. But the one she dropped is vibrant red and covered with various pins from Claudia’s favorite anime.

“Yeah,” Juliette says, her mouth dry as she stares at the soft blush that covers Luca’s cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

“Okay, bye,” Kacic says, shuffling from the room awkwardly.

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