Page 71 of When It Reins
“Mom’s wasn’t until seventeen,” Jax says, having heard me.
“So Stets wanted to try beer. He was the only one who hadn’t. Logan said he shouldn’t let him without Mom’s approval, but Stetson couldn’t wait.”
“I remember this,” Felicity says, covering her mouth.
Felicity and Jax were at peak high school sweethearts during this time. It would have been a year before she left for LA.
“Okay, wait.” Stetson steps in, probably wanting to make sure all the bases are covered. “I wanted to taste it. I wasn’t going to get drunk, first of all.”
Bonnie snickers beside him, and I love seeing that he has a partner who will bust his balls. He looks over at her and smirks, though he widens his eyes as if he’s appalled.
“Second,” he says to her, “It’s not my fault.”
“He takes the first sip, which we all know can go one of two ways.”
Murmurs of agreement to Jax’s statement pass through the group, and Juniper says, “Yeah, I hate beer.”
I squeeze her closer and chuckle.
“Then, right as he does so, our mother walks into the kitchen, finding all of us standing around watching Stetson, and instead of swallowing the beer down, he clamps up and slams the beer bottle into the kitchen sink.”
“It was like a fucking rocket. I still don’t know how it happened.”
Logan laughs and nods at me. “The fucking pressure from him slamming it made the beer explode all over the kitchen, and then, to top it off, the beer shot out of his nose.”
Laughter explodes from the group, and Stetson grabs his nose as if he can still feel the burn he must have felt that day.
“What did Didi say?” Thea asks Stetson, still giggling. Bonnie was laughing so hard that it was now silent, her mouth open as her hand holds her stomach, and she leans back in her camping chair.
Stetson just shakes his head at her, but there is something in his expression that tells me he loves her like that, even at his own expense.
“‘Boy, you better clean up this damn mess. And there better be a beer left for me!’” Stetson’s high-pitched voice does us all in. Bonnie falls off her seat from laughing so hard, and Stetson looks at her, appalled that his girlfriend is delighting in his misfortune.
A while later, most of the couples head off to bed, leaving Juniper and me by the fire. She doesn’t move to leave and neither do I, appreciating the quiet the night gives us. I could sit here forever and never be bothered to move.
“I have a question for you.” Juniper’s soft voice reaches me after a few moments, and I turn to her, seeing her stare at the fire.
“What’s that?”
She swallows and turns to me. “I hope you don’t get mad at the question or take it in any other way than thinking I’m just curious.”
“Starling, you can ask me anything you want.”
Juniper nods and says, “Okay, then. Do you know where David went?” My brows furrow at the question, and Juniper rushes to finish. “I just…it’s like he fell off the planet.”
Now, there’s a thought. Too bad it’s not the case. “I don’t want to see him or anything like that. It’s just that I feel like there’s something unsettled there. He just gave up? That makes no sense.”
I nod my head, thinking over how much I should say. Technically speaking, I have no idea where David is. But I do think I have a hand in getting him to make himself scarce.
“I just want to know if I’m in danger, if anyone I love is in danger, or is he gone…for good.” Her phrasing has me making eye contact with her again, my face a mask of confusion.
“Juniper,” I start, unsure how to say this. Was I offended? I honestly couldn’t tell. “He’s gone. We scared him off.”
Her eyes go back and forth between mine, and she seems to be acting cautious in her phrasing. “Is he…gonegone?”
I lick my lips, a laugh threatening to escape me when I finally realize what she’s asking. But she is being so serious that I know I can’t straight out laugh. “I didn’t kill him, Little Starling, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She blows out a breath, her whole body relaxing at the words, and I do let out a laugh then. “You thought I killed your ex-boyfriend?”
