Page 128 of Star Crossed
Epilogue
July 4
“I read that caffeine’s bad for you.”
Jules clutched her sweet tea protectively. “Back off!”
“I got you a bottle of water.” Romeo held it out like a peace offering. “That way you don’t dehydrate.”
“Keep the water.” Jules took another sip of her tea. “You need it more than me, Mr. One Kidney.”
“Come on, Juliet.”
Romeo put an arm around her and worked at prying the cup out of her hand, but Jules fought for it. If she wasn’t still paranoid about hitting him, she would have done it, but they were both a little rough around the edges after the shooting.
Plus they were in the middle of Garnet’s annual Fourth of July celebration, and people were looking at them strangely. If Jules started beating him in defense of sweet tea, the town would gossip about them more than they already did.
“You’re all sweaty.” Jules shoved at his shoulder. “You’re dripping all over me.”
“I just ran a 5K.” Romeo laughed before he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I thought you liked me wild and sweaty.”
“You forgot naked,” Jules pointed out, her hold on the drink loosening as she thought about it.
He finally got the cup out of her hand and deliberately dumped it, spilling tea all over the grass. Jules stared down at her sweet tea now watering the fresh, green grass at Garnet Park. “You are a bastard.”
“Yes, I am,” Romeo agreed with a smirk.
Jules huffed and grabbed the bottle of water out of his hand. She followed after him as he walked over to one of the garbage cans, throwing away her cup without an ounce of remorse.
Still bitter, she pointed out. “Hotter than hades today.”
“Try running in it.” Romeo put an arm over her shoulders despite being sweaty. “Tell me I look sexy in my new 5K shirt.”
Jules looked down at his white cotton T-shirt that had a big American flag on it and the words35thAnnual Garnet County Fourth of July 5K Run. Nearly everyone at the park had one of those shirts on, but Jules had to admit that Romeo’s looked a little more dazzling than others did. He still had his down days, but for the most part he’d worked hard to gain his health back after his injuries. He weighed less than he had before the shooting, but he was still all muscle. He was already talking about teaching classes at the Cellar to stay in shape.
“It looks sexy,” she told him with a smirk as she took a sip of her water. “I’m proud of you.”
“I’m sorry you couldn’t come.” Romeo pulled her closer and placed a kiss on top of her head. “Next year.”
“This is the first year I haven’t done the 5K since I was a little kid.” She sulked. “And you just dumped my pity tea.”
“The tea’s bad for you. I’ll buy you a lemonade. They’re selling some around the corner.”
“Forget it.” Jules wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him. The smell of coming rain permeated the air, and she looked up. “You wanna head back to Hal’s? You know it’s gonna pour and summer storms ’round here aren’t something to laugh at.”
Romeo looked to the sky rolling with thunderclouds, making the summer heat sticky and humid. “Good plan.”
They walked slow, not because either of them couldn’t move faster. Jules was still getting around well despite a belly working hard at hiding her shoes from view, and Romeo ran the 5K with the big boys—really racing to win instead of walking like a lot of the residents. He hadn’t won, but he hadn’t done too bad either.
They were just enjoying the day. Jules waved to people who called out to her as she continued to lean heavily on Romeo, using her pregnancy as an excuse to get closer to him. Some days it was a little harder to forget she’d almost lost him, and she found herself getting clingy regardless of who was watching. If the town had a problem with Jules being close with her husband, they could go hang.
“Hey, getta room!”
Jules turned in Romeo’s arms, seeing Tino and Chuito coming up behind them. She rolled her eyes and turned back around. She and Romeo had bought a house, and they were working on renovating it before the twins were born. Over the garage was a fully functional apartment that Tino had taken up residence in. Now she was tripping over Tino at home and Chuito at work.
“Check it out.” Tino dashed in front of them and threw out his chest triumphantly. He pointed to his shirt. “See what that says?”
“I see it,” Jules said with a grin. “I saw it the last ten times you pointed it out.”
