Page 49 of Only Forever

Chapter 17

Making love – a way to get yourself in deep, deep trouble

“ARGH!” Juniper screams. “Holy bats of Gotham.”

I sigh as I watch my sister jolt before falling out of the window she’s crawling through and collapsing on the floor.

“If I pee my pants, I’m killing you, Ashlyn.”

“You can’t kill me if you don’t open the door,” Ashlyn yells through my front door.

I grunt before standing and marching to the door to open it. Aspen and Ellery are standing there with Ashlyn. I should have known.

“What do you want?”

Ashlyn pushes her way past me. “To figure out why you’re hiding.”

I wait until everyone’s inside and close the door after them. “I’m not hiding.”

“Who cares if she’s hiding? I’m dying here,” Juniper complains as she rolls around on the floor.

“You’re not dying. The electric shock you received is minimal.” I’d explain how minimal, but my sisters always complain when I go into detail.

“You are so cool,” Ashlyn gasps. “You wired your windows to give intruders an electric shock.”

“No, I wired my window to give you an electric shock when you invade.” One uninvited home invasion was my limit.

“Good thing Juniper led the charge today.”

Juniper rolls until she’s sitting up and leans her back against my sofa. Her face is gray and there are brackets of pain around her mouth. “This whole invasion was your idea. Not mine,” she huffs.

“But I’m with baby.” Ashlyn rubs her slightly rounded tummy.

“You won’t be pregnant forever,” Juniper grumbles. “I’ll get my revenge eventually.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask her. “Isn’t Maverick home?”

Her brow wrinkles. “How do you know? I haven’t told anyone he’s home. It has to be those interfering gossip gals. Will they never leave me alone?”

“I didn’t discuss Maverick’s location with anyone. I set a Google alert for him.”

“You’re cyberstalking my boyfriend?”

“I’m not harassing or intimidating him.”

Aspen claps her hands. “Can we get back to the matter at hand and talk about Lilac’s computer skills later?”

“What is the matter at hand?” I ask because I know it annoys her when I say I don’t understand what’s happening. It’s my strongest weapon against her.

“Why are you hiding from Beckett?”

“I’m not hiding.” I omit the words ‘from Beckett’ to make the sentence true.

“Then, why are you working from home?” Ashlyn asks.

Ellery groans before collapsing on my sofa. “I wish I could work at home. No clients asking for extra towels. Extra towels they won’t get, by the way. Do they not read the website before they make a reservation? I clearly indicate the bed and breakfast is ecologically responsible.”

“Ecologically responsible is a vague term,” I begin.

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