Page 168 of Alive At Night

“Fuck off, Briggs.” Greg tried to shrug off the hand, but Julian doubled down, fingers digging into Greg’s crisp white dress shirt.

“I’d be happy to fuck off and never see your face again, Kennedy,” Julian snarled, making my stomach somersault. “But that would mean you’d have to leave my girlfriend the hell alone. And since you can’t seem to manage that, I hope yournew job nearbyis understanding when you get served with a restraining order in the middle of a nine o’clock meeting.”

Greg’s face paled slightly at that, and I realized he must not be lying about the new job. I didn’t know how to feel about that, though. He seemed to care about keeping his job, which was good leverage, but I hated that he might live in Boston now.

Clearing my throat, I stepped up beside the fire-breathing dragon that was my boyfriend at the moment. “I think we know a few judges that could help with that. Don’t we, Julian baby?”

I watched the red cloud dissipate from Julian’s gaze as he blinked over at me, removing his hand from Kennedy’s shoulder and readjusting to wrap his arm around my back, tugging me closer.

“We sure do,” he said, his voice filled with grit and gravel. And also tenderness. Tenderness that I knew was for me.

I relaxed. It felt really good knowing that we got to shoulder our problems together from now on. Julian brushed his lips over my temple before turning back to Greg.

“Enjoy your first and last drink at the Bellflower, Kennedy. Pretty soon, you won’t be able to get within three city blocks of Juniper without being arrested, so don’teverfucking plan on coming back here.”

Greg didn’t reply. He simply glowered in Julian’s direction, even though Julian didn’t seem to care. Having said what he needed to say, he nudged me back a step, and I was more than happy to lead the way out of the bar.

As soon as I emerged onto the city street, I whirled around to face Julian. His clenched jaw softened as soon as our eyes met, and then he crushed us together, slipping his hand to the nape of my neck and using his grip to pull my face to his.

“Juni…” he breathed.

I loved it when he did that. When he seemed to say my name just because he liked the way it sounded coming from his lips.

“Yeah?” My voice was just a wisp on the wind.

“You scared the shit out of me,” he groaned before slamming our lips together for a rough, bruising kiss. It only lasted a few moments, but I felt Julian everywhere—from the tips of my toes to the lips he was kissing.

That is, until we were interrupted by the clearing of a throat.

Realization slammed into me before I even pulled back from Julian. I knew exactly who that was. After all, I’d called her to meet me here. And now here she was. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, with the wind blowing her gingery hair around her face, was my best friend.

And she’d just caught me kissing the life out of her brother.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE

juniper

MY FIRST INSTINCT WAS to push Julian away and pretend like wehadn’tjust been making out. But my boyfriend was a stage five clinger who simply drifted his hands to my waist and pulled me in closer when I’d turned to face his sister and attempted my escape.

So instead, I tried to make my case while still in Julian’s arms.

“Gemma, I…”

The words weren’t coming to me. All the things I’d planned to say to her seemed pointless now that she’d seen what she’d just seen. And I was also struggling to compute how Gemma was…smiling.

“I take it everything’s okay?” she asked.

Around us, traffic whizzed by. Horns honked, and the wind howled, January air whipping my skin. The sun had lowered, creating a dusky hue in the sky. The streetlamps had just turned on, casting a glow over Gemma’s head.

“I—what?”

“I was worried, you know,” she went on. “When Julian called me screaming about how—”

“Gemma,” Julian growled. It sounded like some kind of warning, which only made me frown in confusion.

“—you were in trouble,” Gemma emphasized, “I got here as quick as I could. But I knew Jules would be here. He always is.”

Always.

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