Page 176 of Alive At Night

“I’m a little nervous,” she explained under her breath, understanding my look perfectly.

“Don’t be,” I chuckled, sweeping her into the house. I shielded her from my sisters, wanting a moment with just the two of us before I lost her attention to them.

She’d walked through those doors thousands of times, but I hoped it felt different today. I hoped she felt the shift in the air that I was experiencing. Just to be sure she understood exactly why that was, I cupped her face between my hands, tipped it back until I saw the sparkle in her eyes, and leaned to kiss her soundly.

Juniper’s lips parted with a gasp, and I took that opportunity to taste her, sweeping my tongue in to stroke hers. Juni responded with the tiniest, sweetest moan that made it clear I needed to pull back before losing it.

“Julian…” she muttered against my lips as they broke from hers. She said my name with a slight admonishment, but it didn’t sound serious. She couldn’t eventryto make herself sound serious when she reprimanded me these days.

“Oh. My. God.”

I couldn’t tell which one of my sisters that was. Actually, it might have been two of them talking in unison. They did that sometimes.

“Again?” Juniper kept her eyes on me, sounding panicked. “We have to find a better way to announce this than just kissing in front of people,” she hissed.

I laughed, pulling away. “I already told them, baby.” I turned to see my four slack-jawed sisters. They were all perched on the edge of their seats in various states of shock. “They just wouldn’t believe me.”

Gianna glanced sideways at the other three and whispered, “Did he just call herbaby?”

“Oh my God,” Janie choked. “He was telling the truth.”

“No shit, he was telling the truth.” Genevieve laughed. “I’m pretty sure Juni would have already smacked him for that kiss if he weren’t.”

“Juniper,” Josie said, beaming at my girlfriend. “We’re so, so happy that you aren’t smacking Julian, even though I’m sure he probably deserves it.”

Juni cleared her voice, shifting as she smiled back at Josie. She wound her arm beneath my back, sliding into my side, and I couldn’t contain my excitement at the simple gesture.

“Don’t worry.” Juni’s voice was so fucking sweet. “I make sure Julian gets exactly what he deserves.”

She winked at me, and then, as if on cue, my four youngest sisters all jumped out of their spots simultaneously, squealing as they ran straight past me to Juniper. Unsurprisingly, they stole my goddamn girlfriend from me, dragging her into the living room in a fit of screaming and laughing. A look of slight bewilderment danced across Juni’s face, but she was smiling. She was smiling so incredibly wide.

Meanwhile, Gemma sat on the couch, watching the chaos. She wore a grin nearly as wide as Juni.

“Julian!” Janie screamed as if finally remembering that I was also there. “Why the hell did it take you so long to come to your senses?”

“We’ve been waiting forso long,” Gen added dramatically.

Of course. Of course they only acknowledged me just to yell at me.

I rolled my eyes. “You’ll all be happy to know I’m done wasting time, then. Juniper’s moving in with me by the end of next month.”

She was already starting to bring her stuff over gradually, and my apartment was becoming more and more Juni-like by the minute. I was obsessed with it.

“Oh, thankGod,” said another dramatic sister. I honestly didn’t catch who because my eyes were currently trapped in Juni’s brown gaze.

But then, movement to her left caught my attention, and I blinked away to realize that Janie was walking toward me. My mini-me slipped under my arm, hugging me.

“I’m happy for you,” she whispered.

I looked down at her. “You’ve known forever, too, huh?”

She shrugged. “We all suspected and hoped it would happen eventually. And we thought it might be soon, considering how you acted at Christmas…but I’m mostly happy because youseemhappy.”

I glanced up to find Juniper still watching me, her eyes growing glassy.

“I’m so happy, Janie,” I said quietly, as though it was a secret between the two of us. In reality, it was plain as day for anyone to see.

“Is Juniper staying over tonight?” she asked, eyes flicking between Juni and me as she slowly released me from her tight hug. “After the party?”

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