Page 66 of Alive At Night

GEMS: She doesn’t need your ass to be moody on top of it.

GEMS: Maybe, you know, be encouraging for once. Give her a smile. Or a hug. You might actually enjoy it.

I did fucking enjoy it. That was the problem. I hated how much I enjoyed it.

Not that Gemma needed to know that.

I’ll be nice, Gems. I’m not an asshole. I know this is important to her. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be doing it.

GEMS: I know you’re not an asshole. But sometimes you act like one when Juni’s around.

GEMS: Thank you for taking her.

I owed her.

GEMS: For what?

She’s helping me with something for work.

GEMS: I still can’t get over that you guys work together.

“Ready?”

I pocketed my phone at the sound of Juni’s voice, ignoring Gemma’s last text. Everyone seemed to think Juni and I working together was amusing as all hell without realizing just how much of my sanity it cost me.

And now I was about to lose more of it.

Juniper, looking almost unrecognizable in jeans and a sweatshirt, rolled her bags toward where I waited outside her apartment. I took her suitcase, sliding it into the trunk of my SUV before opening the front passenger door for her to get in.

She rolled her eyes. “I feel like you’re taking this whole nice thing too far.”

“Oh, so now I’mtoonice?”

She looked from me to the open car door pointedly, chewing on her lip in a way that made it nearly impossible not to stare at her mouth and those soft lips. Shit.

“Get in the fucking car, Juniper,” I growled.

Her eyes, wide and wondrous, flew to mine. Pink lips parted in surprise. She hesitated only a moment before settling in the passenger seat, but that single moment made my pulse tick up.

After putting on her seat belt, Juniper looked at me from beneath her lashes. “That better?”

“Much.”

She held my gaze for one more beat before glancing down and clearing her throat. When she spoke, her words were crisp and diplomatic. That single moment from before had vanished, and God, I was thankful for it.

“You know, I think you could work on finding a middle ground, Julian. Between nice and…whatever that was.” Her manicured hand waved in my direction, a finger flicking up and down.

“Noted.”

Ten minutes later, we were on I-90W, undoubtedly headed toward a catastrophe. Juniper connected her phone to my car’s Bluetooth and had her head down, searching for a playlist. Meanwhile, I could barely think because of all the fucking flowers dancing around my head.

“What’s it called?”

“What’s what called?”

“Your perfume.”

“Bloom. Why?”

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