Page 68 of Alive At Night

“Oh.” Juni shifted in her seat. “Well, as you can tell, I mostly read romance books. I’m not sure we need to listen to the rest of the scene to explain that.”

Luckily, my many years of knowing Juni had given me the practice I needed to keep my expression motionless, even though my lips itched to curve in a knowing smile.

“I wasn’t talking about books, Lily.”

It took exactly five seconds before I heard the quick intake of breath and felt a simultaneous slap on my arm. “Julian!”

“This is your mistake, honestly. You blasted an explicit sex scene in my car,” I pointed out, giving in to the smirk that wouldn’t stay off my face. “We could go back to the conversation about impressing your family if you want.”

“We arenottalking about my sex life.”

“Are you sure?” I shrugged, ignoring my internal irritation at the thought of Juniper sleeping with other guys—most of whom I bet didn’t deserve even a hug from her. Case in point, Greg Kennedy. “Seems like something that two people who are fake fucking and fake dating should talk about.”

“No, it doesnot.” She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting in her seat. “Remember those professional boundaries we were talking about earlier? This is very much crossing them.”

“You said our boundaries aren’t the same,” I reminded her. “And even if they were,thisis where we draw the line? It wasn’t when you crawled into my bed on Halloween?”

“I thought we agreed not to talk about that,” she hissed, glaring at me. The heat of her look singed my skin.

“We never agreed on anything.” I raised my brows. “We’ve never talked about it at all.”

“Exactly!” Juni threw her hands up. “We never talked about it. Ergo, we never were going to. It was an unspoken agreement, Julian.”

I chuckled, hoping that maybe she wouldn’t see how much it affected me to even think about Halloween weekend. She didn’t need to know that I’d reimagined her beneath me far too many times by now. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

Juniper huffed in a very Juniper way. “If you’re so eager to have this discussion, why don’t you share first, huh?”

I glanced over at her. Despite her sulky appearance as she slouched in my car, her eyes shone. And if I wasn’t mistaken, curiosity simmered there.

There she was—the girl from my bed that morning. I’d been scared to confirm it, but she was there. And I wasn’t sure exactly what, but she wantedsomething.

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

Considering how my pulse couldn’t seem to find any consistency during this car ride and how my palms were starting to sweat on the steering wheel, I probably shouldn’t encourage this conversation. But she’d presented this rabbit hole, and I’d dragged us down it. So here we were.

Juni thought for a moment, tapping her nose adorably. Her cheeks had grown pink, matching her lips, and I wished I wasn’t driving so I could keep watching her.

It was precisely that fact—that I had to look back at the road—that made me miss the change in her expression. My only warning of her next words was the low tone of her voice when she started speaking.

“As your girlfriend, how satisfied would you say I am?” she questioned, stirring up heat within me. “I need to know how to act.”

I adjusted my grip on the steering wheel, wishing I could do something else with my hands. “You’re more than fucking satisfied.”

I could feel Juni watching me, but I didn’t dare turn to look at her. I had a feeling it would ruin everything. So I bit my tongue, keeping myself from saying anything I’d regret.

“Well.” Her voice was forcefully light. “That’s an awfully bold statement without any pro—”

“Don’t ask for proof unless you’re ready to get it, Juniper.”

Fuck. Speaking of words I’d regret, there they were. She’d been right. We shouldn’t be having this conversation. Because while I still refused to look at her, I heard Juni suck in a breath, and suddenly, the car was stiflingly hot.

“You could have proven it to me on Halloween,” she said quietly, a low murmur beneath her breath. But I heard it loud and clear. “There was a moment when I wondered if you were going to.”

Oh, God. Hearing Juniper talk like that made all my nerve endings feel like they were about to explode.

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about Halloween,” I said, matching her tone.

Juni twisted to look out the window, avoiding my attempts to capture her gaze. “You’re right.”

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