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That makes a small smile tickle the edge of her lips as she glances at the stained glass window I’m pointing to.
“Those go next week, and I’m kind of glad.”
“That makes two of us. Look, I want you to be comfortable around me. You have absolutelynothingto be embarrassed about. Hell, I’m the one who should be ashamed, and I can assure you that I am. I just wish you’d talked to me instead of holding a grudge for, what, close to twenty years?”
“Just over,” she confirms.
“That’s a long time.”
“A really long time, but you deserved it.”
“I agree. I did deserve it. Juniper, why did you have issues about your hair?”
She swallows hard and casts her eyes down, but I nudge her face up with my finger under her chin.
“My mom made fun of my hair before she left.” She shrugs as if it’s no big deal, but I can see in her eyes that itisa big deal. It makes me feel even worse for the way I treated her all those years ago. “She hated my hair. I don’t know why, because the one time I asked, she just started yelling about other things. She just didn’t like it. That’s all.”
Something tells me that isn’t all there is to it, but she’s told me so much more than I ever expected her to tonight, so I let it go.
Slowly, my hands drift to her shoulders as I take a small step toward her.
“I’ve never heard great things about your mom.”
She nods, but she doesn’t reply.
“Thank you for telling me what I did so I could apologize, but do you think we can move on from it? Even if we’re not in a romantic relationship, I’d rather be your friend than an unwilling enemy. Besides, neither of us is going anywhere.”
“I know.” She blows out a breath, and her shoulders sag. “It’s not easy being mad at you all the damn time.”
“Then accept my apology and let me make it up to you. That way, you can hate me only when I do something really stupid.”
“Which, if we’re being honest, happens quite often, so I can still call you names and stuff.”
“You look way too excited at that prospect.”
She finally smiles, and I feel like we’re through the worst of that conversation. Now that I know what she’s spent so long being angry at me about, I’ll probably spend a long time replaying that scene from when I was a stupid teenager in my head. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
“You’re not old.” I brush my finger down her cheek again, tracing the wet track from her tears. “Juniper, I want to kiss you so badly I ache with it.”
“You can’t.” She swallows hard.
“Why not?”
“Because Jesus is watching.”
ChapterFive
June
He licks his lips as he shifts closer to me, and my heartbeat picks up, thumping in my chest. If he aches with his want to kiss me, then we’re on the same page because my skin tingles with the need for his touch.
Sometimes, we’re opposing forces, and I want to push him away. Tonight, though, it’s as if there is this undeniable pull that’s demanding I close the small distance between us. Tonight, I want Apollo with every fiber of my being, whether Jesus is watching or not. I don’t really care.
“Juniper,” he whispers. My back presses against the closed door behind me. He leans his palms on either side of my head, not touching me but so damn close I can feel the heat from him and smell his soap.
I boost up onto my toes and close that gap, pressing my lips to his. He groans, and the sound of it makes my body come alive. Sliding my hands up his chest and then up higher so I can bury my fingers in that thick, dark hair, I feel like I’ve found heaven as he kisses me as if his life depends on it.
His hands move from the door to my ass, and he lifts me easily, pinning me in place. Instinctively, I wrap my legs around his waist and hold on as he kisses me senseless. His hands seem to be everywhere all at once, from my ass to my breasts, and then he cups my face and slows the kiss.
